International Business News

CNP Assurances announced Friday that the market decline of savings in Europe had continued to weigh on its sales in the first quarter and said the change of government in France maintained the uncertainty the life insurance industry.

The turnover of the insurer fell 12.9% during the first three months of the year, to 7.028 billion euros.

The action CNP Assurances signed Friday in early trading shrinkage greater than that of the sector to 9:50, the title lost 2.27% to 9.7330 euros, while the European index limited its losses to 1.35%.

"There is a wait due to the structure of taxation and savings in general," he said during a conference call the Director Financial Group, Antoine Lissowski. 

He explained that it was difficult to assess the impact that doubling the ceiling of the Livret planned by President-elect Francois Hollande on appetite of French for life insurance.

It is currently suffering from competition from banks, seeking to attract customers and their deposits with savings accounts attractive.

The persistence of low interest rates also makes traditional life insurance products unattractive in terms of yield.

Despite a set back, CNP Assurances has managed to generate a first quarter net profit up 1.8% to 275 million euros through improved financial markets. 

The group took advantage of the upturn to continue its program of disposals of risky assets, particularly in Italy and Spain.

"The improved market conditions in the first quarter allowed us to record an increase in our earnings while actively pursuing our strategy of selling risky assets," said the director gen ; eral, Gilles Benoist, in a statement.

Antoine Lissowski said his group no longer had to date of Greek sovereign debt and had reduced its exposure to equity markets.

The CFO did not want to comment on the planned replacement of Gilles Benoist.

NOC has postponed its annual meeting from 7 to 29 June, after the parliamentary elections. 

At that time a new boss of the Caisse des Depots (CDC), the majority shareholder of NOC, should have been appointed.

Director General of the CDC until early March, Augustin de Romanet applied for membership to the estate of Gilles Benoist as Director General of NPC.

"It is not possible to renegotiate the pact budget", said on Monday a spokesman for German Chancellor. This ensures that Francois Hollande will be welcomed "with open arms." German Chancellor Angela Merkel (the Bundestag by December 2, 2011).

Germany has raised its conditions Monday to President-elect Francois Hollande, ruling out any renegotiation of the European fiscal pact and all initiatives "growth deficit".

"It is not possible to renegotiate the fiscal pact", which has already been "signed by 25 of the 27 member states of the European Union", which aims to strengthen discipline in public finance management, said the spokesman of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Seibert, during a press conference.

He was asked about the willingness of Mr. Holland to add a component to the pact on growth. In this regard, Mr. Seibert also reiterated the conditions of Berlin: Germany does not want "a growth deficit, but growth through structural reforms."

Clearly, there is no question for the Merkel government in Europe to promote recovery policies, but to promote the path chosen by Germany and the labor market reforms implemented by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder .

French President elect had scored on his victory speech by his willingness to "give to the European dimension of growth, employment, prosperity, the future" and explain in Berlin and other partners that "the austerity could no longer be inevitable. "

A little later, Angela Merkel said that Francois Hollande is welcomed "with open arms" during his first visit to Germany, taking place after the handover. "We work well together and intensively," said Merkel at a news conference in Berlin, stressing that "the Franco-German cooperation is essential for Europe and we all want Europe to succeed" .

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 1.7% Monday as investors attempt to hedge against new fears about the crisis in the euro area, after the publication of data that emphasize the dependence growing Spanish banks vis-à-vis the European Central Bank (ECB).

The Nikkei lost 167.35 points to 9,470.64, dropping below the psychological threshold of 9,500. The Topix broader, sold 1.4% to 803.83 points.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) would like to see banks of the Old Continent to restructure in order to raise funds directly in the markets without relying on cash-rate cut by the Bank Central Europe (ECB) and the regulator intends to propose measures to this effect at the end of its meetings Tuesday and Wednesday.

The debt crisis weighed heavily on the financing capacity of European banks, leaving them little choice but to resort massively in recent months to two injections of liquidity to three years ECB. Spanish and Italian banks will be among those who most borrowed during these operations.

"The ABE discusses possible policy measures that could accompany this process of deleveraging and restructuring to ensure it takes place in an orderly and measured, allowing banks to maintain a regular supply of credit to the real economy, "said Chairman of the EBA, Andrea Enria, in a dossier presented to finance ministers of the European Uni ; enemies last week.

European regulators want banks such as replacing their short-term financing through funding of longer maturities, to avoid having to call too often investors. 

Such a development would also help banks prepare for the scrutiny of their business models in a new series of stress tests ("stress tests") pre ; for next year.

The EBA also seek this week to ensure that banks with 31, according to its criteria, a total need of fresh capital of 115 billion euros take the necessary steps to fill the gap by the June 30

Andrea Enria estimated last week that the recapitalization plan was "on track" but that some banks were based on "overly optimistic assumptions" about how they plan to raise capital. 

SPANISH AND ITALIAN BANKS: CAUTION, FRAGILE

In the opinion of analysts, the Italian bank Monte dei Paschi, particularly should struggle to achieve by June 30, the goal of a capital ratio "hard" 9%.

The managing director of the bank, Fabrizio Viola, said last week that Montepaschi fill nearly a third of its capital requirements – which amount to € 3.3 billion – by converting hybrid securities into shares. Italian media reported Sunday also that the bank plans to cut heavily into its portfolio of sovereign debt and close 150 branches.

Some Italian banks like to see the EBA to backtrack on its requirements for emergency funds to the crisis, citing the easing of tensions on sovereign debt markets since the two operations rations refinancing three years of the ECB.

The Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, told Saturday that ABE could relax its requirements for capital. But he said it was a medium-term and that the EBA should not take any decision on this matter at its next meeting.

Spanish banks are also in sight, many are afflicted by the bursting of the housing bubble and the deterioration of the economy.

In case some institutions could achieve their own funds by the June deadline, Andrea Enria proposed that the new emergency fund in the euro area, the mechanism Europé in stability (MES) can directly inject funds to troubled banks after its introduction in July.

At this stage, the MES is designed only to assist States. 

The EBA board will also consider progress made by banks in limiting bonuses was decided in January 2011.

The EBA report is expected after Easter.

UBS has hired Andrea Orcel, head of mergers and major acquisitions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Europe, to co-direct its investment banking activities alongside Carsten Kengeter.

The Swiss bank said Andrea Orcel, an Italian who has orchestrated some of the largest European banking in recent years, would take up his new duties July 1.

At UBS, he worked under the supervision of one of his former colleagues from Merrill Lynch, Sergio Ermotti, now CEO of Swiss number one industry. 

Andrea Orcel, a forty who is fluent in four languages, have served more than 20 years at Merrill Lynch, where he was appointed manager in September 2009, Global Banking and Markets, a year after s acquisition by Bank of America.

The new recruit UBS is one of the celebrities from the world of investment banking. This is among others in the past occupied the Dutch takeover of ABN Amro by Royal Bank of Scotland and helped to strengthen the capital of Italian Unicredit.

In 2008, he received total compensation of nearly $ 34 million (26 million).

"It is effective, even ruthless when it comes to getting things done. There is a good chance that some of his customers leave with him (at UBS), "said one banker who has worked on several transactions in which Andrea Orcel intervened

. "It always provokes a strong reaction from customers: they either love it or they hate it."

.. …… Bank of America declined to comment

. The U.S. group will also experience the departure of another of its officials, Jonathan Moulds, president for Europe and Canada, who will retire end of June according to an internal memo that was procured Reuters

The station

. Jonathan Moulds Andrea Orcel was proposed but the latter preferred to leave at UBS, said a source familiar with the matter. 

Bank of America is currently under pressure from some shareholders who demand a better performance while four of the six quarters ended in losses and its stock price was battered last year.

BofA has cut jobs in recent weeks in its equities and securitized mortgage loans according to sources familiar with the matter.

Management should be next month how the cost reduction plan launched at the group level will affect the activities of capital markets, asset management and retail banking.

At just over 24 hours of the deadline, creditors who have declared themselves in favor of the plan of exchange of obligations still account for only 39.3% of the country's debt. Greece in the storm

Private creditors had already decided in favor of the exchange of Greek debt does currently represent 39.3%, or 81 billion euros, the amount covered by this operation, said Wednesday the committee private creditors in a communiqué.Cependant, the 50% threshold, from which Greece can possibly forcing some creditors to participate, is approaching.

The deadline to tender its shares to the exchange is set at 9:00 p.m. Thursday (2000 GMT). The exchange for 206 billion euros of debt held by private creditors (banks, investment funds, insurers, etc.). In total, the Greek debt than 350 billion euros.  

Greece has already indicated that it would not proceed with the exchange if the turnout did not reach at least 75% of this part of the Greek debt held by private creditors. She also announced that if this threshold was disappointing, it could compel, through collective action clauses (CAC), all private creditors to submit to the exchange.

To date, no non-Greek financial institution holding a significant amount of Greek debt has not officially spoken out against the exchange. Several major banks, insurers and investment funds have not yet publicly announced their decision.

The committee, meeting under the auspices of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents major global financial institutions, in a statement cites 30 banks, insurers and investment funds that have made public their support for the plan. This is mainly European companies, supplemented by the management company American Greylock Capital Management and the U.S. insurer Metlife.

Moreover, contacted by AFP, the largest regional German bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) said it would participate in the exchange. The approximately one billion euros of Greek bonds it holds are now housed in the bad bank established with the support of the German state, called Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA).

Another rallying not taken into account by the press, that of German reinsurer Munich Re, said Wednesday that the agency Dow Jones, he would take part in the operation. The gross value of its securities amounted to 1.53 billion euros in late September.  

First holder of Greek debt outside Greece, the German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE), has not spoken publicly since the agreement on the new conditions of the plan, in Brussels on February 21, but had previously expressed its intention to contribute. The bad bank of HRE, called FMS, held at the end of the first half of 2011, about 8.1 billion euros of Greek debt.

Rapid closure of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, in Alsace, the grid could put a strain on both sides of the Rhine and raise prices during peak demand, believe analysts and traders polled by Reuters.

Francois Hollande promised, if he wins the presidential election in May, to close the oldest nuclear power plant the French fleet which, besides its 34 years of service, is also trè ; s criticized because of its location in a seismic zone.

But the Socialist candidate did not say when, and this schedule will be critical to network operators as to the market as they will need several months to adjust. 

Bernard Cazeneuve, in charge of energy with the candidate Francois Hollande, declined to comment on the consequences of closing Fessenheim.

If, in case of victory, Francois Hollande kept his promise in the wake of its accession to the Elysee, the French offer of electricity could shrink and prices s' fly to favor consumption peaks during which France is already operating at full production capacity, according to traders.

In France, each degree Celsius less on the thermometer causes an increase of 2,300 megawatts (MW) of electricity consumption, equivalent to twice the consumption of a city Marseille as a third of French homes are heated with electric heaters. 

During the cold snap in February, the French electricity demand hit a record 101,700 MW, 105 MW more than the country's production. Prices have skyrocketed and electricity transmission network (RTE), the network manager, was forced to ask consumers to reduce the maximum use of their devices é ; electric.

A decline in nuclear output could increase the deficit during the next peak consumption.

EDF, which manages 58 French reactors, and RTE did not wish to comment on the impact of a shutdown of Fessenheim on offer.

"We see every year a new record demand, so close Fessenheim certainly mean higher prices and risks for the supply of winter," said a trader based in electricity london. 

Traders and analysts said that France, the leading exporter of electricity in Europe, will not take the risk to close Fessenheim until you have installed production capacity sufficient to offset this loss.

"Fessenheim close perhaps in 2017, and the impact on prices will then depend on the ability of France had to quickly build wind farms, gas-fired unit and ; s biomass to compensate for the lost electricity, "said the trader in London.

At Flamanville (Manche), in 2007 EDF began construction of a new EPR nuclear reactor of 1650 MW. Delayed by 4 years, its commissioning is scheduled for 2016.

"If the EPR is again delayed, this could complicate things," said another trader.

SECURE SUPPLY

GERMAN

Also, if Fessenheim closed in 2012, Germany would face supply problems.

"If we close Fessenheim, there will be a real problem to secure supplies at local level on the southwest of Germany," said Fabien Roques, head of research at the company IHS CERA council.

"Fessenheim really brings (to Germany) production at a specific location on the network for managing peak demand during cold snaps," he added.

The plant, located between Mulhouse and Freiburg, has a capacity of 1,800 megawatts. 

After the disaster of Fukushima, Japan in March 2011, Germany decided to close eight of its 17 nuclear reactors, four of which were located in the south-west , a heavily populated area that is home to large cities such as Stuttgart and Heidelberg.

This region is now importing more electricity from the north – which produces massive electricity from wind – but also from France, Belgium and Luxembourg, according to analysts.

A spokesman for EnBW Transportnetze, the electricity transmission network in south-west Germany, confirmed to Reuters that a closure of Fessenheim would impact on its network . Should be used more frequently to production sites and non-nuclear alternative to maintain balance in the region, she said.

Main black spot, a plant closure could jeopardize Alsatian drawing rights granted to the German supplier E.ON, 800 MW from the central French Fessenheim and Cattenom, also near the German border .

These rights could be redirected to other stations, said a spokesman for the German utility, adding that the exchange agreement may be renegotiated between the two countries.

Rexel said Friday propose a dividend increase of 62.5% to € 0.65 per share for its fiscal 2011, the group that last year's record profitability including a 39% growth in net profit to 319 million euros.

In the current context of uncertainty, Rexel said he was confident of its ability to continue to generate organic growth in 2012 of its sales outside "copper effect" than the weighted average growth e of the GNP of the countries where the Group operates. 

"In this context, Rexel is also expected in 2012: to maintain a margin EBITA (earnings before tax, interest and depreciation) to a level at least equal to 5.7% achieved in 2011, generating a free cash flow before interest and taxes of around 600 million euros ", the group announced in a statement.

The EBITA margin rose 70 basis points last year, a figure better than expected since November, Rexel had repeated expect for 2011 an increase of at least 50 basis points of its EBITA margin in constant and adjusted. 

"In 2011, Rexel achieved very good performance: organic growth was strong, profitability reached a record high and we strengthened our presence in markets emerging while continuing deleveraging of the company, "said in a statement Jean-Charles Pauze, CEO of Rexel.

At the end of 2011, net debt of the company was reduced from 195.1 million euros and amounted to 2.078 billion euros, reducing its debt ratio on EBITDA (earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization) of 3.19 to 2.4. 

The turnover of Rexel emerged up 6.3% to 12.717 billion euros, driven by strong growth of 7.4% of its business in North America while in Europe activity of the company rose 4.5%.

In an interview with Reuters, Jean-Charles Pauze, which will be replaced as head of the group by Rudy Provoost, had said in early January that Rexel was on track to double its sales business in emerging markets between 2010 and 2013, particularly through external growth.

The title, which lost 0.46% Thursday to 15.25 euros, has gained 15.5% since the beginning of the year, enabling the group to exceed four billion euro market capitalization.

Last night was the Superbowl in the U.S.. And as so often with the Americans, unreason was de rigueur. Back on the key figures of the sports event of the year. Giants celebrate their victory against the Patriots after the 2012 Superbowl.

The final of the football championship, best known as the Superbowl, was seen yesterday's New York Giants beat the Patriots in Boston. But the event goes well beyond the sporting aspect.

120 to 500 million viewers

This is the average global audience for a Super Bowl, 90 million Americans. The event is broadcast in 182 countries, representing 88% of world states. It is accessible to a billion people.

$ 250 million in a night of pub

In one night, NBC will have gained about a quarter of a billion dollars. What return on the purchase of human competition, prohibitively expensive. Beginning in 2014, and ESPN TV will pay directly besides $ 6 billion a year to broadcast the entire season. During the Superbowl in 2012, the 30-second spot was coined to 3.5 million. In total, nearly 70 advertisements were broadcast. They are a spectacle in themselves so that some viewers would not watch the match for them. It must be said that brands compete imagination to suggest that the pub looks great. Apple is the gold standard and the video for launch of the first Mac, directed by Ridley Scott and aired at the Superbowl of 1984:

YouTube, the Volkswagen commercial, aired during the Super Bowl 2011, featuring a child dressed as Darth Vader, has amassed 50 million views. This figure is in addition to more than 100 million live views during the game.

This year, the German mark was at it again, with a humorous result. Discover a best of pubs in this Superbowl 2012:

2500 dollars instead

The minimum charge to attend the event. Prices that can rise to $ 800 000 in big suites! In total, there were about 70,000 in the aisles of the stadium in Indianapolis.

4:30 to show …

For one hour before the match only. The Superbowl is more than a sporting event. This is a varied spectacle, with the long awaited national anthem sung by a celebrity (Kelly Clarkson yesterday), but especially the concert halftime. This year, it's Madonna who provided a performance for 30 minutes, whereas in a classic football game, the pause is only 15 minutes.

88 000 match bonus dollars

the amount each player has received the Giants, winners of the match, knowing that a football team has 53 members. The losers, they have still pocketed $ 44 000 each.

Paris fell 3.16% Monday, 2.77% London, Frankfurt and Milan 3.23% from 3.82%. Bank stocks were again the victims of market concerns about the future of the euro area. European shares closed sharply down Monday, October 31, 2011.

The Paris Bourse has lived a black day Monday, October 31, losing 3.16% in a market dominated by profit taking and taken over by doubts about the future of the euro area, despite the European anti-crisis plan. The CAC 40 dropped 105.79 points to 3242.84 in trading volume of 3.35 billion euros. Bank stocks fell by 8 to 10%.

Featured dax index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange ended down 3.23% to 6141.34 points.German banks have drunk the cup: Commerzbank dropped 8.47% to 1.78 euro and Deutsche Bank, which has suffered from over exposure to the bankruptcy of U.S. broker MF Global, 8.60% to 30.35 euros .

The FTSE-100 index of London Stock Exchange main values ​​lost 158.02 points, or 2.77% from Friday's close at 5544.22 points. The total star of the Milan Stock Exchange, the FTSE Mib, fell 3.82% to 16,017 points. Among banks, Intesa Sanpaolo dropped 7.39% to 1.291 euros, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena 6.16% to 0.3383 euro and 5.67% to 0.848 UniCredit euro.