International Business News

The number of new firms declined 9.8% in France in April after rising 8.3% in March, according to data released Wednesday by INSEE. A total of 46,042 enterprises have emerged in April.

Start-ups fell by 9.8% in April compared with the previous month if one takes into account the self-entrepreneurs, announced Wednesday the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

Excluding self-entrepreneurs, the balance of new firms declined 3.5%, adjusted for seasonal variations and the number of working days, INSEE said in a statement. A total of 46,042 enterprises have emerged in April, among which, when adjusted, 20,035 companies "classic". The self-contractors are responsible for more than a creation of two businesses (26,007 seasonally adjusted).  

INSEE said do not know enough about the seasonal pattern of self-entrepreneurs, the regime created relatively recently (January 2009), to correct the number depending on the season. The cumulative number of creations in the months of February, March and April 2012 is up slightly over the same period last year (0.8%).

The sectors contributing most to this increase were information and communication and construction. The number of start in the 12 months ended in late April is down from the previous 12 months (-4.0%).

If you have bad credit, you may have problems getting a loan from these places, or they may charge you such a high rate of interest it is not worth it. Instead, consider your other options, such as a cash loan from a payday loan company.

"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" .

Wall Street fell more than 1.2% Friday, accusing them of this fact its worst weekly performance since the beginning of the year, within the scope of the announcement of a number of new jobs for the month of April far below expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial 30 yielded 1.27%, or 168.32 points to 13,038.27. The S & P-500, wider, lost 22.47 points, or 1.61%, to 1369.10. The Nasdaq Composite fell on its side of 67.96 points (-2.25%) to 2,956.34.

On the whole week, the Dow has sold 1.4%, the S & P 500 2.4% and Nasdaq 3.7%. The latter two had their worst week since November and December respectively.

Some 115,000 people were recruited in the nonagricultural sector last month, announced Friday the Labor Department, against 154,000 in March and 259,000 in February, two figures it is true revised ; s up (for a cumulative total of 53,000).

Economists anticipated 170,000 net new jobs for the month of April after the 120,000 originally announced for March.

The unemployment rate, calculated from a separate survey, returned to 8.1% of the workforce, against 8.2% in March and 8.3% in February, a level not seen since January 2009 when it was 7.8%. 

Despite this recent positive development, the market players have mostly retained the figure for job creation, which leads them to fear a slowdown in U.S. growth.

At its current level, it is already considered insufficient to significantly reduce unemployment.

The approach of elections in Greece and France and any uncertainties they may have a Europe which still has not put the debt crisis behind it also contributed to stopping the coast.

"Market participants liquidated their positions after the employment figures and should not change posture throughout the weekend," said Frank Lesh, an analyst at FuturePath Trading LLC. 

The energy values ​​were strongly accused the coup after the employment statistics, due to fears of a possible slowdown weigh on demand black.

Because of these fears, the price per barrel of U.S. light crude also fell 4%, from below $ 100 for the first time since February. The S & P compartment of the energy of Wall Street has sold 2.17%.

The action Exxon Mobil sold 1.26% to 84.57 dollars and Chevron that of 2.14% to 103.72 dollars, the two values ​​are among the largest declines in the Dow Jones .

The area composed of values ​​related to utilities, considered defensive in times of uncertainty, is the only one that ended in the green, with a gain of 0.16%.

The action Estee Lauder has lost 5.35% to 60.72 dollars after the U.S. cosmetics group announced earnings guidance deemed disappointing for the fourth quarter of fiscal year and expressed his concerns about the slowdown in China. 

The way LinkedIn has instead won 7.21% to 117.30 dollars after the professional social network has raised its annual results after better than expected first quarter, supported by strong growth in business services.

The action took Dole 7.69% to 9.39 dollars after the distributor of fruits and vegetables said he could split some divisions following a strategic review its activities.

The new lawyer's former trader Jerome Kerviel, who was sentenced in 2010 to five years in prison for three farm loss of 4.9 billion suffered by the bank Société Générale ; eral in 2008, renewed the assault of his former company.

David Koubbi me, who just succeeded Olivier Metzner to defend the prisoner for his appeal hearing in June, wrote to the chairmen of the Assembly Finance e and Senate to be surprised that SocGen could receive a tax deduction of nearly 1.7 billion euros in compensation from the e episode.

In his letter obtained by Reuters has learned me Koubbi asks Jérôme Cahuzac Philippe Marini and the convening of a commission on this episode. This request will remain a dead letter at least for now, the Parliament sitting over pending legislative elections in June

But it is a way for Jerome Kerviel, also condemned in first instance to repay 4.9 billion euros, to start the assault on his former company , it has always accused of being informed of their risk practices and turning a blind eye as they pertained.

Koubbi is me in his letter that a tax deduction for exceptional loss is legally possible that if there were no obvious deficiency in the controls. Now this is the case, since the Banking Commission fined 4 million euros to SocGen in 2008 for this failure.

"It seems to me that the allocation of that amount in favor of Societe Generale goes against the established case law applicable to the deduction tax (…) I therefore ask you to convene a committee to inform our citizens, "the lawyer wrote in his letters.

Convicted of embezzlement, forgery and using false and fraudulent intrusion into a system of data processing, Jerome Kerviel, who was also sentenced to ; repay the loss, is currently free and still has not paid, the appeal is suspensive. 

The trial court ruled that he had deliberately violated his professional engagements and hidden the reality of its position in its hierarchy.

The young man admitted pronouncements risk of dizzy from 2005 to 2008 on European equity market indices, reaching nearly 50 billion euros, and camouflaged by other reversals of orders fictitious market, expected to cover the risk.

Unsettled after the announcement of their discovery by the bank, in full rout of financial markets, these positions, which were once largely the beneficiaries, ultimately caused a net loss of 4.9 billion euros.

Fortunately, the index of construction costs no longer used for rent reviews. It increased by 6.85% over one year to the end of 2011 to reach a record level. A construction of new homes and office buildings in Marseille.

The index of construction costs (ICC) in France continues to climb. It increased by 6.85% year on year to reach 1,638 points in the fourth quarter of 2011, above its record dating from the previous quarter, announced the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) on Friday. The ICC, which was 1,624 points in the third quarter of 2011, had previously reached an all time high in the third quarter 2008 to 1,594 points.

Year on year, the CHF increases and 6.85% after rising 6.84% in the third quarter of 2011, 5.01% in the second quarter and 3.05% in the first quarter. Since the law of personal services from 26 July 2005, the ICC is no longer a reference to the rent review during the lease in the private rental market. He was replaced by the benchmark rents (IRL), which is now based on the index of consumer prices excluding tobacco and rents, since the enactment of the law for purchasing power in February 2008 . However, the index of construction costs is a reference for the revision of certain commercial rents, alongside the commercial rent index.

The Motor Show of Geneva, which will open to the public Thursday, will be dominated by the alliance between PSA Peugeot Citroen and General Motors, the last wedding date in an industry where economies of cost and scale have become the top priority.

The question of how specific short-term reconciliation between the PSA and GM, while the strategic partnership announced Wednesday plans for 2016 the full effect of synergies and the first models of vehicles common, will be on everyone's mind at the first major European motor show of the year.

"This industrial agreement is very revealing of current changes in the automobile sector," said Flavien Neuvy, Director of the Cetelem automobile. "The manufacturers have no choice and they know they can not do everything together."

"However, to achieve such an alliance, it takes time, past experience has shown that the risk of failure is not zero," he adds. "But if it works, it is a promising project."

The last major events of the profession were all marked by the quest for synergy. The 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show had devoted the rapprochement between Fiat and Chrysler, Frankfurt 2011 was marked by the announcement of new cooperation between Renault-Nissan and Daimler. As for Geneva 2010, he remained famous for including the formalization of the collapse of talks between Mitsubishi and PSA, with which the French group was then trying to marry.

ALWAYS OFFER A VARIED DESPITE THE POOLING

In an industry marked by increased global competition, the carmaker can no longer rely only on their internal resources to develop new products both at reasonable cost and in die lais fast enough to track changes in consumer tastes and tougher safety and environmental standards.

But this sharing does not lead to a standardization provided cars because the objective is to share components and architectures invisible from the outside. 

"The Peugeot and Citroen have never shared many components and platforms industrially today, yet they have never had their own identity as distinct," observes Translation ; ois Roudier, spokesman for the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA).

Geneva will be, like any self-respecting lounge, a new ball with some highly anticipated world premieres such as the Renault Zoé, who spearheaded the bet electrical manufacturer.

On the stand Dacia brand Renault's low cost, we discover the minivan Lodgy including the launch of construction in Morocco has been surrounded by controversy on the theme of "Made in France ", a theme central to the presidential campaign. 

Side of the PSA, Citroen C4 unveil its compact 4×4 Aircross based on the Mitsubishi ASX, while Peugeot present the 208 through which the lion brand hopes to extend a success story started in this segment in the 1980s with the 205.

The competition will not be outdone. Another icon, the Volkswagen Golf, GTI will appear in his livery cab, and Audi, the German premium brand group, will present its new A3. Fiat's famous 500 curves take with the L variant, Italian replica of the BMW Mini Countryman.

Builders rely on these innovations to support expected sales down 3% to 4% this year in Europe, making the region one of the world where the automotive market will contract in 2012.

A motor show would not totally successful without some "supercars". Visitors can admire the 6 Series Coupe BMW Grand, the futuristic Nuccio signed by the famous coachbuilder Bertone or the most powerful Ferrari ever made, with the F12 Berlinetta not less than 729 horsepower.

After two press days, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Geneva Motor Show will open to the public from March 8 to 18.

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.

On the eve of the 51th Paris Boat Show, the uncertainty is set at the manufacturers of pleasure boats in 2012, the sovereign debt crisis with little visibility, while the water sports market has improved slightly in 2010 / 2011.

French production increased 11% between September 2010 and August 2011, compared to the same period in 2009/2010, while the world market has increased slightly from 0% to 3%, said the Federation of Nautical Industries ( FIN).

"We are in a somewhat unique because our customers are there, the practice is growing, but at the same time we are in a period when accumulated outside the marine industry factors of concern," said Yves Lyon Caen, Vice President and President of the END of the supervisory board of Beneteau.

"The day there will be a release of the brakes, mainly psychological, the industry will rebound very important," he pointed out, however.

The rate of exports is 67% in 2010/2011, against 63.2% a year earlier.

Europe has not found a solution to the debt crisis likely to restore investor confidence, said Friday the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, calling, as a remedy, better integration.

"The truth is that, for now, there is no response to the crisis that sovereign restore investor confidence," said José Manuel Barroso to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Portugal.

"As long as this does not occur, we will have very serious problems and debates in Europe."

Asked about the possible role of the European Central Bank to the crisis, the President of the Commission considered that it should remain independent.

Many economists believe the ECB should act as lender of last resort for the most indebted countries in the euro area to address the crisis, or that it should resort to quantitative easing operations as do the Reserve Federal and Bank of England to support their economies.

But Germany has so far been adamant against these proposals, arguing that the ECB should remain independent and that its mandate was to fight against inflation.

"We are confident that the European Central Bank will fulfill its role as it has done so far," said José Manuel Barroso.