In addition, he noted, the debt reduction and containment of financial costs helped offset the lower capital gains registered last year by the sale of assets.

The turnover of Gas Natural Group grew by 7.4% in 2011, to add 21.076 million euros, while gross operating profit (EBITDA) amounted to 4.645 million euros, up by 3.8%.

The management board will propose to the AGM a shareholder remuneration charged to the results of 2011 of 821 million euros, up 10.7% over the previous year.

The group highlights the growing importance of internationalization of its business. 40% of EBITDA comes and international business, having registered an increase of 10% during the year, thanks to the sale of gas and improved activity in Latin America.

Investments of Gas Natural Group reached 1.514 million euros, 2.5% less than in the previous year due to the completion of the construction program of combined cycle gas. During the year increased 21% investment in regulated gas business.

The decline in investment and improved earnings contributed to a reduction of debt by 9.5% to 17.294 million euros. The debt ratio rose from 59.6% to 54.5%, and if you discount the tariff deficit financed by the company, of 1,231 million, net debt would amount to 16.063 million, with a debt ratio of 52, 7%.

Gas distribution

The EBITDA of the gas distribution activity in Spain fell by 2.1%, while in Latin America this variable showed a fall of 2.2%. In Italy there was a growth of 5.4%.

As the business of electricity distribution in Spain sought to EBITDA of the regulated activity of 680 million euros, implying an increase of 5.4% over the previous year.

It can be said that the need is a feeling of dissatisfaction about something related to the human condition. People need shelter, clothing, food, security, self esteem, etc.. There are needs created by society, but are characteristic of human nature.

Desires are the ways in which people want to meet your needs. To meet the need for food, one may wish to eat a dish of chickpeas, a fish, a steak, a dish of caviar, etc.. Similarly, the need can be met by dressing various types of clothing, of very different prices, and so on. That is, as well as basic human needs are relatively few, their wishes, how to meet them, are numerous and varied.

Finally the demands of people refer to the willingness to fulfill desires by purchasing those items desired. Not enough to want something, but to satisfy that desire is necessary that the person you want a particular object has enough purchasing power to buy.

It is important to note that marketing activities do not “create needs” as is sometimes said. The needs exist independently of marketing. What we can do marketing actions is to influence people’s wishes, suggesting various ways to meet existing needs, providing information about available products. And you can also influence demand by presenting products in an attractive, easily accessible and affordable.

Given the above, to make an efficient management of our purchases, we must consider the following 8 key points:

Apply several offers: it is difficult to know whether we are buying it when we have one budget, surely we are letting out some savings. Not a matter of going crazy, two or three bids are sufficient to clarify our ideas.

Compare products equivalent: in the event that we are studying the offers are not identical products, we try to find a match. For example, if we are thinking of buying office cost savings recycled toner cartridges instead of the original mark of our laser printer, the number of copies you could print each serves as the unit of measurement equal (= price x copy).

Centralization of purchases: if we negotiate together our total requirements of a particular item or service, we will increase volume, we will reduce resources and increase our power to negotiate with our supplier.

Concentration of shopping: we will find products that independently do not have a large volume, but if we can find add considerable volumes. For example when buying office equipment for our company, we will need folders, pens, printer cartridges, paper. It makes no sense to distribute these small volumes of different suppliers. In these cases we are interested in analyzing the supply globally.

Digestion shopping: sometimes we have no choice but to distribute volumes between different supply companies on the strategic nature of the product or service within our organization or products with limited access. This also helps us stay hanging around in case the supplier has a problem (broken stock, financial difficulties, bankruptcy, …).
After sales service: in case we need assistance once we made ​​the purchase, for example, to inquire about the use of a machine or using the guarantee Who’s going to serve? How much will it cost? How long will it take us to solve the problem? We have to fix these situations in the purchase contract and always leave them in writing.

Test Provider: Many times, despite a significant improvement in price, we are reluctant to make the change of a particular supply. Surely we pass through our mind ideas like: source X is accustomed to the way we work, in all the years we worked together not failed us. It’s true that we must take into account these factors and, no doubt, confidence is a positive point when evaluating an offer but why not try new ones? For example, we move a given volume on a trial to a new provider, not 100% of the total, to see how such works and prevent those already working with us to rest on our laurels.

Test market: last year, we do not only with new needs, goods or services we buy regularly, we bring them to a similar analysis. Depending on the importance in our total budget, will increase or diminish the frequency of this analysis.