Alstom presentation

I. Brief company history
Alstom is the result of a mezer in 1928 between “Societé Alsacienne de Contruction Mécanique” (specialized in locomotive construction) and “Thomson Houston” (specialized in electro-mechanical production). It is a global leader in energy production and rail transport.
Alstom is a company of innovation. They beat the world speed record of 331 Km/h with the ALSTHOM CC locomotive and the TGV was designed by Alstom in 1978. They beat the record again in 2007 when they reached 574 km/h.
Alstom had a shipyard too: "les Chantiers de l'Atlantique" in 1976. They built the Queen Mary II, delivered in 2003 and they sold the shipyard between 2006 and 2010.
In 1956 it was the first nuclear steam turbine (82MW) which equipped the power plant of Chinon in France. In 1986 it was the biggest gas turbine ever built (212 MW).
Alstom was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange for the first time in 1998.
The two main subsidiaries of Alstom are:
- "Alstom Power" (specialized in energy production)
- "Alstom Transport" (specialized in rail construction)
II. What type of company? Who controls it?
The headquarters of Alstom are near Paris, in Levallois-Perret. Alstom is a limited company; it means that there is not one owner. Nevertheless there are shareholders. Everybody can be a shareholder but the main one is the French company "Bouygue" who own around thirty per cent of the shares. The other shareholders are companies, banks and individuals.
The Chief Executive Officer since 2003 is Patrick Kron who is French. He has been CEO for eight years, which is very important for Alstom shareholders and customers because they can understand and see the Asltom strategy. It's a quality sign.
Last year, Alstom profits increased because of the increase in projected orders. However, last year their projected orders decreased so we can assume that Alstom profits will be lower for the future. In 2009 Alstom lost around 4500-5000 employees, largely