Analysts say that the fall in prices on the news of the Interconnector was a blip.Craig Lowrey, head of gas markets at energy consultancy EIC, said: "There is still a lot of underlying support for higher prices. A few days ago, Interconnector, which operates the 230km sub-sea pipeline between Bacton in Norfolk and Zeebrugge in Belgium, said that work to almost double the capacity was moving more quickly than expected. It said that the expansion could be completed at the beginning of November, allowing the UK to import more gas when demand traditionally starts to increase. The pipeline can currently import 8.5 billion cubic metres of gas, just under a 10th of the UK's annual consumption.The price of the contract for gas delivery in the fourth quarter of this year fell around 8 per cent as traders digested the news. The contract is still two thirds more expensive than a year ago, however, on the back of higher oil prices and a shortage of pipelines to import gas into the UK.Last week, gas prices started to increase again as traders decided to take profits on their positions. The enlargement of a pipeline importing gas from mainland Europe is expected to be completed a month early, providing a brief respite from soaring gas prices in the UK. "If we can find the right opportunity to accelerate this and grow by acquisition, we would do it, but only if it creates value for our shareholders.".
But the three companies all play by different rules - we are a small cap company, C&W is a FTSE 100 company and Energis is privately owned."Close Brothers is said to be frustrated that Energis's advisers did not give it information about other bidders. It is also annoyed that the investors it advised were dismissed as vulture hedge funds, when some of the investors held Energis debt for two years.Mr Allan did not rule out other acquisitions in the future. It is not known whether Energis investors were told about the details of the offer. Last Friday, Energis executives contacted Close Brothers, which advised the Energis investors who had initially opposed C&W's bid, warning it that there were no other bidders. The executives later said it could be "three years before another offer like this comes along".Energis investors then found out about the second bid when Thus made its announcement on Monday morning - only a few hours before C&W's own bid expired.Bill Allan, the chief executive of Thus, said: "We found these reports quite surprising - that the company had scoured the market for other bidders That clearly was not true. It is also understood that a third, unnamed, company made a takeover offer for Energis last month. Energis - run by Archie Norman, its chairman, and John Pluthero, its chief executive - denies the allegations. Thus, the telecoms provider that failed to buy Energis last week, has accused its larger rival's management of misleading investors to persuade them to accept a rival bid from Cable & Wireless (C&W) instead.
According to a recent report in the trade magazine Contract Journal, plant hirers are worried that tough conditions set out in Network Rail's maintenance contracts could "compromise" the work they are able to do.In particular, they are concerned about Network Rail's focus on price as a determining factor when awarding contracts - it is reportedly seeking a 31 per cent reduction in maintenance spending.. "If there's lots of work, it will be more expensive and there have been lots of big projects since 2000."The price hikes are already being felt in some quarters. In the construction sector, you don't have the same access to these sort of resources," said Mr Thompson. "In the consumer market, you have got lots of commoditised products that you can get from the developed world.
