International Business News

The Commission has categorically denied the information relayed by the daily El Pais, that it was preparing an investment plan of 200 billion euros to boost growth. The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The renewed growth in Europe is still debated. The European Commission denied on Monday preparing a kind of Marshall Plan for growth in the EU which would mobilize 200 billion, arguing that the figures quoted by the daily El Pais had no foundation. "The figures are not based on any reality," said Pia Ahrenkilde, spokeswoman for the European Commission, during a press conference in Brussels.  

The Spanish daily El Pais Sunday spoke a kind of "Marshall Plan" at the European level that would be able to mobilize 200 billion of public and private investment for infrastructure projects, renewable energy and technology tip. To believe the newspaper, this initiative includes several tracks already discussed for several months by the Europeans: large European loans (the "project bonds"), an increased role of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the intervention of European mechanism for financial stability, a budget managed by the European Commission and secured on the Union budget.

So what exactly is a no teletrack cash advance? It is a cash advance that requires no lengthy faxing of documents and is designed to tide you over in between pay days when cash is particularly tight.

Wall Street ended higher Friday, as a result of strong corporate earnings often, especially high tech values ​​such as Amazon. Com and Expedia began to counterbalance the economic indicators for the less mixed lately, like the GDP released Friday.

The Dow Jones gained 23.69 points (0.18%) to 13,228.31. The S & P 500 is 3.38 points (0.24%) to 1,403.36. The Nasdaq Composite gained 18.59 points (0.61%) to 3,069.20.

Over the whole week, the Dow shows a gain of 1.5%, the S & P 500 gained 1.8%, while the Nasdaq 2.3% advance.

The Dow and S & P and enroll their weekly gain the highest since mid-March. For the Nasdaq, is the more substantial gain since early February.

Of the 287 companies in the S & P 500 that have published their accounts, 73% of the students have exceeded the consensus, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The gains of the day, even though moderate minimal, yet allow Wall Street to make its best weekly performance since more than a month.

Growth of the U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter mainly because of declining business investment, although the strength of the automotive market has helped ease the movement.

Another statistic was published on Friday, held better than GDP. 

The U.S. consumer sentiment improved slightly in April to its highest level since February 2011, according to final data from the monthly survey Thomson Reuters -University of Michigan.

Values, Amazon.com and the online travel agency Expedia surged 15.75% respectively and 23.54%, the two companies that reported results Thursday at the higher consensus and having allowed the Nasdaq Composite to register a gain slightly higher than the Dow or S & P.

Procter & Gamble lowered its earnings forecast Friday yearly because of the fragility of developed markets, more aggressive pricing of its competitors on certain products and pressure on prices in Venezuela in particular.

The action yields 3.63%. 

Ford announced Friday a drop in quarterly profit, a result of his difficulties outside of the U.S. market, but the results exceeded the expectations of investors.

The action coward 2.27%.

Chevron released Friday net profit up 4% in the first quarter, boosted by higher oil prices and improved margins in its refining background of declining its oil and gas.

The action ended unchanged.

Merck published Friday quarterly earnings slightly above expectations, boosted by tighter control of costs, but revenue has however disappointed expectations facing generic competition.

The action eventually stationary.

The sanitation system of pensions and social benefits is underway. The state expects to save over 800 million euros a year. Three of the four ministers of the Greek far-right party Laos opposing the new austerity measures demanded by the creditors of the countries presented their resignations Friday, February 10

The Greek authorities have discovered two years about 200,000 cases of fraud and pension benefits, and expect the fight against these practices an annual saving of over 800 million, sources said Tuesday the Ministry of Labour.

Taking advantage of the carelessness and corruption of large parts of the administration, this large-scale fraud was on a range of schemes, pension after death that relatives of the deceased continued to receive disability pensions granted to Greeks perfectly valid, said the same sources. A total of sanitation system of pensions and benefits, via a generalized computerization underway, should allow Greece to save more than 800 million euros a year.

Assisted by police, the Ministry of Labour now back as a new track, that of firms reporting imputed social contributions – some 4,000 cases have already been identified – to sell at full price coverage for uninsured assets, nearly third of the workforce. About sixty of these companies is currently in the crosshairs.

With some 7 billion euros of social benefits per year, including $ 2 billion for unemployment benefits, Greece is the European average, but the effectiveness of these funds in the fight against poverty and exclusion is less to that country partners. Over the revelations of fraud have occurred in recent months, including the Greeks had discovered the case of the island of Zante in the Ionian Sea, showing an abnormally high rate of blind or that of the island of Kalymnos (southeast ), which appeared afflicted with high rates of mental illness.

The Spanish government Friday unveiled a package of measures to fight against tax evasion, as the country seeks to achieve its fiscal targets and avoid the need for economic aid external.

According to several independent economists, the economy in Spain represent almost a fifth of gross domestic product (GDP), many Spaniards at work using black and pre ; ferring cash payments.

The government proposes to ban cash payments for amounts exceeding € 2,500 and require taxpayers to report assets held by them abroad.

Violators would face fines. 

According to Cristobal Montoro, Spanish Minister of the Treasury, these measures will enable the government to increase its revenues, though he declined to quantify the expected amount.

Madrid announced on March 30 to drastic budget cuts to achieve 27 billion euros in savings and convince markets that the country is able to reduce its deficit and avoid seeking international assistance.

The limit on cash payments will not apply to individuals who are not habitually resident in Spain or to tourist spending.

"This is to encourage tourists who bring foreign currency in Spain and want to spend in Spain," explained Cristobal Montoro. 

The tourism industry represents nearly 10% of Spanish GDP and remains one of the few sectors still able to sustain an economy as moribund.

As to measures affecting property held abroad, they will target the bank accounts, life insurance policies and actions. A fine of at least 10,000 euros will hit the undeclared goods, warned the government.

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.

Swatch Group posted double-digit growth in sales early this year, despite a deceleration of the very high end in China, said Thursday its director gen ; neral.

Nick Hayek, however, continues to focus on growth of 5% to 10% for the watch industry in 2012, believing that Swatch should continue to outpace the market.

"In January and February, we again had a Swatch Group at double-digit growth, but I'll be careful not to extrapolate the first two months for the entire year," Has he said at a news conference in Geneva. 

Nick Hayek, however, expects that sales growth remains strong in all regions and all segments despite a high comparison base.

Swiss watch exports reached a record in 2011 with the Asian consumer craze for watches, exceeding for the first time the bar of 19 billion francs.

The professionals, however, predict a slowdown this year, a new double-digit increase is difficult to achieve at a time when the watch face significant bottlenecks throttle at the production apparatus. 

In a recent interview with the weekly Der Sonntag, Nick Hayek, however, indicated that Swatch Group expected a figure of 8 billion francs in 2012, after posting sales of more than seven billion a year last.

The CEO of Swatch Group, however, acknowledged Thursday that the pace of sales growth in the segments of the highest range had been decelerating.

"In China, it is true that there is a slowdown on the very high end," he said, stressing however that the application had progressed so rapidly year past that the group would not have been able to track the level of production. 

"The demand is (now) than in the region of 15% to 20% and we still can not meet this demand still high," he added .

According to statistics from the Federation watch, Swiss watch exports rose 33.2% in Hong Kong and 32.2% in China in January, after surging more than 70% some months.

Nick Hayek, however, expects that the slowdown in the luxury watches is largely offset by higher volumes in other price ranges, considering that the Chinese consumer enthusiasm for Swiss watches continues unabated.

"The consumption of brands like Longines, Tissot and Swatch, and even higher in Omega segments have increased dramatically. There may be a shift to the segments of entry to mid range, "he said

. Swatch Group, the first Swiss watch manufacturer, is present in all price ranges through a portfolio of brands ranging from Swatch watches multicolored plastic whose prices start at 50 francs, up to premium brands such Breguet, which can be sold beyond a million francs

. At 16:00 GMT, had erased its gains and yielded 0.5% to 408 francs, while the European index values ​​are discretionary appreciation of 1%

.

France Telecom has hardened its dividend policy and its promise of deferred stock repurchases facing a price war triggered by the new entrant Free Mobile on the French market mobile telephony.

The incumbent, who on Wednesday released 2011 results consistent with its objectives, expected this year to give priority to the preservation of its balance sheet in a context of de gradation-than-expected economic conditions.

"2012 is the most difficult year for us," said Chief Financial Officer Gervais Pellissier during a conference call, considering that the group could reach a low point this year e before a possible rebound in 2013. 

"We do not imagine that the price war is very long in France. We started at a price level which is extremely low, "he said

. Free has an entry burst onto the market of mobile phones last month with two offers at bargain prices, forcing its competitors in place to review the rates down a portion of their offerings in an attempt to prevent ; expensive an exodus of their subscribers

. While the group led by Xavier Niel has not yet provided the number of subscriber s, France Telecom said on the other hand have lost 201,000 mobile customers from the beginning of the year and February 15, which represents approximately 0.7% of its fleet of 27 million customers in France

. Requests for subscribers seeking portability to switch operators while keeping their digital ; ro peaked at 150.000 requests per day within two days following the launch of Free Mobile, France Telecom said in a statement, adding that this figure has since been divided by ten.

NET CASH FLOW BACK TO THE 2012

In this context of increased competition in France, which still accounts for half of sales in Orange and more than 50% of its total EBITDA, France Telecom expects a significant decline in its operating cash flow expected to 8 billion euros for 2012, against 9.33 billion last year.

Sensed as a part of investors, the group announced an adjustment to its dividend policy.

The group now plans to pay under the 2012 and 2013 earnings to shareholders between 40% and 45% of operating cash flow for the year. 

The dividend should therefore be between 1.21 and 1.35 euros per share for 2012, instead of 1.40 euros previously promised by the group, Gervais Pellissier said.

Also in order to preserve its financial strength, France Telecom has also decided to postpone the redemption of shares, a time considered in the wake of the sale of the group's subsidiary in Switzerland for $ 1.5 billion.

"We believe that the financial circumstances of early 2012 did not allow to continue in that direction today," said Gervais Pellissier.

"It does not mean that there will be no buyback at France Telecom Orange but not in 2012," he added. 

EUROPEAN OPERATORS UNDER PRESSURE

These prudent measures reflect the challenges facing European telcos to continue to grow in an environment of increased regulatory and competitive pressures.

Telefonica has lowered its target for the December dividend it will pay under 2012 in order to control its debt in a context of sluggish economic growth in Spain.

Analysts said France Telecom could have even less hesitation than the dividend, far more generous, offered by the group did not result in a brilliant performance of its stock price in 2010 and 2011. 

"There is no doubt that the group saw little point in paying a dividend for which it has received little or no credit," say analysts at Bernstein Research in a note .

At 10:20, as the advance of 1.53% to 11.62 euros. Since the beginning of the year, it posted a drop of 4.0% compared with a decline of 0.85% of the telecoms sector index.

The full year 2011, the Group generated a turnover of 45.28 billion euros, against 45.27 billion expected on average according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

The adjusted EBITDA was $ 15.083 billion, giving a margin of 33.3%, limited decline of 1.1 points, thanks in particular to the resistance displayed by activities in France, despite already increased pressure on prices, most operators have anticipated since last year the arrival of Free. 

The group has seen its share of conquest in broadband up to 30.5% in 2011 thanks to the success of its offers "quad play" Open totaling 1.2 million customers in late last year.

List of stocks covered Wednesday at the Paris Bourse, where the CAC 40 index was up 1.01% to 3,409.69 points at 24:08, notably supported by the comments of the governor of China's central bank promised Europe to support the crisis.

* Values ​​European BANK (2.46%) signed the largest increase in the sector in Europe for about the governor of the PBOC as investors also hope qu'Antonis Samaras, the leader of the Greek conservative party New Democracy, submit his written support for new austerity measures adopted in the country.

BNP PARIBAS (6.22%), which is expected this year to stabilize the crisis in the euro zone but does not anticipate a recession in Europe is ahead of increases in the CAC 40 and SBF 120 index. 

SOCIETE GENERALE advance of 4.11% and Crédit Agricole.

* The CYCLIC are well oriented. The French economy has withstood the fourth quarter with a growth surprise of 0.2%, thanks to foreign trade and investment, while activity ; contracted in Germany and Italy.

RENAULT wins 3.65%, 3.16% and STMICROELECTRONICS LAFARGE 2.2%. The pan-European Stoxx index of auto sector advance of 1.47% and 1.22% of the construction.

* In contrast, PSA was down 1.72%, largest drop in the CAC 40. The group announced new savings and a comprehensive plan for asset sales in order to redress the financial situation of the group after a year marked by a relapse in 2011 net profit.

Moody's placed the ratings under review with the manufacturer as possible downgrade.

* PAGESJAUNES fell 12%, largest drop in the SBF 120 volumes representing already seven times their daily volume the past three months. The group announced that its board would propose as an exceptional pass the dividend for 2011, after registering a decline in its revenues and profit margins last year.

* BIC (4.2%) released 2011 results sharply higher through its consumer business (stationery, lighters and razors) and said target operating margin for 2012 Standardized e "near the record level reached in 2011."

* DANONE (1.59%) stated address with confidence after 2012 achieved its growth targets for 2011 thanks to its good performance in emerging markets where the group re alise today more than half of its sales. 

* Haulotte Group (10.23%) leads to increases in the CAC Mid & Small, supported by the announcement of a 23% growth in turnover in 2011 of the truck manufacturer é ; lévateurs.

* Abandons EUROPACORP 2.55%, the producer and distributor of films that have shown a fall of 58.2% of its turnover in respect of its fiscal third quarter.

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.

France prepares to beat Thursday's record consumption of electricity and gas. Blame the intense cold that strikes the Hexagon. Y there is a risk of blackouts? Cars are blocked due to the snow at Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines toll near Paris December 8, 2010 as winter weather and freezing temperatures sub-continuous in France. (FRANCE – Tags: ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT)

The cold wave that moved to France will intensify in the coming days, but so far, "no major blackouts are to be expected" reassures Herve Mignon, Director of Economy, Planning and transparency in TEN (a subsidiary of EDF). In total this Thursday, 41 counties are in orange alert "cold and snow", until Saturday, 7 am. Level 3 Plan "Extreme Cold" was triggered in Isere, Savoie and in the Oise and the North. "It is seven degrees below seasonal averages of both north and south," said the forecaster Meteo France Dominique Raspaud. A cold that will become even stronger to the end of the week throughout France. For Friday, says Ms. Raspaud to AFP, "is expected within 5 to Marseille in the south-west, at least 6 Bordeaux and La Rochelle, below the minus 10 in Alsace, France-Comté and Rhône Alps "… Even in Britain, a region often spared the extreme temperatures are expected least 1 or less 2 Friday morning in Brest.

Consumption soaring …

The latest forecast of RTE, EDF subsidiary that manages the French high-voltage network, the national electricity consumption would reach 95,500 megawatts (MW) this Thursday at rush hour, at 19h, grazing and the peak total of 15 December 2010 (96,710 MW). After a hard day following the historic summit next Monday could be exceeded, providing RTE for now peaked at 98,700 MW that day. However, an estimate will be refined at the mercy of weather bulletins France. The reason for the runaway? The cold wave which pushes the Hexagon shiver the French to run their electric heaters at full speed. "During cold spells in winter, when there is a degree Celsius less, this corresponds to 2,300 megawatts of additional consumption, the equivalent of twice the consumption of the city of Marseille," recalls Herve Mignon, Director of the economy, foresight and transparency in TEN.  

But … no risk of "blackout" National

"Nationally, there is no risk now, in the sense that the means of production and available national electricity imports from neighboring countries can meet the electricity consumption as expected, "said M.Mignon.

To spend the winter safely, France is indeed important to the Power Utilities. She buys from Germany and Great Britain. Belgium and Denmark can also provide electricity. Spain, if it is untouched by the cold wave, could also provide some of the energy it needs by turning to its own power base.

Increased prevention of certain departments

RTE enabled for the first time this season the device Ecowatt in both "electric peninsulas" that are Brittany and the Côte d'Azur, which were placed in "orange alert". A clear message was sent: "We invite you to moderate your consumption of electricity between 18:00 and 20:00." And for good reason, these areas suffer from a lack of internal capacity of electricity generation, and therefore rely on neighboring regions to meet their energy needs. They are located at the ends of the national grid, it creates risks of bottleneck in their diet. In the Var, 3,000 homes remained without power Thursday morning.

Some useful tips

The right temperature is 19 ° C, no more! A simple thing: go to 20 ° C to 19 ° C in the living rooms of 7% to reduce your energy consumption. In the rooms, ADEME cautions that it is better to keep a temperature between 16 ° C and 17 ° C. In case of absence, he should lower the heating and do not put them up after work. "They will not heat the room faster," said the Environment Agency and energy management. Reduce power consumption between 17h and 20h in winter. few simple actions like turning off appliances on standby, turn down the heat in unoccupied rooms, close the shutters at night, and use appliances after 20h. Companies must also participate in this national effort.