The large Spanish banks still required to be provisioned

14th May

The first five Spanish banks will have provisioned an additional EUR 15 billion to cover the risk associated with their loans, putting further pressure on their finances while Spain tries to restore confidence in its banking sector.

Friday, the Spanish government has imposed on its banks to provision 30 billion euros, in addition to the required 54 billion in February, to cover both their claims to outperform their loans risk.

The move comes as part of a reform which is the fourth bank bailout in four years of Spanish banks. These have heavy losses with the collapse of the housing market in 2008, raising fears about a possible aid to Spain.

The 30 billion euros of additional provisions weigh heavily on banks as investors worried about where the institutions will be able to find the money and if this will be sufficient.

The Spanish government said that the state provide public assistance limited to 15 billion euros, and only in the form of loans convertible into shares, the banks which lack capital.

At the Madrid Stock Exchange, banking reform has not convinced investors. The Ibex 35 fell by 2.26% at 12:30 GMT, weighed down by banking stocks. Bankia, which the state took control last week, fell by 9.42%, 5.21% of Banco Popular, BBVA 3.63%, 2.98% of Banco Santander and of Bankinter 2.31%.

The yield spread (spread) between the Spanish 10-year bonds and German bunds, which serves as a refuge, for its part, reached 485 basis points, the highest since the introduction of the euro.

PROVISIONS FOR EACH BANK

BBVA, Spain's second largest bank, said Monday it would increase supplies of some 1.8 billion euros to comply with new rules on capital announced Friday by the Government .

The new provisions will be reflected in the annual accounts and will have a net impact of around EUR 1.3 billion, the company said. 

For its part, Santander, the first credit institution in the country, will have to register in its books 2.7 billion euros in provisions, in addition to 2.3 billion euros announced in February.

Banco Popular said it would set aside 1.7 billion euros in provisions, but added that he would not need public funds to achieve this. The bank nevertheless said it would take two quarters to comply with new requirements.

Banco Popular will merge with its smaller rival Banco Pastor, which amounts to 2.3 billion euros in total amount of reserves required.

For its part, La Caixa, which is currently buying Banca Civica, will have to set aside 3.4 billion euros.

For most Spanish banks in difficulty as Bankia, the fourth largest bank in Spain following the merger of several small savings, the new provisions will constitute an additional burden. The parent of Bankia, BFA, said she needed $ 4.8 billion to meet government requirements.

Although these banks said they did not need assistance from the State to comply with new capital requirements, the need for additional reserves could change this.

Already, the increasing problems of Spanish banks and government interventions, including the safety of Bankia, have revived the wrath of public opinion in Spain, a year after the outbreak the movement of "Indignant".

Tens of thousands of Spaniards took to the streets and plan to stay until at least Tuesday. The demonstrators had planned on Monday to close their accounts at Bankia to protest against the rescue of the bank.

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European shares widen their losses

9th May

European shares widen their losses Wednesday in early afternoon, while the German rate in 10 years fell to 1.51%, the situation of Spanish banks stepping up worrisome Market studies on the future of the euro area related to political instability in Greece.

Around 13:00, the CAC 40 index, which lost 2.8% Tuesday, 0.92% to 3096.18 abandons points after winning 0.4% in early trade.

The London Stock Exchange 0.95% yield, the Frankfurt 0.42% while the fall of Madrid up 3.3% with its banks. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index was down 1.18% after a decline of 2%.

Illustrating the risk aversion of investors, the German 10-year yield fell to nearly 1.51% in the morning before rising to 1.52, against 1.55% the day before Closing.

The head of the Coalition of the Radical Left Greek, Alexis Tsipras, charged with forming a coalition government, will visit on Wednesday the leaders of major political forces without credible hope to break the deadlock that threatens up to membership of Greece in the euro area.

In Spain, the government will ask banks exposed to the property sector to provision additional 35 billion euros, it was learned from sources close to the financial negotiations. 

The Stoxx European banks grouping loses 2%, biggest drop sector in Europe.

Wall Street opens sharply lower

23rd April

Wall Street opened sharply lower Monday, as foreshadowed future, weighed down by the constant concern that represents the European debt crisis and by poor statistics in the euro area.

The result of the first round of French presidential and the imminent resignation of Prime Minister of the Netherlands with the prospect of early parliamentary add a touch of additional uncertainty coming from Europe.

The contraction of private sector activity in the euro area has increased more than expected in April, which could jeopardize the upcoming release of the region of the recession.

In early trade, the Dow Jones lost 0.9% to 12,909.08 points, the S & P 500 drops 1% to 1,364.87 and the Nasdaq Composite 1% to 2969.65.

Pfizer lost 0.66%. Nestle said Monday it agreed to buy child nutrition activities of the pharmacist to 11.85 billion U.S. dollars (8.99 billion euros) in cash, beating well on Danone.

Hasbro reported Monday a net loss of $ 2.6 million in the first quarter, amid lower sales in North America. The action yields 2.87%.

Xerox has released a quarterly earnings decline, investment in services has weighed on its margins. The action still earns 2.8% after the maker of copiers and printers has said it expects a rise in profit in the second quarter.

European shares end up sharply

17th April

European shares ended sharply higher Tuesday, boosted by a Spanish award whose success is due to a sharp rise in interest rates and by the unexpected rise of the confidence index of German investors.

Paris closed up 2.72% to 3292.51 points after having crossed a zone of resistance around 3,260 points.

London gained 1.78%, Frankfurt and Madrid 2.65% 2.28%. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of large values ​​of the euro area took 2.86%.

The performance of the German government bond (Bund) and 10 years stood at 1.76%. The rate of the 10-year Italian BTP also remained stable at 5.48%, and that of the Spanish equivalent of eased 2 basis points to 5.9%.

The euro was steady at the end of the afternoon against the dollar, around 1.3130.

China allows the yuan to fluctuate more

16th April

China doubled the maximum fluctuation of the yuan, to 1%. The measure was hailed as a step towards greater liberalization of the exchange rate of Chinese currency. At the opening Monday, choinoise currency was down against the dollar. A 100-yuan face a $ 100 bill.

The Chinese currency was a downward trend against the dollar on Monday for the reopening of the foreign exchange market after the announcement over the weekend to double the range for the yuan against the greenback. People's Bank of China (PBOC) authorized as of Monday a maximum fluctuation of 1%, down as well as up, around a central rate fixed by day, against 0.5% previously. The measure was hailed as a step towards greater liberalization of the exchange rate of the Chinese currency, which gives the low level by major trading partners of China an unfair competitive advantage to its products.

By late morning Monday, the Chinese currency was trading at 6.3145 yuan per dollar, while the central rate was set early in the day at 6.2960 yuan to one greenback. This downward trend reflects investors' fears fueled by the publication Friday of growth below expectations in the first quarter, to 8.1% annual rate. "The Beijing consensus is that the margin of appreciation (the yuan) seems quite limited," according to Lu Ting, an economist at Bank of America – Merrill Lynch. This is partly due to the slowdown in export growth as well as a small current account surplus to 2.8% for 2011, which make "the external pressure on China for an assessment … has dissipated, "said the analyst.

"There was recently a series of reforms affecting the yuan and the financial sector at large, which all go in the direction of greater liberalization," noted for his part, Mark Williams, Asia economist at Capital Economics . "The enlargement provides the basis for a system of exchange rates more volatile and more based on the market in the future", according to this analyst. "The signal sent by China, it may be that the unilateral (Chinese currency) has expired," said his side to AFP Sun Junwei, an analyst at HSBC in Beijing. In March, Premier Wen Jiabao had estimated that the level of the Chinese currency was "close to balance".

Oil prices end down after China's GDP

13th April

Crude prices have come down on Friday, announcing a slowdown in Chinese economic growth led investors to harbor doubts about the changing demands of the consumer of the second pe PETROLEUM.

On the Nymex, the May contract on U.S. crude (WTI) ended on a loss of $ 0.81, or 0.78%, to 102.83 dollars a barrel.

For the week, a barrel of WTI lost 48 cents, 0.16%, recording a fourth weekly decline in the space of five weeks.

Analysts warn, however, it is still too early to suggest a downward trend, especially as several geopolitical files remain on the table, including Iran.

Training for the unemployed: employment center must do better

31st March

In a report in late March, the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs denounces malfunctions in the purchase, adaptation and monitoring of training job seekers. Agency employment center in Nice

Procurement procedures by training employment center for the unemployed are too rigid to be fully effective, agents lack a simple tool to identify a suitable training to all job seekers, underlines the Igas in a report in late in March. While Nicolas Sarkozy has made training for the unemployed a hot topic of his campaign and he expects in the coming days the proposals of Senator Gerard Larcher UMP to get the number of trained unemployed 10 to 40%, the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs estimates that the "excessive rigidity" group purchasing system "undermines the quality of training purchases."

Training, subject to competition rules, are subject to tendering procedures with bidding. Procedures to reduce and respond more quickly to the needs of the regional employment center buy training packet. Based on a survey conducted in four regions (Brittany, Picardy, Poitou-Charentes and the Rhone-Alpes), the peak Igas a series of malfunctions: bidding "when no match was found necessary "or" training provision was anyway available in the region ", and especially tools" still often craft "in the hands of advisers employment center," which is a major obstacle to access seekers job training ".

"The rate of filling internships are only up to 100%", generating "additional costs" for the employment center for the training are paid hourly and ordered not to the number of students present, is still Igas . The economy of scale is not to go: Poitou-Charentes, the actual average cost is 4,500 euros per student in group training, against € 1,800 in individual training. This principle of payment should be reviewed in the next framework agreement laying down the purchasing of training, employment center told AFP. The Igas also criticizes the weakness of monitoring tools for trainees and training organizations who "deserve to be professionalized."

It suggests defining monitoring indicators (time to begin the program, fill rate, rate of return to work), that are among the very few actors in training, unlike other countries. To increase productivity and reduce the workload of councilors employment, "the establishment of + platforms + training entrusted with the functions of + back office + (registration, payment, recovery certificates, etc..) Should be generalized," continues the 'Igas. The calls finally Igas better "joint" with the regions, who buy them as training for the unemployed: skills training for the regions, training for rapid re-employment to employment center. Employment center has a monopoly in the prescription of training the unemployed but the fact that some funds (17% in 2010), the remaining regions the major funders (57%).

Real Estate: prices fall for the first time in Paris

30th March

The price per m2 of existing homes totaled at the end of January 8340 euros on average, 30 euros less than in October 2011. Prices in the Ile-de-France, for the same period were down 0.6%. This trend is not sustainable. Paris real estate. St. Pierre Semard, in the ninth.

Prices of existing homes fell slightly in Paris, in 8340 euros/m2 average for the period between November 2011 and January 2012 instead of 8370 euros/m2 previously announced Thursday night the Chamber of Notaries of Paris-Ile de France. The downward trend in prices began in late last year, is confirmed, indicate notaries in a statement.  

Moreover, the promise of sale entered recently, which presage the final price trends, highlight the value of apartments in the capital between 8100 and 8200 averaged euros/m2 end of May, confirming a trend slightly downward (-2 to -3.2%), after a sharp surge in prices which had led to an annual increase of 21.3% in late August 2011.

For the entire Ile-de-France, house prices in Ile-de-France, for the same period were down 0.6%. The largest decrease is observed in Seine-Saint-Denis (1.4%), while a decline of 0.3% in Paris proper.

The decrease in the number of transactions recorded for several months, was temporarily halted because of the reform leading to higher taxation of capital gains on property that, with effect from 1 February 2012, caused an influx of sales. Thus, from November 2011 to January 2012, 43,000 existing homes were sold, an increase of 6% over the same period 12 months earlier, and even 32% in central Paris.

After the records set last year, the Paris notaries had anticipated the end of February the prospect of a market downturn of the former in 2012 on the entire region, suggesting a decrease of 5 to 10% less a "new rebound of the financial crisis". But this break "will be sustainable only if new construction is accelerating sustainable in Ile-de-France for several years," had they warned. In the provinces, prices are expected to experience the same slope, according to forecasts by the INSEE.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 1.1%

24th March

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down Friday as investors questioned the growth in China and in the euro area.

The Nikkei was down 1.14% or 115.61 points to 10,011.47 points, accusing its daily loss in the largest percentage for two months. The Topix broader, showed a decrease of similar magnitude (-1.11%) or 9.54 points to 852.53 points.

Expectations of economic slowdown has affected exporters. Toyota lost 2%, 2.9% Honda 3.1% and Sony.

Nomura Holdings has continued to slide and yielded 3.8%. An employee of the main Japanese investment bank is suspected of insider trading.

Speakers stressed however that the profit-taking offer buying opportunities for long-term investors.

Despite the drop Friday, the Nikkei is up over 18% since the beginning of the year.

Winners and losers in the advertising market

17th March

In 2011, advertising revenues have stagnated with growth of 0.1%, according to an annual study Irep France pub. But all media are not housed in the same boat.

The advertising market has avoided the crisis in 2011, despite uncertainties about the European economy. Communication costs of advertisers rose 1.9% last year to 31.4 billion euros, according to the study Irep France Pub, the only net to provide data, thus reflecting the reality of the sector. But it is above the "non-media" that has led this growth: namely, direct marketing, exhibitions and fairs, sponsorship and public relations.

The media, themselves, have received only a much weaker performance of their revenues from 0.1% to 10.7 billion euros. "We can speak of a stabilization, which occurs after one year in 2010 up 3.9% and a historic collapse in 2009, which was the largest decline in the market since we measure the" summed Philippe Legendre , Managing Director of the Irep.

Winners of 2011 …

Like the Oscars, the winner is … film with revenue up 16.5%, to 105 million euros. "This is a segment that works well correlated with total attendance and films that perform. It has been three years since the film is growing, it was the same in 2009, is an" old " publicitairement media that works well, according to Mr. Legendre

. Less surprisingly, Internet display advertising (banners and inserts) always exhibits a strong momentum with a 14% jump in advertising revenue, to 616 million euros. And yet this figure does not include it sponsored links. Mobile advertising jumped 37% even, but the volume is still very limited: 37 million euros last year.

In the area of ​​print, Free news saw its advertising revenue increase by 5.5% last year to 145 million euros. And the regional daily press manages to snatch up 0.2%, to 937 million euros.

On television, revenue totaled 3.5 billion euros, up 1.6% year on year. Increased primarily due to the strong performance of new channels, which recorded a 18% increase. As for radio, it also increased, by 0.6%, to 748 million euros. But this good result is obtained only by a jump of 4.4% of local advertising. National advertising was down 0.4%.

… And losers

Taken as a whole, the press continues to fall. In total, 3.49 billion in advertising revenue, down 3.2% yoy (against -1.6% in 2010). Those of the national dailies fell 3.7% as magazines (- 0.7%), and the specialized press (-2.9%).

As for the free press as a whole, it has seen advertising revenues fall by 13.8%. The trend is driven by print ads whose revenue continued to fall by 18.8%.

Finally, on television, the five channels "historical" are declining at 1.8%.

For 2012, experts of this instutit provides market stability, with an increase limited to 0.8%.