Posts Tagged ‘news’

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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Slowdown in world trade in 2012 and 2013

April 13, 2012 - 4:00 am Comments Off

 

At least two lean years ahead of world trade. After the 5% increase in volume recorded in 2011, already far removed from 13.8% in 2010, the growth of international trade in goods and services will fall 3.7% this year, predicts the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This slowdown shows that "downside risks remain high and that we are not out of the woods," warns its director general, Pascal Lamy. It reflects not only the crisis in the eurozone, where the risks of recession are not excluded, but the consequences of the tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand, which disrupted production chains across Asia.

Even in China growth stalled. The World Bank has revised its forecast for Thursday GDP growth (GDP) of 8.4% to 8.2% this year. And if HSBC says the country will "rank among the top ten global markets by 2050," the bank regrets that "consumption is slow" and that "external demand remains weak."

However, it is developing countries that should benefit most from world trade in 2012, with exports and imports respectively up 5.6% and 6.2%, against 2% and 1.9% for developed countries . But the WTO, who hopes a recovery in the economy of the United States and Japan, fears and weaknesses of Europe too much of a rise in commodity prices.

"Trade restrictions"

The Geneva-based organization is little more optimistic for 2013. Although it contains the growth of international trade will rise to 5 installment payday loans.6%, with growth of 7.2% of exports of developing countries and 4.1% in developed countries. At the same time imports are projected to increase by 7.8% and 3.9% respectively. But this is little more than the 5.4% average annual increase recorded over the last twenty years. No room for complacency.

And it is certainly not sufficient to preclude the temptations of nationalism from a number of countries and the risks of a return to a more or less creeping protectionism. Pascal Lamy sees no protests yet openly declared. But he fears that "trade restrictions" appear and are "undermining the benefits of openness" in international trade. It is imperative "to revitalize the trading system to prevent such a scenario happens," pleads the Director General of the World Trade Organization.

Yet it was precisely the mission that had set the negotiations on the Doha round to liberalize world trade up. Unfortunately, begun in 2001, they are still deadlocked. And increasingly threatened by the proliferation of free trade agreements signed over the world without the WTO.

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Theolia on the road to recovery

March 30, 2012 - 5:24 am Comments Off

 

"In 2010 we re-starting the engine of our development. In 2011, we intensified this process. " Two years after Théolia came close to filing for bankruptcy, its general manager, Fady Khallouf, welcomed the turnaround began. The operator Wind "now walk on two legs" on one side, Theolia operates parks for its own account – and it is green electricity producer – on the other, it develops and installs wind turbines on behalf third parties. "This is the guarantee of a balanced growth that allows us to make the most of opportunities," says Fady Khallouf. This refers in particular to long-term contracts -15 years or more – which can have suppliers from wind.

Currently, the assets of Theolia reach an installed capacity of 910 megawatts (MW), which operated for 604 partners. In 2011, the company has commissioned 18 low rates payday advance.4 MW in the Hexagon. But his biggest development project in Morocco is concentrated, with a 300 MW a third scheduled to be operational in 2014. "The site will be commissioned in installments: engineering studies are completed, with the National Electricity (ONE), the Moroccan electrician, we are preparing to launch tenders to select the different OEMs, "said Fady Khallouf.

To Theolia, 2011 is the first year that the operator posted a net operating profit excluding items, up from 10.3 million euros. But the group posted a net loss of 39.2 million euros, following the impairment of goodwill in Italy where the system of feed-in tariffs is being revised in proportions much less profitable for the operators. "We cleaned up the balance sheet, we can now develop on a sound footing," said Fady Khallouf yet.

Corporate bankruptcies remain at a high level

March 15, 2012 - 6:12 am Comments Off

 

Despite a second half which was to fear the worst, business failures were flat last year compared to 2010 when they were increased by 20% between 2007 and 2009.

According to a study by Deloitte and Altars, 58,195 companies have experienced serious difficulties in 2011. A decrease of 1% compared to 2010. 18,518 were placed in receivership. 39,677 direct into liquidation.

These figures are significantly higher than pre-crisis, during the period 2000-2007. "The failure level is impressive," says Martine Rivet, magistrate from the Commercial Chamber of the Tribunal de Grande Instance, Strasbourg cited in the survey Deloitte-Altares.

Areas heavily affected are the retail, grocery stores and food processing. The building also continues to suffer. Companies that have the highest increase in defaults are those with less than six years of existence (31,813 procedures) and companies conducting more than 50 million euros in turnover. Geographically, most of the failures are concentrated in the Ile-de-France (20%) in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (11%) and in the Rhone-Alpes (10%). The momentum of the second half of 2011, 2012 promises to be difficult. In January and February, 10,889 companies were placed in receivership, liquidation or judicial safeguards against 10,294 in 2011 and 9724 in 2010 over the same period.

March, "the heaviest month"

Companies with more than 50 employees are the first victims with a 42% increase compared to January-February 2011. Mars will be a good barometer to know the trend of the year. "This is traditionally the heaviest month for the number of firms in difficulty," Thierry Millon analysis, design manager at Altares.

The crisis has sometimes served as a catalyst to speed falls predictable. Some companies in fact knew of the difficulties for several years, due to insufficient capital and a fall in profitability for a long time. Others could no longer compete with their competitors. "The competitiveness of the French economy needs to be asked," concludes Vincent Batlle, a partner at Deloitte.

In transport, many small companies have thrown in the towel, victims of declining sales, rising fuel prices and foreign competition. German companies have cut jobs in Alsace, where they had settled in the 1980s, to turn back to Germany. "These companies were looking for a cheaper production base and an opening on the French market. Today we are witnessing a counter-movement, "says Claude master-Maxime Weil, court administrator in Strasbourg. In Marseille, the commercial court only deals with records of small businesses because the industrial base has weakened.

The coming months could be very difficult for LBOs (leveraged buy-out) purchased with funds that are struggling to repay their debts.

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PSA and GM rivals are not convinced

March 7, 2012 - 1:08 am Comments Off

 

At a time when many manufacturers are seeking solutions to their difficulties in Europe, the alliance between PSA Peugeot Citroen and General Motors supplies all conversations at the Geneva show. The French on Tuesday launched a capital increase of one billion euros, after which GM will take 7% of the shares of PSA, the Peugeot family from 31 to 25.2% of the capital. This operation gives us "the ability to make the necessary expenditures to investments with GM on a number of projects," says Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon, the CFO. These are "projects we wanted to achieve, but we did not have the capacity to do so quickly," everything "with greater efficiency than if we were alone," he says. Ideas that focus on small cars, station wagons, "crossover" and minivans. The first vehicle will arrive in 2016

"We have identified the programs on which we want to work with PSA. Others could be added to as and when cooperation takes place in a climate of trust, "said his side Stephen Girsky, vice president of GM. Thanks also to the pooling of purchases, both grouped hope everyone save $ 1 billion per year from 2016.

"PSA needs cash"

The least we can say is that the two rival groups are skeptical. Renault, Nissan ally of Japan for thirteen years (which it owns 43.4%, while Japan has 15% of French), has been especially reserved. "In our design, an alliance must be based on cross-shareholdings. This way, everything a manufacturer implements to take his partner's expertise, he gets a real return, "financially, reacted Carlos Tavares. The COO of Renault also recalled that in his view, create a common purchasing structure, and especially the engineers to work together, "takes time". In short, the operation is over, he said, an "equity participation of GM" in a context where PSA is "in need of cash."

Daimler believes that the combination PSA-GM is not the same nature as its partnership with Renault (through cross-holdings of 3.1%). "As our cooperation with Renault is to add strength, especially this new alliance is trying to tackle challenges in Europe," said Dieter Zetche, the boss of the German specialist high end.

The site of Aulnay-sous-Bois threatened

All observers point out that this approximation leaves unresolved the issue of overcapacity of the two manufacturers on the Old Continent payday loans. "They have the same problem, I wonder how they will learn from each other to solve it," said Carlos Tavares. PSA and GM said they would address this issue separately. PSA has its problems of overcapacity in Europe "on 18 to 24 months" to come, has also said Denis Martin, director of industrial PSA. By the presidential election, an announcement seems impossible, but the site of Aulnay-sous-Bois, which will produce the Citroen C3 until 2014, seems particularly threatened after that horizon. The future sites Sevelnord, near Valenciennes, and Madrid, is also uncertain. Meanwhile, Opel could close two new plants in Europe, Germany and Britain, according to U.S. media.

For his part, Sergio Marchionne, the boss of Fiat-Chrysler, says it "would not like to be in the shoes of GM," because "a stake of 7%, which does not provide an integration of European , is not the right answer "immediately, even if beneficial effects will be to" medium and long term. " Fiat "remains open" to a merger with a third partner. "All" potentially of interest to manufacturers, including Renault, apart from the German Volkswagen and Daimler, which are not considered "technically compatible with Fiat."

The U.S. company invests 304 million

PSA announced details of its capital increase of one billion euros, intended both to seal an alliance with General Motors and give itself the means to continue investing. The price of the transaction, which runs from March 8 to 21, was set at 8.27 euros, reflecting a discount of 42% over the course of Monday. However, existing shareholders have preferential subscription rights (DPS), which have a value. For them, the discount is reduced to about 32%. General Motors has committed $ 304 million to acquire 7% stake. Of this amount, 80 million used to purchase approximately 55.6% of the DPS of the Peugeot family. This will subscribe the capital increase for the balance – representing an investment of around 150 million – and will see its stake reduced from 31% to 25.2% of the capital of the manufacturer.

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November 10, 2011 - 5:40 am Comments Off

France, she missed electricity this winter? Nine months after the German decision to phase out nuclear reactors eight of seventeen will be stopped before the end of the year, the question of feeding the Hexagon concern to the government. Yesterday, on the occasion of the presentation of the report of the electricity transmission network (RTE) on the transition of winter, the industry minister, Eric Besson, has expressed its "vigilance".

Governments based on the calculations of the EDF subsidiary responsible for networks and very high tension. In the first nine months of the year, French exports of electricity to Germany increased by 11% over 2010, while imports fell by 50%.With all these elements, RTE suggests a risk of disruption "moderate fast cash loans."

Regarding the availability of the generation French, it is mixed: most important for the period January, at least in contrast to the months of November and December, due to the revised schedule of the facility.

Wednesday, Eric Besson welcomed RTE can count on an average of 1400 MW: Further expansion of wind power, new combined cycle gas came expand the portfolio of means of production.

Remains the black spot in Britain, has long been known. The region, which produces only 8% of the electricity it consumes, is particularly fragile. Certainly, infrastructure building projects exist, but they are slow to be realized.

November 2, 2011 - 4:36 pm Comments Off

CEO and American colossus original Welsh, Howard Stringer, missed the turnaround as promised by Sony. For the fourth consecutive year, the electronics group of Tokyo will be in the red. A loss of 90 billion yen (841 million) is expected for the fiscal year ended March 31, instead of a profit.

The various decisions of closures, massive layoffs and alliance with Samsung in flat panel LCD TVs have been failures. Certainly, the fate of the Japanese groups persists. Penalized first by the great earthquake that froze production in the archipelago, they now face a strong yen, measures to save energy drastic floods in Japan and Thailand.Production of television sets will also be halved, falling to 20 million units per year instead of 40 million Payday advance.

For seven years, the business of television is losing. It will be in the red for the eighth consecutive year. And should head out of water in 2014. In this context, the new challenge that has been made in mobile phones seem to be a bit risky. Sony has decided to resume participation in its joint venture with Ericsson joint smartphones.

Of course, the sun never sets on the group. But it is the issue of replacing Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony since 2005, that arises. His predecessors have missed the shift to digital music. Left him spun the televisions and internet tablets. A market where it will arrive late.

His successor will probably be a Japanese.

Complementary health: 8% increase

October 17, 2011 - 8:32 am Comments Off

Mutual did not took off. And three-quarters of the French objected to the new tax increase on complementary health from 3.5% to 7% since October 1, according to a Harris Interactive survey for the French Mutuality published last Thursday. Over 85% believe that this will result in lower purchasing power. Mutual claim because they are forced to pass on the increase to their policyholders. "In recent years, the taxation of complementary health" officials "went from 0% to 13.27% since in the new 7% tax added to the CMU of 6.27%, that mutual insurers and health are the only ones to fund.We can not support such increases without raising rates, when, in addition, new regulations require us to strengthen our reserves and our solvency, "said Philippe Mixe, the president of the FNIM, the National Federation of Independent Mutual .

Only the GMF took the opportunity of talking to her, announcing that it would not apply to customers the increase decided by the government. A promise that did not cost too much: it has launched its health contract for just over a year, and still only 30,000 policyholders. "We want to develop healthy techniques and results are good. It is normal that we do enjoy our policyholders, "said Patrice Forget, Chief Operating Officer of the GMF. But the GMF stands alone.Even other newcomers in this market – as Amaguiz, the Internet subsidiary of Groupama, which has just launched its contract health – have incorporated the tax rates.

According to Mercer, the French who have subscribed to one of these individual contracts can expect an average increase of 8% of their bonus next year. An increase that reflects not only the tax but also the increase in health spending at the expense of additional no faxing pay day loans.

Contracts "storey"

Insured employees as part of their business are not better off. "The increase will be at least 7% on average," said Philippe Mixe. An invoice less and less accepted by employers. "From 2007 to 2011, contributions of corporate contracts have increased by 6.80% per year, including taxes," says Eric Demolli at Mercer.Today, faced with employees very attached to these contracts, companies, always keen to control costs, tack. "They seek to spread the increase over time in negotiating with insurers, mutual and pension funds. They play better competition. And they refine the guarantees, for example by eliminating reimbursements to "actual costs" too expensive, "says Eric Demolli.

More and more companies are opting for contracts as "storey" in excess of a basic "minimum" common to all employees, the company funded in whole or in part, employees who wish to be better protected may subscribe for options, they bear the cost alone.In their individual contracts, insurers also offer more health insurance "a la carte", where everyone can dose coverage of individual items (ambulatory care, hospitalization, dental, optical) depending on its needs and its budget. They also imagined, as in the last contract Amaguiz of low-cost, to benefit the insured packages for reimbursement when they increased from the previous year have not been exhausted, optics, for example.

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The CAC 40 is reluctant

October 14, 2011 - 1:24 am Comments Off

The Paris Bourse after opening down slightly, sailing around the equilibrium after a session that saw the CAC 40 fly over 2%. In the morning, the CAC 40 in advance symbolically from 0.14% to 3235 points in early trade. Investors do not follow the mood on Wall Street yesterday and Asian markets this morning. The latter found confidence to the rhythm of advertisements European leaders on a plan to end the crisis. They particularly appreciate the position of the European Commission yesterday called for an urgent recapitalization of the banks deal with the debt crisis. Remarks relayed by the Minister of Budget Précresse Valerie, who, like Berlin, says it is "a necessity". France is willing to inject even said herself of public money to support its banks if necessary.

This commitment reflects a shift in the euro area on the Greek case.The taboo of failure is no longer excluded. The Chairman of the Commission José Manuel Barroso, called for "decisive action on Greece" while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said yesterday that the overall level of indebtedness of Greece should be reduced s' it reaches an unbearable level, "to provide better opportunities" in the country. The discount will have to accept that private investors in the second aid package to Greece adopted in July would be 39% if we used the current market prices to assess the risk profile of the country, instead of 21% estimated at the time, said yesterday an official of the Institute of International Finance (IIF).

New vote in Slovakia, the euro rises

Concerning the Relief Fund in the euro area (EFSF), which must be expanded to support the plan to end the crisis, Slovakia has promised another vote tonight or tomorrow.It should be positive this time because four opposition parties agreed to support the government in place, Maturity of early elections. These data give back to the euro insurance. The European currency found the threshold of $ 1.38 in morning trading.

Oil, however, is small decline: a barrel of "light sweet crude" for November delivery lost 86 cents to 84.71 dollars. Barrel of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery yielded nine cents to 111.27 dollars for the last trading day of the deadline. The operators claim to be concerned before the publication of figures on weekly petroleum reserves in the United States no fax pay day loans. Another indicator to the American agenda: the weekly jobless claims, trade balance and budget.

Values ​​to follow

Total (-0.98% to 36.20 euros)

The oil company has discovered gas and oil off the coast of Norway, announced this morning the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. According to preliminary estimates, this discovery is to be between 19 million and 101 million barrels. To dig the well that led to this discovery, Total was allied with Norway's Statoil, authorities said.

Carrefour plunged 4.16% to 17.17 euros

The group launched Thursday a new warning on its results in 2011, relying now on a decline in operating income between 15% and 20%, 15% instead of the planned end of August.

Lafarge (2.28% to 29.62 euros)

The French cement company announced an asset swap with the U.S. Martin Marietta, which he will sell the aggregates quarries and concrete plants ready and asphalt, in exchange for aggregate quarries and distribution sites .

Casino (1.98% to 62.71 euros)

The retailer saw its organic growth slowed in the third quarter with declining sales of its hypermarkets in France, but the group has confirmed its objectives for 2011 include the strengthening of its market share in the Hexagon and improving margins at Franprix-Leader Price.

Areva (0.72% 22.49 euros)

The consortium of the French group and Germany's Siemens called the Finnish operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) to engage in the path of cooperation with the approach the final stages of construction of the EPR reactor Olkiluoto 3 (OL3). The French nuclear group has also been licensed by the U.S. authorities allowing it to construct and operate an enrichment plant in Idaho.Finally, the boss of the group, Luc Oursel, raised the possibility "to smooth or to shift some investments to reduce risk and improve (the) financial situation"

ArcelorMittal (-0.38% to 14.47 euros)

The group decided to shut down two blast furnaces located near Liège in particular because of the deteriorating global economic situation, the financial daily reported on Wednesday Belgian L'Echo, information later confirmed by the unions.

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The station celebrates 30 years of TGV and looks to the future

September 25, 2011 - 11:12 am Comments Off

SNCF never ceases to celebrate 30 years of its TGV. After the launch last May of a train specially decorated, a new celebration takes place Saturday night in the Gare de Lyon in Paris. The President of the SNCF Guillaume Pepy, and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, will attend a particular video show projected on the facade of the Gare de Lyon which left the first TGV, the September 22, 1981.

A few figures summarize the tremendous success of the first high-speed train developed by Alstom to accommodate all age groups, mobile executives, young, old … In all, nearly two billion passengers have taken in 30 years. 83% of French people have traveled at least once on board the TGV, which now serves 230 stations.

But the station pulled the alarm a few years ago commercial success, the TGV is not an economic powerhouse.The accounts of the industry are deteriorating, the fault, including the tolls the operator must pay to Réseau Ferré de France, the operator of the system for the use of high-speed lines. Today, nearly 30% of high-speed lines in circulation are not profitable. Guillaume Pepy regularly reminded that the company can no longer afford to invest in next-generation trains no fax payday loans.

The future railway landscape

Several projects of new lines are under way: the Rhine-Rhone, just opened, the Tours-Bordeaux, Brittany or the Loire region, not to mention the circumvention of Nimes and Montpellier. But others are virtual as the Paris-Caen. The success of the TGV has indeed given to the regions want to have "their" TGV.But the question of funding problem and use increasingly common in public-private partnership, a financing involving the state and communities in building a private group, is not a panacea.

After the festivities, Focus on the rail, a kind of rail Grenelle oragnisé by the Department, will again bring together industry players at round tables austere. Objective: To shape the future landscape railway … and give the French the prospect of other celebrations in the coming decades.

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