Archive for the ‘international’ Category

December 14, 2011 - 4:37 pm Comments Off

The family group is very discreet about its level of profitability, but ensures that the results are sufficient to guarantee its independence and its development without the need for external partner and relatively little use of banks.

Part of the offshore production

"In 2012, the economic environment would be bad in Europe and the United States, recognizes Jean Cassegrain, but we feel no impact in our stores." As a result, the company, which opened 20 stores this year in the world, plans to continue its expansion, even in mature markets. Longchamp is well to open a shop in Nantes. "Our priority is to open boutiques in major European cities in China," says the CEO. Longchamp will open a store in Milan in March.

October 28, 2011 - 1:40 pm Comments Off

The success of Uniqlo store in Paris, opened in 2009 near the Opera, gave wings to the patrons of the Japanese brand. "We want to open 10 to 20 stores in Paris as soon as possible," Le Figaro reveals Nobuo Doma, chief Europe and the United States of Fast Retailing, the Japanese group owner of Uniqlo, but also Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse Tam Tam . Uniqlo opened yesterday XXL version of his store of Defense, opened in 2007, whose size has increased from 200 to 2,000 square meters payday loans for self employed.

Among the addresses targeted next by the brand, working with the developer Unibail to deploy in France, are "the Champs-Elysées, the Rue de Rivoli, the Rue de Rennes and the Forum des Halles," said Nobuo Doma. Once these projects, Uniqlo will other cities "like Lyon."

Eurozone: Berlin set the terms

October 27, 2011 - 2:32 am Comments Off

From our correspondent in Berlin

The symbol will not have escaped anyone. The first act of the EU summit held in Berlin earlier this afternoon. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recueillli a very large majority, including within its own ranks, having traced the Bundestag outline of the stabilization plan for the euro area, as envisaged by Germany.

Some 503 deputies of 596 votes cast, approved the "motion" filed jointly by the government majority and the opposition. The two pages of the text set to Angela Markel its room for negotiation, deal with its European counterparts, tonight no question of charging more the European Central Bank, making it taste too many Germans. And not about to spend more than 211 billion euros already pledged by the country.The Chancellor had to fly to Brussels with a clear mandate, intended to strengthen the positions defended by Berlin.

She assured members that the solutions involving the ECB for the enlargement of the European Financial Stability Dondi "are no longer on the table" for negotiations provided for in the evening. A key point for Berlin, where the risk of inflation is the line not to cross. Therefore the purchase of government bonds on the secondary market should be transferred to the ECB EFSF. The outstanding guarantees amounting to 211 billion euros in Germany, will not be increased, has added Merkel.The conclusions of the summit will EFSF then again ratified by the Bundestag, the chancellor promised.

Need to amend the Treaties

"Unemployment has not been this low in 20 years" in the country said Angela Merkel, stressing that it will work on the implementation of "viable" tonight online payday loans. But Germany can not continue to act as if its European partners are in trouble. This is why Europe must become a "union of stability." The objective is clear: "prevent the crisis from spreading to other European countries."

For Greece, the Chancellor said that the goal is to "find a solution that would allow Greece to have a debt / GDP ratio of 120% by 2020." "It is impossible without the private sector participates more strongly than had been decided in July," she said.The discount should be between 50% and 60%, parliamentary sources said.

"The report of the troika shows that Greece is the beginning of a long and difficult road," said Merkel advocating sending a permanent mission in Athens to help the country return to growth .

For Angela Merkel, the crisis demonstrated the need to modify the EU treaties to impose greater "stability culture" in the economic and monetary union. Berlin wants to include enhanced penalties, with the possibility of prosecution before the European Court of Justice, for countries that violate the rules of the European Stability Pact. "We must repair the imperfections of the euro, now or never," she insisted.

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Light beverages will also be taxed

October 21, 2011 - 10:44 pm Comments Off

Light beverages will be taxed eventually. MEPs adopted on Friday the principle of a tax on soft drinks doubled and extended to beverages with artificial sweeteners. Two cents per can, this should bring 240 million euros instead of 120 million euros initially planned, at the announcement of the measure by François Fillon on August 24. If the government were in favor of doubling the tax to finance a reduction in the cost of agricultural labor, he was strongly opposed to its extension to drink with sweeteners.

Even today, the budget minister, Valérie Pécresse, had urged members to "not lose its coherence" to the measurement and not to "confuse" the public health message.In view of the fight against obesity, taxing drinks lights and soft drinks, "this is not the same thing," had earlier noted the Minister of Health Xavier Bertrand. But MPs were finally ignored the opposition and intense lobbying against the measure of industry.

Tax benefit of reduced fuel oil

In addition to the tax on sodas, parliamentarians got down to the vote of other anti-deficit. Several amendments adopted Thursday night or the night of Thursday to Friday eliminate or reduce existing tax benefits.

This applies to the tax benefit of heating oil used for professional use (in agriculture or construction), that members have reduced Thursday to complete the financing of the lower cost of agricultural labor.The domestic consumption tax applicable on this energy source was increased from 5.66 euros to 7.20 euros per hectolitre. It should bring 80 million euros.

MEPs also voted Thursday night a special tax applicable in 2012 on sales of duty free subject to industrial CO2 quotas. 200 companies overall are expected to be affected by this measure, which should yield about 200 million euros. "It is not an embryonic carbon tax," warned Valérie Pécresse, but "to generate CO2 allowances free to give new entrants."

Measuring more anecdotal in terms of expected revenues (2 million), the reduction of 15% per year of detention applicable to capital gains from the sale of a horse race or sport, has been deleted.The objective of this measure in the Chamber called "anti-Morin" or "anti-Bayrou," referring to the taste of these members for riding, is "to end a plus for horse owners" , explained Thursday the deputy PS Christian Eckert. The reduced VAT rate applied to the horse industry has been maintained, however, because the number of jobs at stake, valued at 6000.

(With AFP)

Goldman Sachs, in trouble, addresses cups of coffee

October 3, 2011 - 1:56 am Comments Off

Coffee breaks should be shorter now for the employees of Goldman Sachs in New York. In recent days, in fact, they have at their disposal coffee cups smaller than normal. The bank, which has embarked on an extensive program of savings $ 1.45 billion in mid-2012, estimates that reducing the size of the cups 35 cl at 29 he will save "thousands of dollars ". In the same vein, the machines "cashless" (to recharge with cash cards can be used to pay vending machines) are becoming increasingly rare in buildings. According to Goldman Sachs, it will pay less armored car to transport the money raised.

Other banks, Wall Street stars, also address their operating costs.The offices are less green and Morgan Stanley, which decided to cut the budget plant. "Every dollar not spent is a dollar that can be used for growth," says her boss wisely James Gorman. Bank of America canceled several expensive meeting, while Barclays will strictly monitor the bill for business phones for its employees.

Bonuses reduced and job cuts

More importantly, the impressive bonus paid out to employees at year end should be reduced. Although for the moment, the cumulative 65.69 billion dollars, set aside for this purpose in the first half by Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, do not show it yet. In recent await the end of the fourth quarter before taking any decisions about it.

Saving measures will also affect employment high quality business cards.Goldman Sachs cuts and positions could not be about 3% of the workforce (1,000 people), as expected so far, but 5% of the total. Bank of America will eliminate 30,000 positions, JPMorgan Chase 3000.

A disastrous quarter

The time has come for U.S. investment banks to tighten their belt after a disastrous third quarter. The very poor stock market performance of major Wall Street banks over the period, characterized by loss of 16% to 49% over the period, illustrate the phenomenon.

The reason: the pressure around the debt crisis in Europe affects the banking sector on both sides of the Atlantic, the new cases of mergers and acquisitions and bond below the 2008/2009 levels, and economic slowdown in the U.S. and the euro area.Not to mention the always present impacts of the subprime crisis.

Symbol difficulties, Goldman Sachs is expected to announce on 18 October, its worst quarter since going public 12 years ago. The consensus of analysts now speak of an earnings per share of $ 1.35 (against 2.65 dollars a month ago), a loss of profitability of 50% over the year. Some even refer to a quarterly loss that the bank would be its first episode since the Lehman Brothers in 2008.

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Credit Agricole wants to lose weight of 50 billion euros

September 29, 2011 - 5:40 am Comments Off

After Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, is the turn of Credit Agricole announced asset sales. As announced by the Financial Times on Wednesday, the bank's objective of a structural reduction of 50 billion euros of its debt between June 2011 and December 2012.

Without going into details, the statement, issued while the CEO of Credit Agricole, Jean-Paul Chifflet, speaking to investors in a Paris hotel, said that three branches are involved. The first, the investment banking and investment will suffer a reduction in its funding requirements from 15 to 18 billion euros, which will involve the phasing out of "certain activities after a portfolio review "and" the closure of non-strategic locations abroad. "

For specialized financial services, reducing financing needs will be 9-11000000000 including "the sale of the loan portfolio." Finally, to retail banking in France and abroad, the effort reduction is most important, between 21 and 23 billion euros.

Target capital confirmed

Tuesday, the head of Crédit Agricole in the UAE had told Reuters that the bank had closed its merger and acquisition in North Africa and the Middle East.

With these assignments, Crédit Agricole plans to reduce its refinancing program medium to long term from 2012 to 12,000,000,000 euros markets in 2012 against 22 billion in 2011 poor credit personal loans.The institution also confirmed a target of 9% equity in 2013.

Limited exposure to the peripheral countries

Crédit Agricole profits from these ads to minimize its exposure to euro-zone countries in trouble, she calls "limited and manageable." This is 0.7% of total assets in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy. The countries receiving international aid (Greece, Ireland, Portugal) weigh only 0.07% of the balance sheet, according to the bank. Regarding Emporiki, its Greek subsidiary, Credit Agricole said conducting "enhanced measures" on the diversification of the refinancing and the cost of risk.

This exposure to the debt crisis in the eurozone has earned the bank a deterioration in his note by Moody's ten days ago, as its rival Societe Generale. At the Paris Bourse, to 15 hours, the Crédit Agricole sells 1% to 5.13 euros in a market down by 0.47%.

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Local authorities will have their bank

September 24, 2011 - 12:24 am Comments Off

On one stone? Intense negotiations are under way for at least a solution, at least in part, to two simultaneous problems: the failure credit faced by French local authorities, and the fragility of the balance sheet of oversized French-Belgian bank Dexia.

Concordant sources, in fact, Dexia, the Deposit Bank and postal workers, under the watchful eye of the state, to create a new bank, public, local communities. Friday, none of the parties did not wish to make comments.

The new entity will take over long held by Crédit Local de France (CLF), ancestor of Dexia, with mayors, councils and other French regions.Its creation would be an opportunity to ease the minds of elected officials, heated by the explosion of interest on certain loans "toxic", including underwritten by Dexia before 2008. The new state-owned bank could put forward a much more wise.

Above all, his arrival on the market would open the tap of credit to local communities. In a financial crisis, Dexia and its competitors, such as savings banks, Societe Generale and foreign banks have largely abandoned this market in recent months.

The Postal Bank and the Caisse des Depots would hold society together, Dexia that may remain a shareholder.They should also take control of all or part of the loan portfolio of existing communities with Dexia French (70 billion euros) and Dexia Municipal Agency: such operators shall ensure, by means of mortgage bonds, the refinancing of the commitment of Dexia. A new ownership would bring also the financial strength necessary to maintain its "AAA" rating.

Pirouette history

For Dexia, the operation could be an opportunity to significantly reduce its balance sheet totaling more than 500 billion euros personal business card. It has already been reduced by 15% year on year, thanks to the divestment of assets made in the first half. But despite this recent treatment, the group remains fragile, especially in the current distrust of markets against financial groups in Europe.

"The idea is on the table.Its terms are far from being arrested, "said a source familiar with the matter. The role of Dexia, the volume of the transferred assets, their quality – particularly with regard to loans that are the subject of disputes with communities who have subscribed – all of which are still on the table. Many criteria which depend then the financial terms of the transaction.

The reactive pattern of lines of inquiry explored from 2008-2009. Even then, the idea of ​​the deposits of La Banque Postale deal with Dexia loans (assets of French local authorities are placed in the Treasury) was considered. The arrival of the CDC in the capital of La Banque Postale has facilitated the project. The project has also the flavor of a sacred spin the story to the Fund: Crédit Local de France was born of a branch of the Caisse des Depots, which then end up twenty years after a historic activity.But for the CDC, the issue is complex: it has (with the NOC) 20% of Dexia, it has recapitalized with the Belgian shareholders in 2008 to see the action rolled back in recent months. Perform an operation which finally reduces the bank's balance sheet and liquidity requirements would constitute a significant step forward. This is what its proponents would argue with the board, including representatives from Belgium, possibly as early as next Tuesday.

Wall Street should be shaken

September 22, 2011 - 5:24 pm Comments Off

A new session promises to be eventful Thursday on Wall Street. Futures on the Dow Jones fell by 2.06% to 10,831 points, those on the Standard & Poor's let go of 2.23% to 1136.10 points and the Nasdaq lost 2.32% to 2208.20 points.

Like European and Asian stock markets, Wall Street should not escape the anxiety of investors pessimistic after the U.S. central bank on the global economy. The central bank has held that the U.S. economic recovery was "slow" and threatened by "high risk".

For this, the Fed announced an operation to extend the maturity of the assets it holds up to 400 billion dollars by June 2012."One can interpret this decision by the Fed as the will not to launch a" quantitative easing "3 (monetary easing to boost the U.S. economy) in the immediate future, says Arnaud Poutiers, executive vice president of IG Markets short term personal loan. Indeed, "Operation Twist" is intended to influence the long bond rate, but without increasing the size of the Fed's balance sheet, so without creating money ".

On the currency markets, the euro continued to sink against the dollar: the euro back below the $ 1.35 (-0.91%).

On the corporate side, Moody's lowered the credit ratings of Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup. The agency that the state may fly to their rescue.

United Technologies will buy the equipment for Goodrich Aircraft $ 16.5 billion (12.2 billion euros) in cash, a transaction that would be the largest acquisition of U.S. industrial giant in 10 years.

FedEx has reported an EPS according to the consensus of $ 1.46 per share in the first quarter, a turnover of 10.52 billion dollars (against the consensus of 10.32 billion dollars).

Nuclear stress test: EDF makes his copy of 7000 pages

September 14, 2011 - 9:56 pm Comments Off

No less than 7000 pages posted! This is the amount represented by the reports of its nineteen nuclear power plants (58 reactors in operation over the EPR under construction at Flamanville) EDF is currently on schedule to transmit to the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) . The "policeman" of the atom is committed, through the voice of its Director General Jean-Christophe Niel to publish in full on its website.

The delivery of copies by EDF and other operators of nuclear facilities is only the first step in the process of "revaluation additional security" required by François Fillon after the accident at the plant in Fukushima, and conducted in parallel with the European approach called "stress tests". Experts from the ASN and IRSN (Institute of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection) now have three months to publish their report.Extra work for which the ASN has even mobilized to reinforce the "three or four young retirees". Even before the peer review of these reports by experts from other nuclear countries in Europe, between January and April 2012, some foreign experts will participate in the analysis of the copy of EDF.

Alongside the work on paper, the ASN program completed in October of 38 inspections in power, focused on protection against earthquakes, floods, power loss, loss of cooling and crisis management.

During December, the ASN requested EDF as it deems necessary measures – as it has already been done to strengthen the concrete slab of the Central Fessenheim. From January to April, reports of national safety authorities will be considered by their European peers.In the nuclear environment and the hexagonal Quai d'Orsay, is expected to undergo strong pressure from Germany to close the central border Fessenheim, Cattenom and Chooz.

France Televisions spends 20% of its budget for audiovisual

September 1, 2011 - 9:32 am Comments Off

Create a "collective imagination". It is the mission of public broadcasting as Remy Pflimlin, CEO of France Televisions. If he wants to "broaden the public of France Televisions" is less to redress hearings, which have been somewhat volatile, that to build "a public service that addresses all the French," he said Yesterday at the conference back from France Televisions. We must "constantly innovate and ensure that France Television is a reflection of society," says Rémy Pflimlin.

The group announced 30 new leaders of its branches, "to go to an increasingly diverse France." Diversity will also be found in the contents with 100 new programs on the channels of the group. In this wave of new, Rémy Pflimlin is willing to assume some failures."It's the price we pay for innovation," says he.

Result: the cost of channel grid is up this year. It reached 810 million euros on France 2, 820 million euros for France 3 (half of which is now devoted to regional programs), 45 million to France 4, France 5 to 145 million, 28 million for France and 180 O million for the nine channels overseas first. And the contract of objectives and means signed this summer with the state provides for increases of 3% per year over five years cheap credit report. Remy Pflimlin has identified two strategic areas: information and creation.

Back to movie nights

For information, France Televisions has the largest supply of the European audiovisual with more than 50 hours a day. JT and the hearing on 20-h de France is close to that of TF1. The group discusses the election campaign including the program "Words and deeds."On the creation side, the group now spends 20% of its budget to financing of entertainment, or 420 million euros. A significant increase compared to 365 million spent by the team of Patrick de Carolis. The group has signed an agreement that should lead to the development of new French drama. But the results will be on air in a year or two. France 2 will broadcast "contemporary dramas and thrillers," and France 3, of historical fiction. The cinema is back with such a "great movie night" on France 3 on Thursday with Frederic Taddei.

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