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New BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. The new BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer.

The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer and BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer both offer ample space, impressive versatility, excellent comfort and the dynamic driving qualities for which the brand is renowned. Also equipped with the latest generation of engines, BMW’s updated premium compact models for the Sports Activity Tourer (SAT) segment will be available from March 2018.

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BOVAG treedt toe tot Franchisenemers Netwerk Nederland

BOVAG heeft zich aangesloten bij Franchisenemers Netwerk Nederland, de organisatie waarin brancheorganisaties voor franchisenemers de handen ineenslaan voor wettelijke verankering van de Nederlandse Franchise Code (NFC).

De NFC zorgt voor een evenwichtigere verhouding tussen franchisegever en franchisenemer, waardoor franchisenemers beter beschermd kunnen worden in hun ondernemersrisico als gevolg van de franchiserelatie.

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ACM: Smart Holding mag Mascot Europe overnemen (concentratiebesluit)

Smart Holding mag Mascot Europe overnemen. Dat heeft de Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM) op 8 januari 2018 besloten. Er blijft na de overname voldoende concurrentie over.

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Catalonia's main separatist parties say they have agreed to re-elect fugitive Carles Puigdemont as president of the region later this month.

Puigdemont, who has been in Brussels since he was sacked in October over an attempt to secede from Spain, faces immediate arrest if he returns home.

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Sweden, Riksbank: Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting held on 19 December 2017

At the Monetary Policy Meeting on 19 December 2017, the Executive Board of the Riksbank decided to hold the repo rate unchanged at -0.50 per cent. It is expected that rate rises will begin at a slow pace in mid-2018, which is the same assessment as made at the meeting in October. The Executive Board has also decided to begin reinvestment of the bonds that mature in 2019 during January 2018.

The Executive Board noted that the Riksbank’s overall assessment of the economic outlook and inflation prospects in the years ahead remains the same as in the forecast in October.

Economic activity abroad is increasingly strong but global inflationary pressures are subdued and the normalisation of monetary policy abroad is expected to proceed slowly. In Sweden, economic activity is still strong and resource utilisation is higher than normal. CPIF inflation is close to 2 per cent, as are inflation expectations.

Several board members noted that although CPIF inflation is 2 per cent, it has taken time and required a great deal of support from monetary policy to achieve this. In order for inflation to remain close to 2 per cent going forward, monetary policy needs to continue to be expansionary. It is therefore too early to change the direction of monetary policy.

The Executive Board unanimously agreed to leave the repo rate unchanged at –0.50 per cent, with some slight differences in opinion regarding the appropriate time to initiate slow rate rises. Views also differed as regards the need to bring forward reinvestments of maturing government bonds.

Large maturities, amounting to a good SEK 50 billion, will occur during the first half of 2019. In addition, there are coupon payments of a total of around SEK 15 billion from January 2018 to June 2019. A majority of the Executive Board considers it appropriate to initiate reinvestments of these maturities and coupon payments as early as January 2018 and to allow them to continue until the middle of 2019.

This means that the Riksbank’s holdings of government bonds will increase temporarily in 2018 and the beginning of 2019. Two members instead considered it more appropriate to wait and decide at a later stage whether, and if so how, redemptions during 2019 shall be reinvested.

Several members discussed aspects of the normalisation of monetary policy and how much monetary policy room for manoeuvre the Riksbank has in relation to central banks abroad. In this context, it was pointed out that the development of the exchange rate is particularly important.

Developments on the Swedish housing market were also discussed. The increase in housing supply and slowdown in housing prices are welcome developments. Although there are risks associated with the developments on the housing market, it was also noted that the strong economic activity in Sweden and abroad indicates only a rather moderate fall in housing prices.

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Puigdemont Calls Imprisoned Catalan Politicians Hostages. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said that Catalan politicians remaining in Spanish prisons are "Madrid govt" hostages! 

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Noors echtpaar heeft zich ernstig misdragen aan boord van een KLM-vlucht onderweg naar Panama

Mishandeling crew-leden aan boord KLM vliegtuig

Al met al heeft  de crew zich tien uur bezig gehouden met het onder controle krijgen - en houden - van deze passagiers!

Passagiers en crew waren niet amused. Piloten hebben keer op keer de cockpit moeten verlaten, waardoor de veiligheid in het geding is gekomen.  

Op 6 januari van dit jaar heeft een Noors echtpaar zich misdragen aan boord van een KLM-vlucht onderweg naar Panama. Zij zijn daarvoor aangehouden door de Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMar) en vervolgens door de officier van justitie van het arrondissementsparket Noord-Holland voorgeleid aan de rechter-commissaris. De strafzaak dient bij de rechter op 18 januari.

Vuistslag

Op vrijdag 5 januari misdraagt een Noors echtpaar zich aan boord van een KLM-vliegtuig, dat zich op dat moment boven de Atlantische Oceaan bevindt, onderweg naar Panama. De 33-jarige man lijkt het vooral bij dreigende taal te houden, maar de 26-jarige vrouw vertoont agressief en gewelddadig gedrag.

Het begint bij het gooien van een bekertje naar de senior purser onder luid gevloek en geschreeuw. Op enig moment komt de vrouw naar de pantry, omdat ze vanwege haar gedrag geen alcohol meer krijgt geserveerd. Ze eist daar dat ze wel alcohol geschonken krijgt.

Daarbij krijgt de purser een vuistslag in haar gezicht. Alsof dat nog niet genoeg is trekt de vrouw aan de haren van de purser en maakt schoppende bewegingen naar haar hoofd. Een collega weet het slachtoffer uiteindelijk te bevrijden uit de klauwen van deze onhandelbare reiziger.

Ovenwanten

De gezagvoerder heeft de vrouw daarop aangehouden, waarna ze in de boeien is geslagen. Het luchtvaartpersoneel droeg ovenwanten tijdens deze handeling, omdat de verdachte bijtende bewegingen maakte. Ook spuugde zij in de richting van de copiloot.

Al met al heeft  de crew zich tien uur bezig gehouden met het onder controle krijgen - en houden - van deze passagiers. Eenmaal geland is het stel overgedragen aan de Panamese autoriteiten. Die hebben het echtpaar op de eerste vlucht terug naar Schiphol gezet, uiteraard onder politiebegeleiding.

In Amsterdam heeft de KMar hen op zaterdag 6 januari op Schiphol aangehouden. Vandaag heeft de officier van justitie hen voorgeleid aan de rechter-commissaris. Die heeft besloten dat de vrouw vast blijft zitten tot aan de zitting van 18 januari. De man is vrij gelaten omdat er onvoldoende bewijs is dat hij dusdanig ernstig wangedrag heeft gepleegd.

Unruly passengers

Gedragingen van onhandelbare reizigers, in dit geval aan boord van een vliegtuig, neemt het OM zeer hoog op. Veiligheid van passagiers staat immers voorop. Maar die veiligheid kwam door toedoen van de verdachte in het gedrang: leden van het cabinepersoneel hebben urenlang hun werk, waaronder belangrijke veiligheidstaken,  niet naar behoren kunnen doen, omdat ze zich intensief moesten bezighouden met gedragingen van verdachten.

Geweld in kleine besloten ruimte zoals een vliegtuig, hoog in de lucht, zonder dat passagiers en crew aan dat geweld kunnen ontkomen, veroorzaakt gevoelens van grote onveiligheid. Verdachte moet zich daarom bij de rechter verantwoorden.

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Eurocommercial announces purchase of dominant regional shopping centre in Sweden

Eurocommercial Properties N.V. today announced it has completed the purchase of the Valbo shopping centre in Gävle, Sweden.

Valbo is the only regional shopping centre in the county of Gästrikland, central Sweden, which serves a catchment of around 250,000 people. It has 37,200m² of lettable area and is well-positioned alongside the E16 motorway between Gävle and Sandviken.

The shopping centre is let to 70 tenants and is anchored by a 6,775m² Coop hypermarket. Other major retailers include H&M, Systembolaget, Clas Ohlson, KappAhl, Lindex, Stadium and the main Varner Group brands. The centre is attached, and partly-let, to an IKEA store. The retail zone is further strengthened by the nearby Valbo retail park where major tenants include Elgiganten, MediaMarkt, MIO and XXL.

Eurocommercial’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Lewis, said: “Valbo is an excellent shopping centre with significant potential for further improvement, and is an important addition to our portfolio of high-quality retail assets. Its location, tenant mix and lack of competition meet our core criteria for acquisitions in Sweden - the dominant external centre in a leading provincial city, anchored by a hypermarket.”

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Brent crude oil prices averaged $54/b in 2017 and are forecast to average $60/b in 2018 and $61/b in 2019. 

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Benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $64 per barrel (b) in December, an almost $2/b increase from the November average and the highest monthly average since November 2014.  

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CBS: Inhaalslag vrouwelijke 40-ers met werk zet niet door

Van de vrouwen die nu veertiger zijn, is het aandeel met werk hoger dan van de generatie vrouwen die in de jaren negentig van de vorige eeuw veertiger waren. In de laatste twee generaties is deze arbeidsdeelname echter nagenoeg gelijk gebleven, en nog steeds lager dan die van hun mannelijke leeftijdsgenoten. Dit blijkt uit recent CBS-onderzoek op basis van de Enquête Beroepsbevolking (EBB), waarin gekeken is naar de arbeidsdeelname van 45-jarigen uit verschillende geboortegeneraties. Deze zijn representatief voor de arbeidsparticipatie van de gemiddelde veertiger.

De oudste geboortegeneratie in dit onderzoek betreft mannen en vrouwen die tussen 1945 en 1949 zijn geboren. Zij waren 45 jaar in het begin van de jaren ’90 van de vorige eeuw. De meest recente generatie veertigers waarvan cijfers beschikbaar zijn over arbeidsparticipatie zijn mannen en vrouwen die tussen 1965 en 1969 zijn geboren: zij waren 45 jaar in het begin van de jaren ’10 van deze eeuw.

Ruim 57 procent van de vrouwen die tussen 1945 en 1949 zijn geboren, behoorde toen ze 45 jaar oud waren tot de werkzame beroepsbevolking. Onder de groep vrouwen die tussen 1965 en 1969 is geboren was dat aandeel 78 procent. De netto arbeidsparticipatie is de laatste jaren wel minder hard gestegen: onder vrouwen van de twee meest recente geboortegeneraties in die leeftijdscategorie (’60-’64 en ’65-’69) is deze nagenoeg gelijk. Onder mannelijke veertigers is het aandeel werkenden zeer stabiel: om en nabij 90 procent voor alle onderzochte geboortegeneraties.

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Dutch manufacturing output over 4 percent up in November

According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the average daily output generated by the Dutch manufacturing industry was 4.4 percent up in November 2017 compared to the same month one year previously. The growth rate was slightly higher than in October. For over two years now, manufacturing output has continually been above the level of the same period year-on-year. The strongest growth in November 2017 was seen in the pharmaceutical industry.

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(RPT) Dutch Manufacturing output prices up by 5 percent

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports that prices of Dutch-manufactured products were 5 percent up in November 2017 year-on-year. The price increase is higher than in the previous month, when prices in manufacturing were 3.5 percent higher.

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Arcadis acquires software and analytics firm SEAMS to improve infrastructure performance and resilience around the UK

Amsterdam, 10 January 2018 - Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD) has further grown its digital and data expertise with the acquisition of Sheffield-based software and analytics firm, SEAMS. Together, both businesses will be able to provide clients with a unique blend of expert technical and asset knowledge combined with advanced analytics. Seams was established in 2002 and employs 45 people. By acquiring SEAMS, Arcadis' data analytics and predictive analytics offering has now grown to more than 200 people around the UK.

Arcadis' acquisition of SEAMS will address an increasingly critical issue for water companies, energy providers and infrastructure operators, helping them to improve customer satisfaction, increase affordability and maintain high levels of service.

Combining Arcadis deep asset knowledge, industry insight and data analytics will elevate the traditional consultancy approach. Arcadis will be able to give the nation's biggest utilities and infrastructure providers the benefit of quicker, more detailed expert analysis. In turn, this will lead to reduced business risk at lower cost, equipping clients to provide better service for their customers in the short-, medium- and long-term.

Led by Managing Director, Mark Engelhardt, and Technical Director, Mark Turner, SEAMS' cutting-edge data and predictive analytics help to monitor performance and advise on resilience on behalf of their clients to safeguard their assets, minimise costs and reduce risk.

The transaction represents Arcadis' latest move towards a fully digitally enabled business in the UK and overseas, making things faster and more sustainable and improving quality of life.

Commenting on the acquisition, Alan Brookes, CEO of Arcadis UK, said: "The utilities and infrastructure sectors are one of the last to be digitally disrupted and if we're to meet future consumer and client demands, our industry needs to move forward quickly. At Arcadis, this is our key priority and we are rapidly accelerating the digitisation of our entire business for the benefit of our clients and to improve quality of life for their customers.

"While the volume of data is growing exponentially, the real value lies in our ability to interpret and understand how to use it to deliver valued benefits. This is where the SEAMS team comes in.  Working with our new colleagues to combine our expert industry views with increasingly data-driven insights will ultimately enhance the level of sophistication we are bringing to our clients, helping them to improve their operations and make things better for those that rely on their services."

Managing Director, Mark Engelhardt, said: "The drive for better corporate performance and returns sits at the heart of most businesses. Our approach is all about mining the plethora of data available to us and - most importantly - making the most effective use of it to inform the decision-making process.

"Our approach to data means that we can work with clients from the very earliest stages of strategic planning, right through to operational delivery, helping them to draw valuable insights that ultimately help to drive the best performance of their assets. Our EDA Analytics software already has a proven track record in the UK water, energy and transport sectors, and we are excited that by combining this with Arcadis' global reach, industry insight and deep asset knowledge, it will allow SEAMS to build new capability and access new clients and markets.

"The global demand for Advanced Analytics is at a major tipping point and the acquisition by Arcadis not only affords excellent career stability and development for our staff, but also presents the perfect strategic opportunity to propel both companies forward into their next stage of growth."

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Ablynx:  Consonance CapMan GP LLC notified Ablynx that it has crossed the 5% threshold on 5 January 2018

GHENT, Belgium, 10 January 2018 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels and Nasdaq: ABLX] today announced that it received a notification of shareholdings from Consonance CapMan GP LLC on 5 January 2018.

Consonance CapMan GP LLC notified Ablynx that it has crossed the 5% threshold on 5 January 2018 and now holds 3,481,841 Ablynx shares, representing 4.66% of the current 74,720,644 outstanding Ablynx shares (versus 5.04% notified previously on 11 October 2017).

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Kifid: verzekeringsadviseur moet wijzen op opschortende werking van inboedelverzekering

Vanwege een aankomende verhuizing sluit een consument via Portegies Advies (verzekeringsadviseur) een gewijzigde opstal- en inboedelverzekering af. De nieuwe woning moet eerst worden verbouwd. Vanaf mei 2016 geldt de opstal- en inboedelverzekering voor het nieuwe adres, het oude adres en voor een gehuurde opslag. Wanneer de consument na een inbraak op het nieuwe adres een inboedelclaim indient, blijkt dat de verzekering is opgeschort en consument geen schadevergoeding krijgt.

De consument heeft zich bij Kifid beklaagd over het feit dat de tussenpersoon zijn zorgplicht niet is nagekomen. De Geschillencommissie concludeert dat de tussenpersoon in deze situatie de consument had moeten wijzen op het feit dat dekking van de inboedelverzekering zou worden opgeschort, wanneer de woning op het nieuwe adres langer dan 180 dagen onbewoond bleef. Portegies Advies is tekort geschoten in zijn zorgplicht en zal de geleden schade aan de consument moeten vergoeden.

Begin november 2016 wordt op het nieuwe nog onbewoonde adres van een consument ingebroken. Gereedschappen, bouwmaterialen, rolluiken en een fotocamera worden ontvreemd. De consument dient via zijn verzekeringsadviseur een inboedelclaim in. Hij is onaangenaam verrast wanneer de tussenpersoon hem laat weten dat de verzekeraar de gestolen spullen niet vergoedt, omdat de betreffende woning meer dan 180 dagen onbewoond was. De consument beklaagt zich over het feit dat zijn verzekeringsadviseur hem niet heeft gewaarschuwd voor het feit dat na 180 dagen leegstand de inboedelverzekering voor het nieuwe adres zou worden opgeschort.

Zorgplicht

De Geschillencommissie van Kifid stelt, in lijn met eerdere uitspraken van de Hoge Raad, dat van een redelijk bekwaam en redelijk handelend verzekeringsadviseur mag worden verwacht dat deze de verzekeringnemer tijdig attendeert op mogelijke gevolgen voor de dekking van de verzekering, die voortvloeien uit voor de adviseur bekende feiten.

De tussenpersoon wist dat op het nieuwe adres een verbouwing gaande was en dat nog onbekend was wanneer de nieuwe woning kon worden betrokken. In augustus 2016 informeert Portegies Advies nog bij de consument of al bekend is wanneer hij naar het nieuwe adres gaat verhuizen. Tenonrechte heeft de tussenpersoon niet gewezen op het feit dat na 180 dagen leegstand de inboedel op het nieuwe adres niet langer gedekt zou zijn. Portegies Advies is de zorgplicht naar de consument onvoldoende nagekomen en dient de door consument geleden schade van bijna 9.000 euro te vergoeden.

De uitspraak (GC 2018-017) in deze klacht van een consument tegen tussenpersoon Portegies Advies is op verzoek van de consument niet-bindend. Tegen deze uitspraak is geen hoger beroep mogelijk bij de Commissie van Beroep Financiële Dienstverlening. Partijen kunnen de zaak nog wel aan de rechter voorleggen.

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Roche commences tender offer for all shares of Ignyta, Inc. for US$ 27.00 per share in cash    

Roche announced that it has commenced a cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Ignyta, Inc. (NASDAQ: RXDX) at a price of US$ 27.00 per share. The tender offer is being made pursuant to the previously announced merger agreement dated as of 21 December, 2017 among Ignyta, Inc., Roche Holdings, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Roche Holding Ltd, and Abingdon Acquisition Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Roche Holdings, Inc.

The tender offer period will expire at 12am midnight, Eastern Time, at the end of the day on 7 February, 2018, unless the offer is extended.

Roche has filed a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Abingdon Acquisition Corp. is the acquirer in the tender offer. The Offer to Purchase contained within the Schedule TO sets out the terms and conditions of the tender offer.

Ignyta has also filed a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement with the SEC on Schedule 14D-9, which includes the unanimous recommendation of the Ignyta board of directors that Ignyta stockholders tender their shares in the tender offer.

Closing of the tender offer is conditioned upon customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and there being validly tendered and not validly withdrawn a majority of the outstanding shares of Ignyta common stock. The offer is not subject to any financing condition.

Following successful completion of the tender offer, any shares not acquired in the tender offer will be acquired in a second step merger at the same price of US$ 27.00 per share. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the first half of 2018.

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Kantar UK:  Bumper Christmas as UK shoppers spend £1 billion more than last year

Kantar Worldpanel data on grocery market share in the UK for the 12 weeks to December 31 2017.

The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks to 31 December 2017, show that the average household shrugged off economic worries to spend a record £1,054 on groceries over the three months including the Christmas period. Despite tightening household budgets, shoppers continued to trade up to more expensive options: a record £469 million was spent on premium own label lines in December alone with chilled items, fresh meat and bakery featuring prominently.

Overall, supermarket sales increased in value by 3.8%, with an additional £1 billion ringing through the tills compared to the same festive period last year. Shoppers parted with £747 million on 22 December alone, making the Friday before Christmas the busiest shopping day ever recorded. For most of the year, location tends to be the most important factor in choosing where to shop, but over Christmas customers are actually prepared to travel further in search of specific festive products or better value.**

Mince pie sales rose by 13.2% year on year, washed down with £3.9 billion worth of alcohol over the 12 weeks. Alcohol sales grew by 5.1% year on year, with spirits leading the charge: up 7.6% as consumers favoured festive tipples featuring gin and whisky. Shoppers, it seems, are splashing out despite fewer promotions to tempt them. Only 36% of spending was on items on offer this year – the lowest level of promotional activity at Christmas since 2009. Consumers are still facing more expensive groceries: like for like prices rose by 3.7% in the 12 weeks to 31 December, a slight increase on the 3.6% rise reported last month.

Wine -mince -pie

Among the retailers, Aldi and Lidl are level pegging in the battle to be the nation’s fastest growing supermarket, both growing sales by 16.8% year on year. In some ways Christmas is a tricky time for the discounters: they tend to lose a little market share compared to earlier in the year as many shoppers return to the more traditional supermarkets in search of old favourites. Rising to the challenge, Aldi and Lidl collectively managed to attract nearly one million additional households during the past three months.  Aldi increased market share by 0.8 percentage points year on year to capture 6.8% of the market, with 39% of trips including at least one product from its premium Specially Selected range.  Meanwhile, Lidl grew market share by 0.6 percentage points to stand at 5.0%, helped by a 22% sales increase in the dairy aisle and a £23 million boost from fresh produce.”

Tesco was the fastest growing of the big four supermarkets, with sales up 3.1% during the past 12 weeks.  This is the fastest sales growth the retailer has seen since June, helped by a 6.4% increase in sales of standard Tesco own label. With Christmas Day falling on a Monday this year, Tesco Express, like other convenience stores, benefitted from restricted Sunday opening hours for larger supermarkets and were able to capitalise on consumers preferring to shop closer to home immediately before the big day. Despite a successful festive period, Tesco is still growing behind the market with a 0.2 percentage point fall in market share to 28.0%.

Meanwhile, Asda’s sales grew by 2.2%. This was particularly helped by a strong online performance which saw the retailer’s average shopping basket increase to just over 16 items. Despite this, the grocer’s market share declined by 0.2 percentage points to 15.3%.

Morrisons increased sales by 2.1% – with strongest growth coming from ambient and frozen foods – though the grocer’s market share fell by 0.2 percentage points to 10.7%.  Sainsbury’s managed to increase sales across its convenience stores, larger supermarkets and online deliveries, growing overall by 2.0%. This is against the backdrop of the retailer’s continuing strategy of moving away from promotions, selling 5.6% fewer items on offer than during the same period last year. Sainsbury’s market share fell by 0.3 percentage points to 16.4%.

Sales at Waitrose increased by 2.3%, but fell by 0.2% at Co-op, as the retailers captured 5.2% and 5.8% of the market respectively. Iceland grew sales by 2.9%. Supported by a 7% boost for own label sales, more than half of the increase came from products beyond the retailer’s traditional frozen lines.

Overall online supermarket sales enjoyed their biggest ever Christmas: up 4.9% year on year. Ocado comfortably outpaced the online market, increasing sales by 8.4% to account for 1.3% of the grocery market.

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United Airlines (UAL) today reported December 2017 operational results.

UAL's December 2017 consolidated traffic (revenue passenger miles) increased 2.7 percent and consolidated capacity (available seat miles) increased 3.7 percent versus December 2016. UAL's December 2017 consolidated load factor decreased 0.8 points compared to December 2016.

"Last month, our incredible employees braved subzero temperatures and peak holiday loads to lead United into first place among competitors in mainline on-time departures, completion factor and on-time arrivals," said Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines.

"It was the best-ever December for our operation, putting us in a great position to continue to deliver a solid operation for our customers as we head into 2018."

The company now expects fourth-quarter 2017 consolidated passenger unit revenue to be about flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, driven by stronger yields and better close-in demand.

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Short-Term Energy Outlook

Highlights   

•             Benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $64 per barrel (b) in December, an almost $2/b increase from the November average and the highest monthly average since November 2014. 

•             Brent crude oil prices averaged $54/b in 2017 and are forecast to average $60/b in 2018 and $61/b in 2019. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot prices are forecast to average $4/b less than Brent prices in both 2018 and 2019. EIA’s forecast for the average WTI price for December 2018 of $58/b should be considered in the context of NYMEX contract values for December 2018 delivery. NYMEX contract values traded during the five-day period ending January 4 suggest that a range of $40/b to $85/b encompasses the market expectation for WTI prices in December 2018 at the 95% confidence level.

•             U.S. regular gasoline retail prices averaged $2.48 per gallon (gal) in December, down almost 9 cents/gal from the average in November but 22 cents/gal higher than at the same time last year. U.S. regular gasoline retail prices averaged $2.42/gal in 2017 and are forecast to average $2.57/gal in 2018 and $2.58/gal in 2019. 

•             U.S. crude oil production averaged an estimated 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017 and is estimated to have averaged 9.9 million b/d in December. U.S. crude oil production is forecast to average 10.3 million b/d in 2018, which would mark the highest annual average production in U.S. history, surpassing the previous record of 9.6 million b/d set in 1970. EIA forecasts production to increase to an average of 10.8 million b/d in 2019 and to surpass 11 million b/d in November 2019.

•             Dry natural gas production is forecast to average 80.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2018, a 6.9 Bcf/d increase from the 2017 level, which would be the highest year-over-year increase on record. Forecast dry natural gas production increases by an average of 2.6 Bcf/d in 2019. 

•             Henry Hub natural gas spot prices are forecast to average $2.88 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2018 and $2.92/MMBtu in 2019, compared with the 2017 average of $2.99/MMBtu. EIA’s forecast for the average Henry Hub price for December 2018 of $3.04/MMBtu should be considered in the context of NYMEX contract values for December 2018 delivery. NYMEX contract values traded during the five-day period ending January 4 suggest that a range of $1.83/MMBtu to $4.89/MMBtu encompasses the market expectation for Henry Hub prices in December 2018 at the 95% confidence level.

•             Coal production increased by 45 million short tons (MMst) (6%) in 2017 in response to high demand for U.S. coal exports. Coal production is forecast to decline by 14 MMst (2%) in 2018 and by 18 MMst (2%) in 2019, as export demand is expected to slow and natural gas prices are expected to stay below $3/MMBtu during much of the forecast period, which contributes to less coal use for electricity generation.

•             EIA expects the share of U.S. total utility-scale electricity generation from natural gas to rise from 32% in 2017 to 33% in 2018 and to 34% in 2019, as a result of low natural gas prices. Coal's forecast generation share falls from 30% in 2017 to slightly lower than 30% in 2018 and 28% in 2019. The nuclear share of generation was 20% in 2017 and is forecast to average 20% in 2018 and 19% in 2019. Nonhydropower renewables provided almost 10% of electricity generation in 2017, and its 2018 share is expected be similar before increasing to almost 11% in 2019. The generation share of hydropower was more than 7% in 2017 and is forecast to be slightly lower than 7% in both 2018 and 2019.

•             After declining by 1.0% in 2017, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are forecast to increase by 1.7% in 2018 and by 0.2% in 2019. Energy-related CO2 emissions are sensitive to changes in weather, economic growth, and energy prices.

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Talks Between South Korea and North Korea on the Winter Olympics

The United States welcomes the January 9, meeting between the Republic of Korea and North Korea aimed at ensuring a safe, secure, and successful Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The United States remains in close consultations with ROK officials, who will ensure North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics does not violate the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council over North Korea’s unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs. As the President said to ROK President Moon on January 4, the United States is committed to a safe and successful Winter Olympic Games, and the United States will send a high-level presidential delegation to the Games. During the same conversation, the two leaders also agreed to continue the campaign of maximum pressure on North Korea toward the goal of complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Secretary Tillerson continues to closely consult with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

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