Areva's strategic plan will not result in job cuts in France, said Tuesday the Minister of Economy, following a meeting with the CEO of French nuclear group.
The government so far ruled out job cuts, leaving the possibility of voluntary redundancies or job cuts by not replacing departures.
The president of Areva, Luc Oursel said at the meeting that the plan would result "no job cuts, no voluntary separation plan, no impact on the French sites," said Baroin reporters.
The Belgian, French and Luxembourg reaffirmed Sunday after a meeting held at midday in Brussels their solidarity in the search for a solution that ensures the future of Franco-Belgian bank Dexia .
In a joint statement, the Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and French François Fillon stated that the three governments give their full support to the proposals of management of the banking group, presented at a Board of Directors scheduled to begin at 15:00 in Brussels.
"The proposed solution, which is also the result of intense consultations with all relevant partners, will be presented to the Board of Directors of Dexia which is responsible for approving proposals," added the two prime ministers.
"I am confident in our ability to reach an agreement with our French colleagues and Luxembourg and will be then the board of directors of Dexia to decide", for his part said Yves Leterme on Belgian television.
The activities of the Franco-Belgian bank, first bank in size in Europe to be a victim of the crisis of sovereign debt in the euro zone could be split and the most risky assets confined to a separate structure.
The Belgian, French and Luxembourg Sunday began discussions on the future of Dexia, in order to reach agreement on the terms and their participation in the new rescue plan for the former world leader in financing local authorities, supposed to lead on an orderly dismantling of the bank.
Brussels and Paris are trying to agree on the guarantees afforded by the two countries to the hive to accommodate the bond portfolio of 95 billion euros in Dexia, hoping not to aggravate the situation of public finances .
The rating agency Moody's has also increased pressure on the Belgian camp Friday night: it has placed the sovereign rating of Aa1 by explaining kingdom under surveillance will include assessing the costs and liabilities that the state could play in supporting Dexia.
VALUE TEST
Negotiations on the dismantling of Dexia, already saved from bankruptcy in 2008 after that of Lehman Brothers, will be a test for investors who want to see in the folder Dexia the ability of European leaders to overcome their differences to solve the banking crisis and the crisis of sovereign debt.
According to the most likely scenario, the dismantling of the Franco-Belgian bank should go through a nationalization of the Belgian branch, Dexia Bank Belgium (DBB), which specializes in bank deposits.
According to the Belgian daily L'Echo, the trail of a takeover of DBB by a foreign bank is considered and several institutions have expressed interest, including Deutsche Bank, Rabobank, Crédit Mutuel and BBVA.
Another key point of discussion: the distribution of the financial burden of dismantling between Belgium and France, whose participation combined with that of the Caisse des Depots (CDC) is around 25%.
Yves Leterme and Didier Reynders warned Thursday the French government that Belgium would not only rescue the financial burden.
In France, a dismantling of Dexia should result in a link-financing activities of local communities in a structure owned jointly by the Deposit and Postal Bank.
Friday, François Fillon has announced that the Deposit would release three billion euros to finance the French local authorities until a new entity formed by the Deposit and Consignment Office (CDC) and the Postal Bank to take the Dexia relay.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has to go on his side Sunday in Berlin for talks and a working dinner with Chancellor Angela Merkel before the summit of the euro area of 17 and 18 October and the G20 of Cannes and the three November 4.A bilateral meeting during which the larger issue of the recapitalization of banks in Europe should be addressed.
Pending the outcome of negotiations and decisions of the Board, the listing of the Dexia shares was suspended Thursday in Brussels. It will resume Monday morning.
Before the suspension, Dexia shares worth 0.85 euro.
Nokia, faced with declining sales and profits, announced Thursday the elimination of 3,500 positions, including the upcoming closure of its plant in Cluj, Romania.
The closure of the Cluj result in the layoff of 2,200 persons.Nokia also plans to eliminate 1,300 positions in its other division Rental & Commerce, which includes the world leader in digital mapping Navteq.
These staff reductions are in addition to a program unveiled by the group in April to achieve 1 billion euros in savings, and including the removal of 4,000 jobs.
The world's largest maker of mobile phones by volume is facing a decline in sales and earnings after announcing in February that now employ the operating system from Microsoft for its smartphones.The first of them well equipped arrive on the market later this year.
The action Nokia has lost half its value since February, investors feared that the group would lose much market share until the launch of its new smartphones and no longer able to fully regain thereafter.
Around 9:10 GMT, the action to Nokia gained 0.96% 4.22 euros, while the European sector index electronics progressed from 0.17%.
Nokia also announced it would inject with Siemens € 500 million in their joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, headed by Jesper Ovesen would succeed Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, former CEO of Nokia.
The very slight decrease (-0.1%) the number of job seekers with no activity was offset by higher (0.5%) of the total number of people seeking work, including those engaged in a reduced . Agency employment center in Nice
The number of job seekers without work (Category A) in France has declined slightly in August from 0.1% after three months of increases, to 2.754 million people, according to figures released Monday by the Ministry of work. However, the total number of people seeking work, including those engaged in a reduced (categories A, B and C), has again increased in August by 0.5% the previous month to 4.148 million in people.This number is up 4.3% year on year.
After four months of reflux from January to April, unemployment has gone the way of rising from May to July along with the slowdown in growth (which was nil in Q2). In total, since the beginning of the year, the number of job seekers without work rose 29,000 people. The increase over one year (from August 2010) is 2.3%. It is 4.3% over the year including applicants who have worked reduced.
By age, the situation improved slightly for young people but deteriorates again for seniors.The number of job seekers in all categories, under 25 years decreased by 0.4% in August on a month (-1.3% yoy), while that of job seekers over 50 years increased by 1.2% (+14.6% yoy). The long-term unemployment also continues to grow: the number of registered unemployed for over a year has increased 0.6% from July and 8.7% year on year. The average length of job seekers registered in categories A, B, C, end of August 2011 is 455 days.
Unemployment remains at 9.3% at end 2011
A month, entries for the end of fixed term contracts (-0.2%), redundancy (-5.5%), first entries (-6.4%), times of activity (-3.6 %) and other cases (-4.8%) declined. Entries for other layoffs are stable. Those for the purpose of temporary assignment (5.2%) and resignations (+1.2%) have increased Revenge.The outputs for employment times reported (-4.6%), came into training (-14.7%), research stops (-5.2%), radiation administration (-11.1%) and other cases (-8.1%) declined. Radiation for failure discount for their part, rose by 6.1%. In total, the number of entries is higher than output.
The government is committed to increasing the unemployment rate below 9% by the end of the year. Unemployment insurance for its part considers that rising unemployment will continue this year and 2012. According Unedic, the number of job seekers without work is expected to increase again this year to 36,700 and 55,500 in 2012. In all, the end of 2012, 2.8 million people and 4.4 million inactive with reduced activity would be included on the lists of employment center.
A study released today by Coe-Rexecode is hardly more optimistic.According to the Institute of conditions close to the business, the GDP should grow lights this year by 1.7% and 1.2% next year. The French economy would create 195,000 jobs in 2011 and 115,000 in 2012. The level of unemployment, however, remain high at 9.3% and 9.1% end 2011 end 2012.
Wall Street opened the session Wednesday up timid, investors playing the card of caution before the results of the two-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Federal Reserve (FOMC).
In early trade, the Dow Jones gained 0.22% (25.50 points) to 11,435.98 points. The Standard & Poor's, largest, advanced 0.34% (3.82 points) to 1206.16 points while the Nasdaq composite gained 0.85% (22.07 points) to 2612.21 points.
The markets expect the Fed decides to influence long rates to support economic activity, an action similar to that conducted in the 60's and so called "Operation Twist". The release is expected around 18:15 GMT.
Values, General Motors rose 0.71%.The CEO of GM has expressed concern about the risk of a recession in the U.S. but it does provide a recovery in demand because of the need to replace an aging fleet in the major economies.
The technology sector gets its game after Oracle reported Tuesday a quarterly revenue slightly exceeded expectations and delivered a better than expected profit forecast for the current quarter.
The work of the specialist management software database jumped from 7.37% in early trade, while Adobe, which also announced better than expected forecasts for the fourth quarter, advancing 5.8%.
Pepsico appreciating the title of 1.65%. The group announced the creation of a board comprising its divisions drinks and food in order to achieve economies of scale, and reaffirmed its outlook statement for 2011.
Italy has had to make a record performance to place five-year bonds Tuesday, which illustrates again the difficulties faced by Rome to finance to sustainable levels.
The euro briefly fell below $ 1.36 and European stock markets have widened their losses after this operation, before these assets back into positive territory in mid-session.
The hope that China will come to the aid of Italy by investing in debt, a prospect that had supported the market on Monday night and Tuesday morning, gradually dissipated, which weighed on the bond issue.
In all, the Italian Treasury has raised 6.485 billion euros, 3.865 billion of new securities to five years, sold at a yield unprecedented 5.60%.
The coverage ratio of the award to five years rose to 1.279, well below that in the last similar operation, where he had established at 1.93.
The cost of financing which faces Italy took off despite the buybacks of sovereign debt in recent weeks made by the European Central Bank (ECB) to support Italy – a program that has led to the resignation sensational Jürgen Stark Friday.
"A disappointing auction, where the relatively low coverage rate is obtained at an exorbitant cost," said Richard McGuire, technical analyst at Rabobank.
The Italian Minister of Economy, Giulio Tremonti, met last week a Chinese delegation, said on Tuesday a spokesman for the Italian Treasury, which did not however want to comment on the content of the meeting.
These offers came a day after an article published in the Financial Times reported that Italy had asked China to support its debt by buying quantities "significant".
EMERGENCY ACTION
Chinese leaders have repeatedly publicly expressed their support for a Euro mired in difficulties.
But according to the Wall Street Journal citing a source familiar with the matter, it is not certain that the talks between China and Italy lead, pointing out that visits of Chinese delegations in Greece and other countries in the region Euro difficulties had raised hopes for investment from the second world economy that never materialized.
The renewed investor concerns about the difficulties Italy has led to a further widening of the yield spread between Italian and German bonds to 394 basis points.
This level is near the peak of 400 basis points reached in August, just before the European Central Bank does not fly to the rescue of Italy in redemption of government bonds issued by Rome.
On Monday, the CDS to five years in Italy has reached a new high of 505 basis points, up 38 basis points, according to Markit, which tracks the derivatives market.This means it costs EUR 505.0000 to guard against exposure to 10 million Italian sovereign bonds.
Italy has entered the center stage of the debt crisis because of its sluggish growth and its debt of 1,900 billion euros, representing about 120% of the GDP of the country.
Italian MPs are looking into the austerity plan introduced by the government of Silvio Berlusconi plans to reduce the budget to balance of Italy in 2013.
The Italian Senate approved on Wednesday through a vote of confidence in the austerity plan intended to bring 54 billion euros according to the Italian Treasury.
Italian MPs will be asked to vote on Wednesday by a vote on the austerity plan of the Italian government said on Tuesday the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President, said that the implementation of the austerity program was crucial not only for Italy but for the euro area as a whole.
According to economists, the cost of a bailout of the country at once would exhaust all resources in the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).
The creation of non-agricultural jobs in the United States were zero in August and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1%, according to official statistics released Friday.
Last month, the creation of non-agricultural jobs were zero, according to the Labor Department, while economists on average expected 75,000 creations.
Statistics better than expected in July (117,000 new jobs) was also revised down to 85,000.
That of June was also revised downward, to 20,000 against 46,000 initially.
Overall, the private sector created 17,000 jobs, against 105,000 expected and after 156,000 in July (revised from 154,000).
The unemployment rate however remained unchanged from one month to the other 9.1%, in line with analysts' expectations.
In August, the U.S. economy has eliminated 3,000 manufacturing jobs, while economists expected 4,000 new jobs after 36 000 (revised 24000) in July.
The public sector has in turn eliminated 17,000 jobs, after having destroyed 71,000 in July (revised from 37,000).
Lagardère was forced to significantly revise down its forecast for operating profit for 2011 because of the difficulties encountered by the sports center in the first half.
An adjustment of annual objectives of the media group was expected, with Lagardère early March release a forecast that does not take into account the ongoing sale of its assets in international press whose impact is estimated at 35 million euros for exercise.
The surprise comes from Lagardère Unlimited, the results were significantly lower than expected by the group for the first half, forcing it to revise down further his ambitions for the year to expect a decline in the 5 to 7% of its recurring EBIT before associates (operating profit) media.
Without even considering the sale of its international magazines, the group could achieve a growth "somewhat positive" in operating profit in 2011 due to the underperformance of its sports division as it was previously an increase of about 10%.
"I remain very confident in the fact that sport is an engine of growth for the group in the years to come," said managing partner Arnaud Lagardère, in a conference call."What we have seen, this is not a problem but a problem of strategy execution."
It has set itself the ambition to make the pole a world leader in sport by 2015, investing over one billion euros since its inception, but the smallest of the divisions of the group has never been profitable.
After a blip in 2010, Unlimited had back hair of the beast in the sporting calendar for a more favorable but the division was weighed down by the first half of the items, including a dispute over cricket in India as well as implementation problems that resulted in an overhaul of its management.
IPO CANAL + FRANCE STILL SUSPENDED
The chief financial officer Dominic D'Hinnin said the shortfall was $ 40 million for the first six months, adding that some of the difficulties likely to continue in the second half.
"Sports has really collapsed, and it's not over," said Conor O'Shea, an analyst at Kepler Securities."The only positive is that this activity was considered low enough and at least the other divisions have posted results in line with expectations".
In the first six months of the year, the Media recurring EBIT before associates spring down 6.9% at constant exchange rates to 168 million euros to a total turnover of 3.72 billion euros.
The market was expecting an average of 178 Media recurring EBIT before associates million for a turnover of 3.673 billion euros, according to estimates by six analysts.
The group's performance was supported by the Services division, which owns the chain of newsagents and bookstores Relay, thanks to the sustained level of air traffic.
The publishing division, however, continued to suffer from dwindling sales of "Twilight" vampire saga by Stephenie Meyer successful, but should return to growth in the second half, said Dominic D'Hinnin.
Lagardère Active, which includes including Paris Match and Europe 1, has its share decreased by 3.1% on a comparable turnover excluding international magazines including the assignment to the U.S. was cordoned off for Hearst most end of May.
Asked about the proposed IPO of 20% held by the group in Canal + France, Arnaud Lagardere has confirmed that the current market conditions did not allow for time to consider a resumption of the process, suspended after the Japanese earthquake last March.
Asked if Lagardère could return to the table in discussions with Vivendi holding the remaining 80%, Dominique D'Hinnin said, "we want to sell and that's it."
Before the publication of results, Lagardère has closed up 2.26% to 23.80 euros. Since the beginning of the year, as a sign down nearly 23% while the index of pan-European media has given 14.34%.
The Spanish Socialist government announced Friday the signing of an agreement with the conservative opposition in the Constitution for the country the principle of limiting the public deficit and debt.
The Constitution will be amended through a law to be adopted before June 30, 2012, the government said in a statement released in the early hours of Friday.
Both sides agreed to secure 0.4% of GDP limit of the overall structural deficit of the country audience, ie excluding debt service.
The law will also include criteria for a gradual reduction of debt pursuant to the Pact of Stability and Growth in the euro area.
The two sides signed the agreement will review the deficit ceiling in 2015 and 2018.
This follows a call to that effect made by France and Germany to countries threatened by the debt crisis in the euro area.
Spain has already announced Tuesday that it would enshrine in the Constitution a public debt ceiling before the legislative elections in November.
For two days, France is the heart of the market storm. The cost of insurance against default on debt lights blazing. The contagion of the crisis of debt in the euro area appears to have reached France … French President Nicolas Sarkozy (here on a council of the euro area July 21, 2011)
It was predictable. After Spain and Italy, France is now the new target markets. Wednesday, rumors of degradation of the French note have plunged the European stock exchanges. Fears of contagion from the debt crisis in France have led Thursday by a surge in contracts of insurance against default (CDS) on debt lights. The CDS of France have indeed reached a record 75 basis points, which means it must pay 175,000 dollars a year to provide $ 10 million in French state debt to 5 years.In comparison, Germany CDS are 85 basis points, those of the United States to 56 points. The reasons for the increased tension on France.
Fears of loss of triple A
The CAC 40 is unscrewed from 5.45% Wednesday, amid rumors of degradation of the French note. Bercy immediately issued a formal denial. The three main rating agencies, Standard and Poor's, Fitch and Moody's, they all reaffirmed that the prospect of the "AAA" of France was stable. This means that there is no risk of downgrade tricolor short to medium term. Still, for many analysts and investors, the degradation of the note of the United States sounds like a warning to other countries with a triple A.But France has the worst ratios of the club budget of twelve (composed of Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg of Norway, Switzerland and Finland). The French public deficit (7% of GDP) exceeds the level of other "triple A" in the euro area. France, also displays a primary deficit (excluding debt service charges) twice (3% of GDP) than its neighbors (1.6% in the Netherlands, Austria 0.9%, 0.5% Luxembourg, while Germany and Finland this year should generate a primary surplus).If it were, then, that a rumor, the prospect of a deterioration in the French note in the longer term is not excluded.
A sudden return of Nicolas Sarkozy ruled suspicious
Wednesday morning, the Elysee Palace announced the holding of a crisis meeting on deficits, with Prime Minister François Fillon, Minister of Economy Baroin and budget minister Valérie Pécresse. To do this, Nicolas Sarkozy, had to cut short her holiday to Cape Negro. During the meeting, the Head of State has asked his ministers to hand over on 17 August, "proposals to ensure compliance with the goals of deficit reduction." The arbitration will be made Aug. 24. Why Nicolas Sarkozy he called this meeting? As we know, before officially degrade a country, the rating agencies warn its leaders 12 hours.The initiative of Nicolas Sarkozy called a crisis meeting has encouraged the emergence of rumors about a possible loss of the triple-A French. "This has poured oil on the fire," admits one member of the French Government, quoted by the Financial Times. The other explanation – because the degradation did not occur – the holding of this meeting is to anticipate the cold shower that could be the announcement of the growth in the second quarter. INSEE is to publish this number on Friday morning. But after starting the year with a bang, French growth has slowed markedly.According to all forecasts, GDP should grow by only 0.2% in the second quarter, after +0.9% in the first quarter.
Commitments to reduce the deficit unconvincing
If the forecast 2% growth this year is achievable given the good start to the year, that of 2.25% in 2012, however, seems less and less realistic given the economic slowdown. Growth lower than expected means less tax revenue, so a larger effort to predict savings for deficit reduction. So, to achieve the objective of a deficit to 4.6% of GDP in 2012 and 3% in 2013, France will have to tighten their belts. In a report published mid-June, the Court of Auditors estimated that "the necessary efforts go beyond the measures that have already been taken." Particularly in terms of reduction of tax loopholes.According to the institution, the government's effort to reduce represent ten billion euros in 2012. The sages of the rue Cambon advocate an effort twice as large. Valérie Pécresse golds already announced that the government was ready to remove more tax loopholes that what was previously expected. The government is also considering taxing very high incomes, and increase taxation on life insurance. These measures will result in tax increases, targeted in 2012. Unless this commitment does the cost of the presidential campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy had indeed done in 2007 that he was not elected to raise taxes …