Archive for the ‘news’ Category

HP would eliminate 30,000 jobs worldwide

May 19, 2012 - 8:12 am Comments Off

 

Meg Whitman, head of HP for 8 months, is expected to announce the removal of 25,000 to 30,000 jobs worldwide, according to the Wall Street Journal. The group employs around 350,000 people. If the magnitude of the plan may seem surprising in a recipient company, the announcement itself is not really a surprise. After publishing a net income of $ 1.5 billion, down 44%, for a turnover down 7%, to $ 30 billion in the first quarter of its fiscal year, Meg Whitman warned that " difficult years "waiting for the group.

Since it launched the consolidation of two divisions: Personal System Group (computers) and Pinting (print) PPS (personnal and printing system). the boss also said that savings would be achieved, particularly regarding the cost structure in order to encourage industrial investment. The merger of these two divisions should logically lead to job cuts.

If HP still holds its position as world number one PC with 17 Payday Loan for Bad Credit.1% market share (according to Gartner), it is no less rushed. His challenger, Chinese Lenovo, is now only 4 points. Meg Whitman was among the first to point out that Apple had sold more than iPad HP PC in the last quarter of 2011. Now, HP is temporarily out of the race shelves. There should be making a comeback in October with the launch of Windows 8.

If recent weeks, the U.S. giant has highlighted its PC division, they do not neglect it must also continue to invest in future markets. Especially cloud computing and business services. Hence the need to increase efficiency. Meg Whitman explained last week that a "strategy builds on the strengths of the business." She had not said when it was accompanied by a weight loss program.

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A French trader costs billions to JP Morgan

May 12, 2012 - 8:32 am Comments Off

 

Banks still have not digested the 2008 financial crisis. JP Morgan has announced after the close of U.S. markets heavy losses of over 2 billion following the massive purchase of products that were derived originally from the 2008 financial crisis. CEO Jamie Dimon spoke of losses of "litigation of approximately $ 200 million" and "pre-tax losses the brokerage of over $ 2 billion" during a conference call surprise faxless pay day loans. The boss of the first U.S. bank by assets added that these losses could still grow up to an additional billion dollars. The asset portfolio has complained yet "a lot of volatility," said the leader. "We will manage up", but "it could cost us up to a billion dollars or more" and "the risk will remain for several quarters," added the CEO.  

Photo credits: LUCAS JACKSON / REUTERS

The Paris Bourse accelerate the pace

May 4, 2012 - 1:20 am Comments Off

Presidential in major cities Paris | Leeds | Lyons | Toulouse | Leeds | Sheffield | Liverpool | Bordeaux | Lille

Spanish gas for the Ile-de-France

May 2, 2012 - 9:00 am Comments Off

 

Observers who doubt the competition in the French energy market may return to their position. This is a Spanish group that emerges winner of the European tender for the Syndicate of the gas and electricity in the Ile-de-France (Sigeif) for the supply of natural gas and energy efficiency services to benefit 267 communities and public institutions in the region. Gas Natural, the first Iberian gas, gets the two most important lots, or 73% of the volume allocated to the tune of 1,100 gigawatt hours (GWh). The amount of the contract, which runs over two years (from 1 July 2012), reached 50 million euros.

EDF and Poweo hunted

Behind Gas Natural, GDF Suez won a lot – the power of public offices of housing and hospitals, 320 GWh in all – a market of 13 million euros. Finally, the alternative supplier Altergaz, a subsidiary of Italian oil Eni, retrieves the provision of the reception center and hospital care of Nanterre – a single site for a volume of 40 GWh. The three operators selected by the Sigeif renew completely the range of partners. For the previous command (over 2010-2012), were respectively selected suppliers EDF, Tegaz, a subsidiary of Total, and Poweo. Therefore a triplet hunting another.

"The competition was tight. As for larger volumes, all operators are interested, soberly summarizes Jean-Jacques Guillet, President of Sigeif and also deputy mayor of Chaville (Hauts de Seine). Both sides win. While suppliers have visibility, our members enjoy good purchasing conditions. "

In view of the regulated gas prices, the prices obtained show, according to the batches, gains from 18.9 to 24.7%, a reduction of the annual bill of 19 million euros for members of the group of commands . This bill would be $ 84 million with regulated prices. In detail, the Regional Council of Ile de France, through the power of high schools, carried 4.4 million euros in savings. And nearly 8.8 million for the 122 municipalities grouped by the Ile Sigeif. "Certainly, in the previous tender, we got a discount of about 40%, but back then we were in the gas bubble. It is no longer the case today, "says Jean-Jacques Guillet.

The tender of Sigeif is the largest in France in the energy, to the extent of a Parisian crown representing some 5.3 million people. This procedure in the field of gas on the rise: already, new communes want to be associated with orders for the period 2014-2016. "The expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with its ease of delivery, gives flexibility to the gas market. We wish more than ever to enjoy, "concluded Jean-Jacques Guillet.

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Netherlands: the austerity measures adopted, markets relieved

April 28, 2012 - 10:36 am Comments Off

 

After seven weeks of political crisis, the good student of the euro area has fallen into line. The Dutch Minister of Finance, Jan Kees de Jager, snatched on Thursday night, a tentative agreement with the liberal VVD, D66 Democrats, the Greens of GroenLinks and ChristenUnie promising to return to 3% deficit in 2013.

The Dutch stability program will be sent this Friday in Brussels before the deadline of April 30. For achieving compliance with the Stability Pact, the Netherlands had to find 14.4 billion euros in savings. This agreement has been hailed by assitôt markets: the borrowing rate to 10 years in the Netherlands fell back to the lowest of the year.

Retirement at age 67 in 2024

The austerity plan, rejected by the extreme right – provides for cuts in many areas. Government salaries will be reduced. The health system will be reformed in order to save 1.6 billion euros. The subsidy on home loans, very sensitive issue for decades, will be revised downwards, which will allow the state to recover 5 free instant credit score.4 billion euros.

Revenues are revised upwards: the richest taxpayers must pay a "tax crisis". The retirement age will increase by one month, starting next year, to reach 66 years in 2019 and 67 in 2024. VAT from 19% to 21% and the tax paid by banks will be doubled.

The political agreement was obtained following a procedure described as "unprecedented" by former Prime Minister Mark Rutte. His finance minister has succeeded in five days what the government (VVD, CDA) had failed to do in seven weeks. Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), which supported the government broke off negotiations last Saturday.  

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The car manufacturers want to save fuel

April 17, 2012 - 11:32 am Comments Off

 

The final product of the electric range of Renault, the ZOE, will be launched in September. It will complement the Fluence, Kangoo ZE and Twizy.

Electric cars are the most striking example of the efforts made by manufacturers and their suppliers to reduce vehicle fuel consumption. "The first reason for this trend is the cost of fuel for consumers," acknowledges Sébastien Amichi, partner at Roland Berger.

Second reason: the regulation. In Europe, Brussels will impose financial penalties on manufacturers based on grams of CO2 emitted per kilometer traveled. The purpose is to emit less than 130 grams per vehicle range, on average, end of 2015 and less than 95 grams in 2020.

The major manufacturers put a lot of money on the table to achieve this. "We spent 500 million euros over five years to develop our range of diesel hybrid," explained William Faury, Director of R & D of PSA Peugeot Citroen to launch this range. For him, the PSA group spends "50% of its R & D to reduce emissions."

"The range of opportunities for manufacturers is extremely broad," says Sebastian Amichi. Electrification to-tal and is the last rung of the ladder, which passes through the microhybridation (the system startup "Stop and Start"), all hybrid, popularized by To-Yota with its Prius, or the Hybrid.

The success of these different modes of consumption reduction is difficult to determine. If PwC expects 1% of electric vehicles worldwide in 2017, Roland Berger is considering a rate of 4 to 5% in 2020. The use and type of vehicles used can also play. "In the U.S., where there are very few and very large diesel vehicles, the hybridization rate could be much higher than that achieved in Europe," says Sebastian and Amichi.

Lighter vehicles

Electrification is not the only point on which manufacturers and suppliers work. Weight is also a field of expression of the fight against pollution. "Reducing the weight of a car saves 10 kilograms 1 gram of CO2 per kilometer," says Lawrence and Burelle, CEO of Plastic Omnium.

The steel is still very present in cars, but it is increasingly challenged by other materials such as aluminum or composite. The French Plastic Omnium, the world's leading manufacturer of bumpers and tanks, has invested 10 million euros in its R & D Sygmatech, near Lyon, to strengthen its expertise in the field.

Proof of this relief strategy: the new Peugeot 208, launched a few weeks ago, is lighter than its predecessor, the 207. This is a first for a compact vehicle.

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EDF wins three offshore wind fields

April 6, 2012 - 7:04 am Comments Off

 

The games are made for the launch of the giant project of installing offshore wind turbines off the French coast. Reportedly, Alstom and EDF are expected as the big winners of the operation. The State has chosen to allocate their consortium of three fields that were at stake: those of Saint-Nazaire, Fécamp and Courseulles-sur-Mer.

Spanish Iberdrola, the French partner Areva, would win him the field of Saint-Brieuc. The fifth and last field, the Tréport, wait again, the tender was declared unsuccessful on about.

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Opel unions oppose plans for GM

March 27, 2012 - 10:28 am Comments Off

 

Tension mounts between Opel workers and their U.S. parent, General Motors (GM). The unions are still hoping to be able to bend GM, when approaching a crucial supervisory board, scheduled for Wednesday, during which its European subsidiary must submit a proposal for the closure of two plants in Europe. In a letter to the chief executive of Opel, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, unions representing 40,000 employees in the twelve production sites in Europe – in Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Spain and Hungary – say they will refuse any negotiations with management on wage cuts, which make competition between sites.

"Dear Mr. Stracke we will conduct any negotiations with you at the local level," they write according to an excerpt of the letter published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The unions are responding to requests by management at each plant separately. Opel claims including greater flexibility in work schedules, a waiver of premiums for weekends and worked an abandonment of wage demands. The sites do not bowing to these guidelines should not expect to be selected for the production of new models, according to Peter Thom, head of production at Opel.

30% reduction in production capacity

Karl-Friedrich Stracke said a few days ago that he would respect the commitment not to close any site before the end of 2014. According to German media, GM is preparing to announce a reduction of about 30% of production capacity. The project would include the closure of sites in Bochum, Germany (3200 employees) and Ellesmere Port, UK (Vauxhall factory, 2100 employees) payday loans lenders. And relocation destinations in the cheap production costs: Poland, China, Korea, Mexico.

GM operations in Europe have lost billions of dollars over the past decade and plant closures is seen by the world number one automotive and investors on both sides of the Atlantic as crucial to restore the group's profitability in the region.

Between seven and ten plants in too

But unions are headwind against this strategy, claiming that GM could increase profitability by increasing sales or by locating more production in Europe. "GM repeats regularly with excess capacity equivalent to 500,000 cars a year, we have two factories in too, and the new manufacturing manager visited the sites one after the other by playing against each other," said Thursday a union representative of the supervisory board at Opel.

"We know the main points of the strategic plan could be presented Wednesday: he plans to plant closures and no growth for the company," he added. "If it is voted, the entire union side will vote against this plan." For Dan Akerson, Managing Director of GM Europe's automotive sector has a total of between seven and 10 plants in too. The closure of one or two sites by GM could therefore increase the pressure on his new French ally, PSA Peugeot Citroen, for it is committed on the same track.

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Life insurance goes into the green

March 25, 2012 - 4:00 am Comments Off

 

The reverse trend was apparent in January. After seven months of withdrawals exceed deposits, and a record 3.8 billion euros in net outflows (deposits less withdrawals) in December, flows on life insurance contracts appear to be stabilizing. In February, the payments for the first time since last August were higher than withdrawals, according to figures released by the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) and the Group of mutual insurance companies (Gema).

The amount of deposits has been higher than 300 million euros to the withdrawals. A level far below the record numbers in July 2011 to 2.7 billion euros. Since this rise is not due to increased payments for savers on their contract. They have instead further decreased by 14% compared to January 2012. The trend reversal is in fact due to a sharp slowdown in redemptions, which fell 24% from the previous month. They still remain higher than 21% from their level in February 2011. In fact, Bernard Spitz, president of the FFSA, remains cautious, and denies seeing a continuing trend payday loans online.

Leaded by the crisis which encouraged investors to choose short-term investments, or to deleverage rather than investing, life insurance has lost ground to rival the booklet Who is disputing the preference of the French. The latter has also continued its growth with a collection of 1.93 billion euros in February. A total of 222.3 billion euros are now placed on the 60 million booklets A possessed the French. An amount that is still very far from those placed on life insurance contracts which reaches 1.377 billion euros in late February.

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SeaFrance: five employees indicted

March 23, 2012 - 9:20 am Comments Off

 

Five employees of the ferry company SeaFrance, liquidated on January 9, were indicted on Thursday for "theft by an organized" and "breach of trust", a judicial source said. Six men in all had been placed in custody at Portel (Pas-de-Calais) Tuesday. One of them was left open, and five others were brought before a judge Thursday afternoon before being indicted.

Justice investigation into reality since April 2010 about alleged fraud on sales on board ships. The prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer has opened a preliminary investigation following a complaint from the management, the auditor has identified numerous "gaps" and "errors" in accounting for sales on board ships. An audit is a shortage then estimated at 3 million euros per year. According to a source familiar with the matter, the damage would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A technique known in the restaurant industry

The "scratch" has always existed on the way: at the time when the duty-free still existed, smuggling of cigarettes, alcohol duty-free perfumes or thrived, public knowledge, with the approval of marine accomplices. The fraud continued afterwards. The code of silence about these illegal practices has gradually cracked along with the company came close to bankruptcy free credit report and score.

Of the five defendants for "forgery and uttering false", "breach of trust", "theft by an organized" and "concealment", three bartenders and a "supervisor" employees of the company, potential followers of the "casting ", a technique known in the restaurant industry of keeping-roll by itself a part of the goods intended to be sold at the bar, liquor and food. "In this case, the casting had particularly large proportions," says a close case.

Substantial gains

The two leaders of the CFDT union SeaFrance, Didier Cappelle, the secretary of the Maritime Union North, and Eric Vercoutre, secretary of the company are not part of the team presented to the judge Thursday.  

Occurred in police custody this week, however, are the first since the start of the investigation and should announce further in the coming weeks. In this case, the union house is believed to have covered the traffic, which would have allowed some sailors to take substantial gains.

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