World and National News

New episode in the folder Veolia Environnement. Its CEO since late 2009 Antoine Frérot, is on trial. Borloo could indeed take control group of utilities and largest private employer in France. According to Les Echos, hostilities between the former boss of Veolia now head of EDF, and the runner Proglio Antoine Frérot, could be decided during the next meeting of the Board scheduled on February 29. Following this meeting promises to be choppy, several administrators of the group would seek a dismissal of the CEO. Conducted by a sling Proglio which intends to show that he still holds the strings of the group he led for many Annes before moving to EDF. According to Liberation, Proglio have discussed the ouster of Mr. Frérot with Nicolas Sarkozy on February 12 when the two men met to discuss the rescue by EDF of Photowatt.

Besides that of former Minister of Ecology Jean-Louis Borloo, several names would be approached to head the former Generale des Eaux: Augustin de Romanet, CEO of the Caisse des Depots, "but whose entourage denied any contact, "according to Les Echos, Jacques Veyrat, the former head of Louis Dreyfus and Daniel Bouton, former CEO of Societe Generale.

Results and share price at half-mast

The plummeting stock market as Veolia, which has lost nearly 60% of its value in one year, and the two profit warnings passed successively by the group that should show a loss of 200 million for fiscal 2011, according Challenges, feed the sling administrators.  

For its part, Borloo does not dispute some meetings with "people of Veolia," said Liberation. The newspaper said that "at least five members of the board, fully identified, reportedly met Borloo, Thursday and Friday." And the applicant further states that the daily Veolia is "a company that I know well as a former minister. They have problems and if I believe what is said, there are a number of shareholders who think the group needs a class to his head. " The question is whether Borloo could be this character. For now, the former minister is cautious and says that "the only thing I can say is that now I am driven by two major international groups that are not Veolia. And contacts with them are very advanced. "  

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Rio Carnival, which begins Saturday, will this year partly Chinese. More and more costumes, which make the success of this traditional Brazilian festival, are made from synthetic fabrics imported from China, rather than made in Brazil. And this year, China has further strengthened its positions according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics quoted by AFP, the Brazilian textile production fell by nearly 15% in 2011, while imports surged 53 %, mainly from China. This year, Brazil will have finally made that 15% of synthetic fabrics used for the carnival, reports the president of the Brazilian Association of Textile Importers (Abitex). This type of fabric, inexpensive and easy to maintain, is increasingly popular among Brazilians for carnival festivities.  

Unbalanced relationships

The rise in imports of synthetic fabrics from China is emblematic of the relationship between the two countries. In 2010, China became the largest trading partner of Brazil, before the United States pay day loans. But Brazilian companies complain of the growing imbalance of trade relations. While Brazil exports mainly oil, iron and soybeans, the Middle Kingdom drinks market its products manufactured at low costs, which threaten local production. He also became the first foreign direct investor in Brazil, through acquisition, particularly in the energy sector, mining or production of soybeans. An imbalance compounded by the undervaluation of the yuan and over-valuation of the real. During a visit to Beijing last year, the Brazilian president, Rousseff, called for an upscale commercial relations between the two countries, making more room for products with high added value.

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PSA announced this morning its annual accounts. The group recorded an operating profit of 1.31 billion euros, against 1.79 billion a year earlier. The net profit is not apparent at 588 million euros, against 1.13 billion euros in 2010. Meanwhile, turnover rose by 6.9%, to 59.9 billion euros.

Peugeot loses money on its core business, namely to build and sell automobiles. To be precise, the industry grouping of PSA Peugeot Citroen and recorded an operating loss of EUR 92 million in 2011. In the second half, the deficit in the division has even approached the 500 million euros. Outside this perimeter, the Chinese subsidiary is profitable but it remains small (404,400 vehicles sold).

After a brief stint in the green, the action has continued to sink throughout the session. At 16 hours, as the same fall of 6.9%, to 14.07 euros.  

Peugeot said it plans to open the capital of its subsidiary Gefco, specializing in logistics. He also plans to sell the walls of his Paris headquarters. This is to return cash to the group. It is perhaps this aspect that worries investors.

These efforts include a major program of asset sales of 1.5 billion euros. This amount includes the sale (completed in February) of the car rental company to quote an American group for 440 million euros, the IPO of the highly profitable logistics subsidiary Gefco, which PSA could take about 560 million, and dispositions of real estate assets – including the walls of the Paris headquarters of the Avenue de la Grande Armee – to 500 million.

Vague and cautious outlook from Moody's

Beyond the figures, investors are sensitive to the perspectives of PSA. THERE is no forecast of operating margin. It is unclear whether Peugeot will be profitable this year. The group expects a 5% drop in sales in Europe, including a 10% decline in France. Growth should be at the rendezvous in emerging countries.

For its part, Moody's placed under surveillance in his note on the group. If the rating agency's rating deteriorates, Peugeot would be in the category of junk bonds.

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With the popularity of its latest shooter series Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3, became the best-selling cultural history, the U.S. publisher of video games Activision Blizzard, a subsidiary of Vivendi, has multiplied records. The game has generated over a billion dollars in sales in sixteen days, surpassing the record revenue of cinema film Avatar, James Cameron. Including previous versions of Call of Duty, the previous record of 30 million boxes sold in 2010 was exceeded last year, analysts said.

Therefore, the annual profit of the publisher jumped 159% to a record high of $ 1.09 billion, against 420 million a year earlier. Last quarter, Activision Blizzard has returned net profits, with a profit of 99 million against a loss of 233 million for the same period of 2010. These results have exceeded expectations.

7 million registered players,

"We were able to generate nearly a billion dollars in operating cash flow", says Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard.

As profits, revenues also reveals surprises. Over 34% of annual sales of $ 4.75 billion from the sale of online games. This is another record in the history of video game publisher that has managed to stabilize the number of customers to its virtual world called "massively multiplayer" World-ofWarcraft, to 10.2 million subscribers.

"We record the fastest growing premium services with our new online gaming service online Call of Duty Elite Subscriber, which has attracted more than 1.5 million subscribers Premium and over 7 million registered players in the service" , says the boss of Activision Blizzard. Subscribers "premium" pay 50 dollars a year "to receive, each month, new content," said Eric Hirshberg, the CEO of Activision, Le Figaro.

The figurines Skylanders

It's "faster than the takeoff of everything I've experienced so far. It's better than what we recorded for the start of worldofwarcraft. But it is also faster than the beginning of paid subscriptions to Netflix, hulu.com or Xbox Live, "says Bobby Kotick. Moreover, the last title Modern Warfare 3, launched in November, has generated alone, over 639 hours of online game. These online versions allow the group to reduce the impact of pirates who have illegally downloaded 4.5 million times the latest installment of Call of Duty, according to the website TorrentFreak.

In addition to its outstanding success with war games, Activision Blizzard has also recorded a score very encouraging with its new game Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, which brings together plastic figurines and traditional video games. A total of 20 million stamps were sold last year. "We are out of stock," says his side Jerry Storch, CEO of retailer Toys'R'Us. The game Skylanders would have generated $ 400 million last year, including some 4 million software units sold. These performances are of Skylanders Spyro's Adventure "the greatest creation of a game for children 6 to 12 years," said Eric Hirshberg.

To renew the genre in 2012, Activision will present next week at the Toy Fair in New York, following his children's game called Skylanders Giants.

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Gran Via, Saturday afternoon, thousands of Madrid overflowing sidewalks to rob the shops in the center. Plaza Santa Ana customers compete tables for a drink and some tapas … According to a recent survey, 68% of Spaniards say they are happy despite the economic depression. The Spanish crisis is a strange crisis. Five million unemployed, a growing debt to half-mast and the edge of the alert levels, but the fiesta continues. On the surface, anyway.

The costs of the crisis, in fact, are unevenly distributed. On the one hand, those who keep their job. Possibly concerned about the situation, their objective situation has changed little since the crisis began, three years ago. On the other, 21.5% of those unemployed, whose number is increasing. Poorly defended, forgotten unions, their suffering is silent.The bank is threatening to enter the apartment of the family, a three bedroom 45 m2 Carabanchel, a neighborhood south of Madrid online payday loans. "A desahucio" expulsion of more. In 2010, 100,000 Spanish families were evicted four times in 2007!

Caritas, the equivalent of Catholic Relief Services, published three years the results of the Observatory of social reality. The figures are more alarming each year than the previous year. Juan Jose Lopez, the research department of the NGO, said the number of persons received by Caritas has more than doubled since 2007: 950,000 people have knocked on the door of the association in 2010 against 400,000 three years ago. "The situation worsens and becomes chronic."

If the threat is executed, Alejandro is considering several options. "Yes I Can camp, but my mother is 60 years old.

Estoppel to potential buyers of SeaFrance. The Commercial Court of Paris on Monday gave the liquidation of the French company SeaFrance ferries in the Channel, but now the activity until January 28, 2012. The court found that the two takeover bids submitted by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), associated with the Danish DFDS group, and the CFDT union in the enterprise, were not satisfactory as it stands. However, he left the door open for the submission of new offers before December 12.

SeaFrance employs 880 permanent employees and 200 CDD, according seasons. The plan proposed by the LDA-tandem DFDS provided for the protection of 460 FTE jobs, maintaining SeaFrance under the French flag, the recovery of three ships 5 million and an investment of 50 million for repairs to boats.

Findus is about to change hands. Three years after buying the French leader in frozen, its owner, Lion Capital, calls into sales. The investment fund, which has got hold of last year's Frozen Picard, is given two months to complete the transaction. He has hired investment bank Rothschild on this issue. Two candidates were nominated.

After writing last week in the management, staff representatives will be received Monday morning in Noisy-Le-Grand, at the headquarters of Findus France as part of a central works council (CEC) extraordinary. A representative from the shareholder will also be present. The sale of Findus would have to be formalized.

At Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the factory is located in the French group, employees are in shock. In late July, announced with great fanfare Findus have "saved" in extremis its plant relocation.Lion Capital had then committed $ 11 million in three years and create fifty jobs. This allowed to increase by 25% the production capacity of the plant, which manufactures the famous Croustibat breaded fish sticks.

Sales growth of 8% in 2011

At a time when the group is about to change hands, its French subsidiary has never paid as well. In early September, its chief executive, Matthew flaps, which took over in 2005 and recovered the activity, anticipated sales growth of 8% in 2011. Findus France, which is given five years to grow 50% this year should exceed the threshold of 200 million euros. The group, which launched eleven new products in September, also plans to invest the radius mellitus.

He also removed the last year of palm oil revenues apples hazelnuts and other breaded fish.The dynamism of the business, coupled with the withdrawal of Nestlé (Maggi) radius frozen, Findus allowed to steal first place in the Hexagon. The radius of the frozen ready meals, it is nonetheless the third, behind Maggi and Mary (LDC).

In France, Spain, Britain and Scandinavia, Findus is not his first change of ownership. In 2000, Nestlé had sold the specialist frozen Swedish EQT fund while retaining a portion of the business, now sold under the brand Maggi Frozen. Six years later, Findus was found in the bosom of another fund, Capvest. Lion Capital is offered it in 2008 by paying 1.2 billion euros. This allowed him to bench other funds, Permira and BC Partners, which could again review the case.

Chinese banks are no longer a paradox about. When they announce record profits, their shares continue to plunge on the stock markets. More than 100 billion dollars in profits have been achieved over the last twelve months by the four largest banks in the MSCI China's financial. Yet the same index retreated by 24% last month …

In question, the ability of banks to cope with the heavy debt burden of local Chinese. Last June, the National Audit Office made an unpublished report, evaluating the debts of local governments to 1200 billion euros. Debts incurred to 80% among Chinese banks. Nearly 25% of these loans come to an end at the end of the year, according to the official.Enough to make investors nervous at the beginning of autumn.

For the businessman Jim Chanos, who made his name in the financial world by predicting the collapse of Enron, the problem of Chinese banks is so large that it could completely cancel the growth of the empire environment. "If we assume that China will issue loans representing 30% to 40% of its gross domestic product (GDP) and half of that debt will be questionable, it represents 15% to 20%. Let's say half of them are covered. China may have to switch to a loss of these amounts and reduce growth of 9% to zero, "calculated the investor in an interview with Bloomberg TV last week.

Interest rates reaching 70%

A feeling that reflects at least the concerns of many investors, as evidenced by the poor performance of local banks in the markets.But analysts located in China do not share this pessimism. "I do not think there is a bubble. These are more questions about the future easy to get unsecured personal loans. Investors are concerned about asset quality of Chinese banks, "cautions Zhang Yi, an expert in the industry for Moody's in Beijing. "The government is responsible for the bank and will do everything to prevent a major problem," said one of his part in Shanghai-based analyst, who works for a large brokerage company in China. For now, the real problem of Chinese banks is the explosion of informal loans. Clearly, the restrictions imposed by Beijing on credit have greatly benefited the black market. "We have no idea of ​​the true extent of the phenomenon, no credible data was available. But banks remain exposed to the last borrower, "said Zhang Yi.For some of these funds lent at usurious rates comes directly from banks.

Last month, the Journal of the securities of China, close to the government, reported that the equivalent of nearly 50 billion euros had been removed on the first two weeks of September in the deposits of the four major state banks: Bank of China, ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China), China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China. Most of these funds were reinvested, according to the newspaper, the black market in credit, where interest rates can reach up to 70%, while the alternative financial investments are scarce for individuals and businesses. The stock markets are down and banks remunerate savings at rates lower than inflation.

For now, the response of banks to secure their future look for the capital increase.ICBC has announced plans to raise $ 11 billion market over the next nine months. The question is whether investors are ready to go.

This is the new fad on the web. Vestiairedecopines.com is the top site that enables passionate fashion to sell part of their wardrobe to help buy other items. This site, created two years ago, has already brought together a community of 600,000 members connected in a vast social network.

Today, advised by Clipperton Finance, the site raises 7.5 million euros to the U.S. investment fund and its shareholders Balderton Ventech history. This capital value to the site between 20 and 25 million euros. On that occasion, Bernard Liautaud, a partner at Balderton Capital and former founder and CEO of Business Objects, will join the board of vestiairedecopines.com to advise the company in its international expansion.

"Vestiairedecopines.com experiencing very strong growth driven by the community.On the site, we selected 45,000 articles fashion products, clothes, shoes, shoes, accessories are discussed live by the community before being purchased. When we receive the product, we inspect its condition before shipping to the buyer. Nearly 200,000 items were circulated in 2011, representing between 350 and 400 orders per day package. Our business volume in 2010 represented 3.3 million and we expect to increase this volume by 4 in 2011 to 12 million and it should still be multiplied by 3 in 2012, "explains Sébastien Fabre, co-founder of the site and CEO.

If the site is also available in French, the community, it is already international in 17%.Mainly British and Germans who come to the French fashion articles and advice from members.

Britain and Germany

Vestiairedecopines.com is going to quickly open a site in English and in German by the end of the year, while centralizing the packages still in France. In the longer term, the site will address the United States by implanting a logistics service. But before considering expansion abroad, it will have to change its name, is certainly very vestiairedecopines.com French, it is unpronounceable in English!

Nicolas Sarkozy could not miss the start of construction of the first TGV in Africa and the Arab world. Especially if a French company, Alstom, in this case is at work. The French president will then visit a few hours to Tangier on Thursday to give the start of construction of the train Tangier-Rabat-Casablanca.

After a ceremony at the station in Tangier, Nicolas Sarkozy will hold talks with King Mohammed VI at the Palais Marshan, during a face-to-head followed by a working lunch. Then he will speak to the press at 17:15 Paris time.

One site to 3 billion

Four years after the announcement, the work can begin. This project should permit the entry into service in 2015 a train up to 320 km / h linking Tangier to Casablanca and reducing by more than half the travel time between the two cities, which will go from 4:45 to 2:10.

Its cost is estimated at 33 billion dirhams by the Moroccan government (3 billion euros) and will be partly financed by loans to prime French, Moroccan funds from Gulf countries and the Arab Fund for Economic Development and social. The European Investment Bank (EIB) was, she refused a competition of 400 million euros, which complicated the closure of the project.

Moroccan media while Germany suspected of having deposited its veto against the funding because of the choice of the Moroccan government to favor the French Alstom in its German competitor Siemens business card.The French group, which had previously exported its expertise in high-speed train in South Korea, Spain and Italy to Morocco will provide 14 trains of eight cars, for $ 400 million euros.

Economic projects

While the French government scans the remark, some commentators believe that the choice of Alstom was used to compensate the loss by France of a contract to supply fighter jets to the Moroccan Air Force, who had to prefer the F16 U.S. Rafale from Dassault Aviation.

This episode now seems forgotten. Nicolas Sarkozy, focused on investment opportunities represented by Morocco, has chosen to take with him two ministers, Eric Besson for Industry and Thierry Mariani for Transport and Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche.

The Hexagon is the first partner of the Sharifi kingdom, providing 15% of imports from a country with an average growth of 4.5% to 5% for ten years, accounting for 21.5% of its exports, and employing 100,000 Moroccans in its 750 subsidiaries. Other large projects include the creation time of a Renault factory "zero pollution" with Veolia Environment, which should become operational in early 2012 or Tanger-Med, a huge industrial center and port that participates in a Bouygues consortium.

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