natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Der ville kun være usikkerhed med hensyn til størrelsen af en sådan reduktion, men da TNT ikke var klar over, hvilken sats Royal Mail rent faktisk betalte, var det vanskeligt at afgøre, om dette fra et kommercielt perspektiv kan begrundes af både Royal Mail og den britiske stat.
Only the amount of such reduction would be questionable but since it was not clear to TNT what rate Royal Mail was actually paying, it was difficult to determine whether from a commercial perspective this can be justified by both Royal Mail and the UK Government.
Med hensyn til de lån, der blev udstedt i 2007, bemærkede TNT, at det ikke var muligt at afgøre, om vilkårene var kommercielle, fordi de ikke var offentliggjort, og også fordi långivningen tilsyneladende var knyttet til deponeringskontoen og den bestående lånefacilitet.
With regard to the loans issued in 2007, TNT noted that it was not possible to determine the commerciality of the terms because they were not public knowledge and, also, because the lending was apparently connected to the escrow account and existing loan facility.
En kommerciel part ville imidlertid ikke under normale omstændigheder give dispensation med hensyn til misligholdelsesklausuler i forbindelse med bestående faciliteter (som det blev bekræftet i Royal Mails lovpligtige halvårsregnskab [8] i note 3 på s. 18 »Royal Mail Group plc har nettoforpligtelser pr. 24. september 2006, primært som et resultat af pensionsunderskuddet i forbindelse med dens hovedpensionsordning, Royal Mail Pension Plan.
However, waiving default clauses under existing facilities (as was confirmed by the Royal Mail half-year regulatory accounts [8], at note 3 on page 18 ‘Royal Mail Group plc has net liabilities as at 24 September 2006, primarily as a result of the pension deficit within its main pension plan, the Royal Mail Pension Plan.
Royal Mail har derfor misligholdt sine lånefaciliteter hos staten, men har modtaget en formel dispensation fra det britiske handels- og industriministerium som långiver«) og stille yderligere lånefinansiering til rådighed.
Consequently, Royal Mail is in breach of its borrowing facilities with Government, but has received formal waivers from the Department of Trade and Industry, in its capacity as lender’) and granting additional loan finance was something a commercial party would not under normal circumstances do.
Med hensyn til pensionsforanstaltningen satte TNT spørgsmålstegn ved, om overførslen af de ikke-erhvervsmæssige aktiver og hermed forbundet egenkapital kaldet »postreserven« ved Royal Mails omdannelse til offentlig virksomhed i marts 2001 foregik på kommercielle vilkår.
With respect to the pensions measure, TNT questioned whether, at the incorporation of Royal Mail in March 2001, the transfer of the non-business assets and related equity known as the ‘mails reserves’ was commercial.
Ifølge TNT ville en kommerciel aktionær formentlig ikke have oprettet en virksomhed, som omfattede et låneaktiv (hvor debitoren var aktionæren), og derpå indskyde et lignende beløb i egenkapital.
According to TNT, a commercial shareholder would very probably not have established a company which included a loan asset (where the debtor was the shareholder) and then provide a similar contribution in equity.
TNT bemærkede, at da Nederlandenes operatør KPN blev »privatiseret« i 1989, havde der været tale om en lignende ordning, men KPN's åbningsbalance i 1989 som et nederlandsk N.V. (aktieselskab) indeholdt hverken de dertil knyttede aktiver eller reserver.
TNT commented that when Netherlands operator KPN was ‘privatised’ in 1989, a similar arrangement had been in place but KPN’s opening balance sheet in 1989 as a Dutch NV did not contain either the associated assets or reserves.
Ifølge TNT fungerer de britiske myndigheders overførsel af midler til deponeringskontoen som en garanti over for pensionsfonden, hvor fordelen for Royal Mail ville være, at virksomheden er i stand til at tilbagebetale underskuddet i en længere finansieringsperiode og anvende egne midler til at styrke aktiviteterne.
According to TNT, the transfer into the escrow account by the UK authorities acts as a guarantee towards the pension trust, of which the benefit to Royal Mail would be that it is able to recover the deficit over a longer funding period and to use their own funds to strengthen their business.
Hvis Royal Mail havde været nødt til at finansiere underskuddet med det samme, havde virksomheden, afhængigt af, om pensionsforpligtelsen på balancen allerede havde afspejlet et sådant underskud, oplevet et betydeligt tab og en reduktion af egenkapitalen og, hvad der måske er vigtigere, en reduktion af midlerne.
If Royal Mail had had to fund the deficit at once, depending on whether the pension liability in the balance sheet would already have reflected such deficit, they would have been confronted with a substantial loss and reduction of equity and, perhaps more importantly, a reduction of funds.
Under normale markedsvilkår kan en virksomhed, hvis den mangler midler, optage lån på gældsmarkedet eller rejse yderligere kapital på egenkapitalmarkederne.
In normal market conditions, if a company needs funds, it can borrow from the debt market or raise additional capital in the equity markets.
I Royal Mails tilfælde syntes der at være en tredje mulighed, nemlig at aftale et lempeligere prisloft med tilsynsmyndigheden i forbindelse med priskontrollen.
In Royal Mail’s case, it appeared there was third possibility, namely, agreeing to a more lenient price cap in its price control with the regulator.
Priserne kunne stige betydeligt uden at nå et urimeligt højt niveau.
Prices could increase by a substantial level without reaching abusively high levels.
Da Royal Mails samtykke var nødvendigt, for at priskontrollen kunne træde i kraft, lå dette inden for Royal Mails beføjelse og var en mulighed, der var kendt for virksomhedens aktionær.
As Royal Mail’s consent was required to give effect to the price control, this was a matter within the power of Royal Mail and an option which was known to its shareholder.
TNT bemærkede, at for at en låntager kan rejse kapital på gældsmarkedet, skal der argumenteres på overbevisende måde for, at vedkommende er i stand til at tilbagebetale gælden ved hjælp af fremtidige pengestrømme.
TNT commented that to raise money in the debt market, a borrower needs a convincing argument that it is able to repay the debt from future cash flows.
For at rejse kapital på egenkapitalmarkedet behøver en virksomhed et endnu mere overbevisende argument for, at den vil skabe et betydeligt afkast for aktionæren i forhold til det investerede samlede kapitalindskud.
To raise money in the equity market, a company needs an even more convincing argument that it will generate a significant return for the shareholder over the invested total capital contribution.
Som eneejer af Royal Mail burde den britiske stat have foretaget alle nødvendige undersøgelser for at sikre sig, at Royal Mail var i en bedre finansiel situation, hvis virksomheden fik mulighed for at færdiggøre sin strategiske plan.
As the sole shareholder of Royal Mail, the UK Government should have undertaken all necessary investigations to satisfy itself that Royal Mail would be in better financial condition if it were allowed to complete its strategic plan.
Det afgørende spørgsmål var, om der ville være økonomisk fornuft i at foretage yderligere investeringer ved at frigive midler fra reserver, eller om det ville være ensbetydende med at kaste »gode penge efter dårlige«.
The critical issue was whether making further investment by releasing funds from reserves would make commercial sense or be tantamount to putting ‘good money after bad’.
En meget klar analyse af afkastet af den yderligere investering ville være afgørende for enhver sådan beslutning.
A very clear analysis on the return to be derived from the additional investment would be paramount to any such decision.
I mangel af overbevisende bevis for, at omstruktureringsplanen — muliggjort som følge af frigivelsen af midler fra reserverne — ville skabe et kommercielt afkast af denne investering for aktionæren, var TNT af den opfattelse, at beslutningen var truffet på ikke-kommercielle vilkår.
In the absence of compelling evidence to demonstrate that the re-structuring plan — enabled by the release of funds from the reserves — would derive a commercial return on this investment for the shareholder, TNT believed that the decision would have been taken on non-commercial terms.
Med hensyn til lånet fra 2001 præciserede Det Forenede Kongerige, at lånet oprindeligt stammede fra 1999, hvor regeringen godkendte Royal Mails strategi, der gik ud på at foretage visse erhvervelser for at styrke konkurrenceevnen for Royal Mails kerneaktiviteter.
In respect of the 2001 loan, the UK clarified that the origins of the loan were in 1999 when the Government endorsed Royal Mail’s strategy to make certain acquisitions in order to help the competitiveness of Royal Mail’s core business.
Ved godkendelsen af denne strategi tog myndighederne navnlig hensyn til det afkast, der forventedes, efterhånden som Royal Mail arbejdede på at opnå sit strategiske mål.
In agreeing to this strategy, the authorities in particular took into account the forecast return expected as Royal Mail worked towards achieving its strategic objective.
I det femte år af den overordnede erhvervelsesstrategi forventede Royal Mail en stigning i omsætningen på 40 % og en forøgelse af fortjenesten på 210 %.
By the fifth year of its overall acquisition strategy, Royal Mail was forecasting growth in turnover of 40 % and 210 % increase in profits.
Under drøftelser om finansieringen af erhvervelserne, og navnlig erhvervelsen af German Parcel, som var Royal Mails første større udenlandske erhvervelse, tilkendegav de britiske myndigheder, at de ønskede, at Royal Mail finansierede denne transaktion (og fremtidige transaktioner) ved hjælp at et lån fra den statslige NLF til markedssatser.
In discussions about the acquisition funding, and in particular the acquisition of German Parcel which represented Royal Mail’s first major overseas acquisition, the UK authorities indicated that they wished Royal Mail to finance this transaction (and future transactions) by a loan from the Government’s NLF at commercial rates.
Dette afspejlede regeringens hensigt om at underlægge Royal Mail kommercielle vilkår og også sikre, at virksomheden konkurrerede loyalt med andre postoperatører i postsektoren, efterhånden som markedet blev åbnet for konkurrence.
This reflected the Government’s intention to impose commercial disciplines on Royal Mail and also to ensure that it competed fairly with other postal operators in the postal sector as the market was gradually opened to competition.
Da NLF ikke var i stand til at yde lånene i 1999 gik den britiske stat med til, at Royal Mail finansierede disse transaktioner midlertidigt ved at anvende de likvide reserver på sin balance i overensstemmelse med den britiske politik om, at offentligt ejede organer generelt ikke bør optage lån på private kapitalmarkeder.
Because the NLF was not in a position to provide the loans in 1999, the UK Government agreed that Royal Mail would fund the transactions temporarily through the use of the cash reserves on its balance sheet, following UK policy that publicly owned bodies should generally not borrow from private capital markets.
Renten på NLF-lånet ville blive anvendt fra de tidspunkter [9], hvor Royal Mail udnyttede sine likvide reserver, som om lånet havde været på plads fra det tidspunkt (som det oprindeligt var hensigten), for at stille virksomheden neutral i forhold til den midlertidige finansieringsordning.
The interest on the NLF loan would be applied from the dates [9] Royal Mail drew down from its cash reserves as if the loan had been in place from that point (as originally intended) to leave the company neutral to the interim financing arrangement.
Det Forenede Kongerige gav Kommissionen det brev af 12. januar 1999, hvorved de britiske myndigheder over for Royal Mail godkendte erhvervelsen af German Parcel, og hvori det var nærmere angivet, hvordan finansieringen ville blive tilvejebragt.
The UK provided the Commission with the letter dated 12 January 1999 by which the UK authorities gave Royal Mail their approval of the German Parcel acquisition, which specified how the financing would be provided.
For at vurdere, om de af Royal Mail påtænkte erhvervelser var strategisk og kommercielt fornuftige, indhentede de britiske myndigheder bistand fra en ekstern rådgiver i forbindelse med erhvervelsen af German Parcel.
In order to consider whether the proposed acquisitions by Royal Mail were strategically and commercially sensible, the UK authorities enlisted the assistance of an external adviser for the German Parcel acquisition.
I forbindelse med efterfølgende erhvervelser, som også blev finansieret af lånet på 500 mio. GBP og krævede de britiske myndigheders samtykke, blev der indhentet rådgivning hos Deloitte & Touche LLP (»Deloitte«), som vurderede hver erhvervelse for sig, inden de britiske myndigheder gav tilladelse til, at de pågældende erhvervelser kunne gennemføres.
For subsequent acquisitions which were also funded by the GBP 500 million loan and requiring the consent of the UK authorities, advice was sought from Deloitte & Touche LLP (‘Deloitte’), who evaluated each acquisition on an individual basis, before the UK authorities permitted the acquisitions concerned to go ahead.
Deloitte frarådede ingen af erhvervelserne.
Deloitte did not advise against any of the acquisitions.
Deloitte blev endvidere engageret til at bistå med at fastsætte markedsrenterne på lån fra NLF til Royal Mail og navnlig kreditratingen for Royal Mail på grundlag af en vurdering af selskabets kreditværdighed som selvstændig virksomhed, uafhængigt af det statslige ejerskab.
Deloitte was also retained to help determine commercial interest rates on advances from the NLF to Royal Mail and in particular on the credit rating for Royal Mail based on assessing its creditworthiness as a standalone business, independent of Government ownership.
Deloitte vurderede RM's kreditrisiko som en funktion af finansielle og virksomhedsmæssige risici og fastsatte ved hjælp af sammenligningsfaktorer og regnskabsmæssige nøgletal en kreditvurdering på mellem AA og AA–.
Deloitte assessed RM’s credit risk as a function of business and financial risks, and using comparators and financial ratios, determined a credit rating of between AA and AA.
Deloitte anbefalede endvidere, at den rentesats, som Royal Mail skulle betale, skulle fastsættes med udgangspunkt i satserne for udstedere med sammenlignelig rating på grundlag af et »prisindeks« over spænd for den givne kreditrating med statsobligationer som benchmark.
Deloitte further recommended that the rate of interest charged to Royal Mail be determined by reference to rates for comparably rated issuers based on a screen pricing ‘index’ of spreads for the given credit rating against benchmark Government bonds.
På grundlag heraf lå det relevante spænd, som Royal Mail skulle betale, på mellem 76 og 165 basispoint.
On this basis the relevant spread charged to Royal Mail ranged between 76 and 165 basis points.
Royal Mail ønskede et langfristet lån, da virksomheden for at gennemføre sin strategi havde til hensigt at besidde de erhvervede virksomheder på lang sigt.
Royal Mail sought a long-term loan since, in order to implement its strategy, it intended to hold the businesses it acquired for the long term.
På grundlag af de markedsrenter, der forelå på daværende tidspunkt (hvor de langfristede renter var betydeligere lavere end de kortfristede renter), anmodede Royal Mail om låneperioder på i givet fald mellem 20 og 25 år for de pågældende langsigtede erhvervelser, således at 100 mio. GBP af det samlede lånebeløb skulle tilbagebetales i hvert af årene 2021-2025, i stedet for at Royal Mail skulle tilbagebetale hele beløbet på 500 mio. GBP på ét år.
Based on the commercial rates of interest available at the time (when long term interest rates were considerably lower than short term interest rates), Royal Mail requested loan durations of between 20 and 25 years, as appropriate, for the long-term acquisitions concerned, enabling GBP 100 million of the total amount lent to become repayable in each of the years 2021 to 2025, rather than Royal Mail being required to repay the entire GBP 500 million in one year.
Lånetrancherne havde forskellige løbetider på 20-25 år, hvilket ikke var usædvanligt i betragtning af, at de langfristede renter var relativt attraktive på daværende tidspunkt.
The loan tranches had differing maturities ranging between 20 to 25 years which was not unusual given the relative attractiveness of long term interest rates at that time.
Lånerenterne var baseret på ligeledes usikret gæld med AA-kreditrating og en løbetid på 20 og 25 år, hvorefter de årlige satser blev interpoleret for at nå frem til en passende sats for lånet til Royal Mail.
The loan rates were based on similarly unsecured reported 20 and 25 year maturity AA credit-rated debt and then annual rates were interpolated to derive an appropriate rate for the Royal Mail loan.
Det Forenede Kongerige gjorde gældende, at Kommissionens referencerentesatser ikke var et gyldigt sammenligningsgrundlag for satserne for lånet fra 2001, navnlig fordi Kommissionens satser er baseret på femårige løbetider, og det pågældende lån bestod af langfristet gæld med en række løbetider på mellem 20 og 25 år, fordi det lån, der blev stillet til rådighed for Royal Mail, afspejlede de markedssatser, der var tilgængelige for langsigtede låntagere i samme position, og fordi rentekurven i Det Forenede Kongerige i 1999-2000 (den relevante periode for renteberegningen) var nedadgående, hvilket gjorde virksomhedernes låntagning billigere.
The UK maintained that the Commission’s reference interest rates were not a valid comparator for the rates on the 2001 loan, in particular because the Commission’s rates are based on five year maturity dates and the loan in question consisted of long-term debt with a range of maturity dates between 20 and 25 years, because the loan advanced to Royal Mail reflected commercial rates available to similarly positioned long-term borrowers, and because the UK yield curve in 1999-2000 (the relevant period for calculating interest) was moving downwards making corporate borrowing cheaper.
Man fandt det ikke nødvendigt eller hensigtsmæssigt at stille sikkerhed for lånet, da Royal Mails kreditrating blev vurderet til AA for kreditfaciliteter på op til 1000 mio. GBP.
No security on the loan was deemed necessary or appropriate as the credit rating of Royal Mail was considered to be AA for debt facilities of up to GBP 1000 million.
Det påtænkte lån ville stadig holde Royal Mails langfristede gæld inden for dette niveau og ville i sig selv omfatte langt hovedparten af Royal Mails gæld med en løbetid på over ét år.
The proposed loan would still keep Royal Mail’s long-term debt within this level and would by itself comprise the substantial majority of Royal Mail debt with maturity of greater than one year.
Faciliteter stillet til rådighed i 2003
The facilities granted in 2003
Som svar på Kommissionens bemærkninger om, at disse likvide beholdninger udgjorde statsmidler, som de britiske myndigheder havde kontrol over i henhold til specifik lovgivning, hvis anvendelse som sikkerhed derfor ikke nødvendigvis kunne fjerne tvivl med hensyn til foranstaltningens karakter af støtte, anførte de britiske myndigheder, at de søgte at anvende de likvide beholdninger og andre af virksomhedens aktiver på en måde, der afspejlede kommercielle principper, således at virksomheden blev underlagt effektive vilkår med hensyn til faciliteterne.
In response to the Commission’s observation that these cash deposits constituted State resources over which the UK authorities had control through specific legislation, whose use as security could therefore not necessarily dispel doubts as to the aid character of the measure, the UK authorities stated that they were seeking to achieve the use of the cash deposits and other assets of the company in a manner that would reflect commercial principles so that effective disciplines were placed on the company with regard to the facilities.
På grundlag af beføjelserne i henhold til section 72 i Postal Services Act 2000 pålagde myndighederne Royal Mail at overføre sine likvide beholdninger hos NLF, der var fremkommet på grundlag af de akkumulerede overskud af aktiviteterne (i alt ca. 1800 mio. GBP), til en særlig reserve på Royal Mails balance (postreserven).
The authorities directed Royal Mail, using the powers under section 72 of the Postal Services Act 2000, to credit its cash deposits with the NLF generated by the accumulated profits of the business (totalling some GBP 1800 million) to a special reserve on the Royal Mail balance sheet (the Mails Reserve).
I henhold til en særskilt brevaftale kunne 549 mio. GBP af reserven anvendes som sikkerhed for lånefaciliteterne på 544 mio. GBP hos NLF.
A separate letter agreement allowed GBP 549 million of the reserve to be used as security for the GBP 544 million loan facilities with the NLF.
Som svar på Kommissionens spørgsmål vedrørende den tilsagnsprovision, som Royal Mail havde betalt for NLF-lånefaciliteterne, præciserede Det Forenede Kongerige, at den årlige tilsagnsprovision i dette tilfælde var […] basispoint af lånets værdi, dvs. […] % af den anvendte margen på […] basispoint i forhold LIBOR.
In response to the Commission’s questions concerning the commitment fee paid by Royal Mail for the NLF loan facilities, the UK clarified that the annual commitment fee in this case was […] basis points of the loan value, that is, […] % of the […] basis point margin charged over LIBOR.
Det Forenede Kongerige oplyste, at det er markedskonventionen, at tilsagnsprovisioner generelt er 50 % eller derunder af margenen i forhold til LIBOR, og anførte eksempler til at illustrere dette.
They stated that the market convention is that commitment fees are generally 50 % or less of the margin over LIBOR, and adduced examples to illustrate this point.
Relativt lave margener — ca. 50 basispoint eller derunder — var almindelige for privilegeret gæld i denne periode.
Relatively low margins — around 50 basis points or less — were common for senior debt in this period.
Da tilgængeligheden af de andre faciliteter (obligationerne) var betinget af, at Parlamentet godkendte overførslen af midler til det relevante ministerium på det tidspunkt, hvor det behøvede midlerne til at købe de obligationer, der skulle udstedes af Royal Mail, var en tilsagnsprovision ikke hensigtsmæssig for disse andre faciliteter, da Royal Mail faktisk aldrig havde fået tilsagn om faciliteterne.
Given the fact that the availability of the other facilities (the bonds) was conditional upon Parliament approving the supply of funds to the relevant Government department at such time as it required the funds to purchase the bonds to be issued by Royal Mail, a commitment fee for these other facilities was not appropriate since the facilities were never actually committed to Royal Mail.
Med hensyn til privat långivning er det markedspraksis, at der først betales en tilsagnsprovision, når långiveren har fået alle nødvendige interne godkendelser, således at låntageren formelt har fået tilsagn om midlerne (og disse er til rådighed for denne uden betingelser).
Market practice, in a private lending context, is that a commitment fee be paid only once the lender has obtained all necessary internal approvals so that the money is formally committed to (and unconditionally available for) the borrower.
Det Forenede Kongerige beskrev også den analyse af de påtænkte lånefaciliteter, som blev foretaget, inden de blev stillet til rådighed, herunder beregning af nettonutidsværdien af likviditetsafkastet af den påtænkte refinansiering samt en række alternative muligheder.
The UK also described the analysis of the proposed loan facilities which was undertaken before they were granted, including calculation of the Net Present Value (‘NPV’) of cash flow returns from the proposed refinancing as well as some alternative options.