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PSA Peugeot Citroëna unveiled Tuesday the terms of the capital increase of about 1.0 billion euros related to its alliance with General Motors, an operation marked by a substantial discount to the American group that will take 7.0% stake.

This capital increase, announced last week at the presentation of the alliance between the two automakers, will open on Thursday and until 21 March inclusive.

The operation with maintenance of preferential subscription rights will be on the basis of 16 new shares for 31 existing shares, said in a statement PSA. 

The subscription price is set at 8.27 euros, showing a discount of approximately 42% over the closing price on Monday (14.2050 euros), and 32.4% compared to the theoretical subscription right off (12.23 euros).

Discount as the French group finance director, Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon, a relativized in a teleconference with reporters.

"What must be considered as haircuts, the calculation is compared to the theoretical price after issuance of one billion, ie about 32%, and this de ; rating is quite usual in the market, "he said. "What matters now is the time and size of the capital increase."

The action PSA yielded 2.56% in pre-market transactions in Frankfurt after the announcements.

For analysts at CM-CIC Securities, "this discount is explained by the fact that the success of the capital increase would condition the entry of GM capital of PSA and thus the birth of the alliance ".

PRIORITY INVESTMENT

The Peugeot family, the largest shareholder group, 45.4% exercise of his rights for $ 140 million and sell its remaining rights to General Motors. The latter will invest a total of 304 million euros in the operation, including the purchase of these rights and the acquisition of treasury stock (4,400,000 shares).

Following the capital increase, the Peugeot will own 25.2% stake in GM and PSA 7.0%.

"This round of money for PSA Peugeot Citroën will fully intended to fund our strategic projects with General Motors," said Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon.

"These investments will enable us to accelerate our globalization strategy and go upmarket, and (…) access to technologies and projects much faster and mania re wider ", he added.

Priorities for which he also argued for the decision of PSA do not pay a dividend this year. 

"We need our cash to fund these investments," he summarized.

Last month, SAP announced a major plan asset sales totaling 1.5 billion euros after the publication of annual results marked with an operating margin born NEGATIVE activities in the automotive industry, a "free cash flow" negative EUR 1.6 billion and a doubling of the debt in six months.

The New York Stock Exchange opened slightly lower Friday, the market pausing after rising last days in the absence of indicators and key results.

In early trade, the Dow Jones yielded 0.06% (7.80 points) to 12,972.50 points. The Standard & Poor's, wider, fell by 0.06% (0.83 points) to 1,373.26 points while the Nasdaq composite lost 0.05% (1.50 points) to 2,987.47.

The S & P 500 should still show on its third consecutive week.

Among the values ​​for the power group Sara Lee earns more than 4% after the announcement of the demerger of its activities next coffee and tea, along with a special dividend.

The group of transportation and logistics Dentressangle Wednesday announced financial results increased in 2011 but noted that economic conditions had deteriorated in late 2011.

The company saw its turnover increase by 5.6% at constant scope and exchange, to 3.576 billion euros. The EBITDA (EBITA) increased 17% to 130.4 million euros while net income rose from 57.2 million to 63.3 million.

"Dentressangle has seen since the end of 2011 signs of slowing economy and observed high volatility of demand for its customers early this year , "the group noted in a statement.

The company, which does not give forecasts for 2012, will offer its shareholders a dividend of 1.25 euro per share for fiscal 2011, against 1.10 euros a year before.

The Board of Casino, unsurprisingly, on Monday rejected the proposal to buy the Galeries Lafayette Etienne distributor 50% of its Monoprix at a price of 1.35 billion euros.

Casino and Galeries Lafayette, Monoprix co-shareholders, put in the public last week disagreed on the valuation of the sign of the city center.

According to a memorandum of understanding, Galeries Lafayette can exercise an option to purchase their shares since 1 January 2012.

But department stores believe that's 50% to 1.95 billion euros, while the casino values ​​to only 700 million, a figure far removed from the evaluation of 1.225 billion euros recorded in its accounts to 31 December 2010. 

"If the Galeries Lafayette confirm their wish to sell their stake in Monoprix, Casino will acquire, in accordance with its commitments under the Protocol, at the right price of the asset," reaffirms Casino Monday.

To break the deadlock, Ginette Moulin, whose family owns 100% stake in Galeries Lafayette, offered in early February at Casino CEO, Jean-Charles Naouri, to sell its 50% price 1.35 billion, representing the average of two-or offers to buy back his hand, at this price.

This last proposal was considered by the council met to approve casino accounts of the distributor, whose annual results will be released Tuesday morning. 

Casino had already announced last Saturday that there was no seller on his part in Monoprix, a strategic asset for the group.

"The board unanimously approved the directors present or represented, except Philippe Houze, (chief executive of Galeries Lafayette and Monoprix CEO) that n did not take part in the vote (…) the position expressed as an assignment of the Casino in Monoprix would be contrary to the interests of Casino, "he said in a statement . 

The price of 1.35 billion represents 9.1 times 2011 EBITDA (excluding debt) Monoprix, Casino believes that this figure compares to a multiple of 5.7 times "for major companies listed ; are European sector "(Casino, Carrefour, Tesco, Ahold, Delhaize, Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer).

Barack Obama pleaded Monday for important stimulus for growth and for raising taxes on high incomes, at the presentation of his budget proposal for fiscal year 2013, the Republican camp has once strongly criticized.

President of the United States, which will run for a second term in November at the White House, plans to spend $ 350 billion (265 billion euros approximately) to programs creations jobs and 476 billion (360 billion euros) to major works, including on road and rail networks and the construction of schools. 

The budget for fiscal year 2013, which begins on October 1, further provides for allocating funds to increase staffing in the areas of education, police and firefighters, while extending tax breaks designed to boost employment.

Of revenues, Barack Obama proposes to tax the income of millionaires at 30%, main idea of ​​his speech on the state of the Union last month, and expects 4000 bn e ; economies ten years, according to the plan unveiled in September.

There are also plans to set the tax rate on dividends at the highest tax bracket, currently 35% but must be raised to nearly 40% next year. 

"We built this budget around the idea that our country has always given the best of himself when everyone had his account," Obama said during a trip to , Annandale, Virginia. "It challenges the economic policy of 'make do', which has widened the gap between rich and poor Americans."

"As our economy growing again and creating jobs at a faster pace, we must do everything we can to preserve the recovery," he added.

AID HELD IN EGYPT

The proposed budget provides the outgoing president an opportunity to present his program and to present his Republican opponents as candidates of the rich. The conservative movement denounced for his reckless spending and accuses him of wanting to increase taxation.

"The Obama budget is an insult to American taxpayers," ruled Mitt Romney, a favorite of the race for Republican nomination for the presidential election of November 6.

"This project is not at all a financing law is a platform of campaign," said his side Mitch McConnell, Republican minority leader in the Senate. "It is bad for job creation, bad for retirees and it will worsen the economic situation," he continued.

The draft budget forecasts a deficit of 901 billion dollars against 1,330 billion this year. This sum, higher than the estimates made in September by the White House, represents 5.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expected in 2013, against 8.5% in 2012.

Obama pledged in 2009 to halve the budget deficit by 2013. But the White House argued that the magnitude of the recession that occurred after his arrival to the presidency dictated emergency measures and believes that it was more important to pre server growth than imposing austerity measures.

Regarding overseas, Obama proposes that the U.S. military assistance grant of $ 1.3 billion to Egypt, a level equivalent to that of previous years, despite ; tensions generated by the lawsuits against U.S. NGOs in Egypt. Some MPs had wanted the suspension of financial assistance to Cairo if the record of NGOs was not set.

Obama also proposes to release $ 800 million economic aid for countries in the "Arab spring" in the Middle East and North Africa, where authoritarian regimes have been overthrown ; s last year. The text does not stipulate how much money will be allocated to each country.

The boards of directors of Dexia and the Post have agreed in principle on the folder Dexma, the subsidiary responsible for refinance loans to communities by Dexia Credit Local, have de ; clared Reuters on Friday two sources familiar with the matter.

"This has been approved," said one of these sources.

The French state and the Deposit will each take a stake of 31.67% stake in Dexia Municipal Agency (Dexma), equivalent to that retained Dexia Credit Local, while that the Post Bank, the banking subsidiary of La Poste Group, will take the balance amounting to almost 5%.

Another source added that the Post Bank would also have the option of a further climb in the coming years with a capital of Dexma, resuming participation of DCL. 

In the initial plan of dismantling, as announced last fall, the Deposit should take only 65% ​​of Dexma. But, fearing that such an operation too mobilizes capital, several French parliamentarians have liked to see the state intervene directly in the recovery of Dexma.

The recovery of Dexma, according to two sources valued at about EUR 380 million, comes as part of the decommissioning plan for the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, a former world leader in financing local governments.

Since the collapse of Dexia, local authorities are subjected to a drying up of funding, freezing a portion of economic activity. 

To cope with this "credit crunch", the Prime Minister

Francois Fillon said on Friday the release of an envelope of two to five billion euros in loans to be paid from the savings funds managed by the Deposit.

The recovery of the loan portfolio of Dexma, estimated at 80 billion euros, is critical to local communities face a drying up of bank loans to finance their projects investment.

Many of them are now forced to postpone or abandon some projects, many banks deserting the market because of the financial crisis and new regulatory constraints. 

Estimates of Dexia Credit Local, between 10 and 12 billion euros will miss this year to local authorities to achieve their investment programs.

It is in this context that the Post Bank and the Deposit should be launched by end of June a new joint structure dedicated to financing local government.

This structure, which will take over from Dexia, will be owned 65% as provided by the Post Bank and 35% by the CDC.

Social VAT and tax on financial transactions were presented to the Cabinet Wednesday, the last step before a parliamentary debate. The standard VAT rate will increase on 1 October from 19.6% to 21.2% to compensate for 13 billion euros of lower employer costs, announced Sunday, January 29 Nicolas Sarkozy

The proposed VAT and social tax on financial transactions tax of construction sites last five years, were presented Wednesday by the Cabinet before a parliamentary debate and a deferred entry into force of several months.

The draft supplementary budget for 2012 will now be discussed from Monday to the National Assembly for a final parliamentary adoption scheduled for late February or early March at the latest. The symbolic measure of this supplementary budget is called social VAT, a name rejected by the government.  

VAT is to alleviate social, from 1 October, employers' costs to fund family policy, for 13.2 billion euros in a full year ($ 3.6 billion in 2012). These family contributions paid by employers are suppressed for salaries between 1.6 and 2.1 times the minimum wage, and relaxed, on a sliding scale, between 2.1 and 2.4 times the minimum wage. Wages to below 1.6 times the minimum wage already benefiting from such reductions in charges. In all, according to Bercy, 14 million employees are affected by the measure.

To offset the cost of this measure whose objective is to lower labor costs and thus increase the competitiveness of French industry, the government intends to increase by 19.6% to 21.2% the normal rate of VAT, also on 1 October. This measure will yield € 10.6 billion per year in stride.  

Finally, the general social contribution (CSG) on capital income is increased by two points, from 8.2% to 10.2%. This includes income from assets as of 1 January and investment products as of July 1. This measure will report full-year 2.6 billion euros needed to complete the reform so that it is neutral for public finances.

Moreover, the supplementary budget provides for the creation, effective August 1, a tax on financial transactions in France. Transactions in shares of companies whose market capitalization exceeds one billion euros and is headquartered in France will be taxed at 0.1%.

A source close to the government, China is considering investing 50 to $ 100 billion in the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF). Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao in Beijing, April 28, 2010.

China is considering investing 100 billion dollars to help the euro area to combat the crisis of public debt, reported the Financial Times on its Web site Thursday, citing a government source. "China might be willing to contribute between 50 and 100 billion in the EFSF (European Financial Stability Fund) or to fund a new mounted under his leadership in collaboration with the IMF, according to a person familiar with the intentions of the Chinese leadership" , said the British newspaper.

"If conditions are suitable then something a little over $ 100 billion is not inconceivable," said the person at the Financial Times.

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).