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The benefit of EDF affected by provisions

Friday, July 30th, 2010

EDF has unveiled a new series of bleak, including the formalization of the two-year delay in the construction of the EPR Flamanville. In addition, the group's net profit plunged tricolor 46.9% in the first half to 1.66 billion euros, while analysts were betting, on average, profit of 2.57 billion euros. The group has indeed passed a provision to cover the risk of loss in value of its nuclear activities U.S. $ 1.1 billion. "This provision covers the risk of impairment of assets CEng, investment in Unistar and certain future costs and risks of the project, EDF will now continue his studies for the development of a new reactor at the Calvert Cliffs site, "said in a statement.

Sales and EBITDA exceed expectations

The energy company's EBITDA rose him, from 4.4% to 10.4 billion euros against 9.93 billion euros targeted by analysts. And the turnover amounted to 37.5 billion euros, up 7.7% and also above the expectations of experts, which amounted to 35.9 billion euros. The increase in sales figures is primarily due to acquisitions and CEng SPE, the company said.

EDF maintains its annual outlook

In terms of outlook, EDF has confirmed its objectives for the current year. It is thus an organic EBITDA growth of between 3% and 5%, a ratio of net debt / EBITDA of between 2.5 and 3, and a stable dividend.However, the company said it was a nuclear power between 405 TWh and 415 TWh in France for the whole year, with an availability target of its nuclear plants between 78.5% and 79.5 %. It had previously targeted a rate of availability of its French nuclear plants up 1.5 point "at least" in 2010 compared to 2009. This rate is crucial for the profitability of the group has been set at 85% over the medium term.

In addition, EDF has confirmed two information widely mentioned by the press. The electrician has announced a delay of two years starting from the EPR Flamanville cost of construction and re-evaluated at 5 billion euros.

On the other hand, the group said it has received an offer from Li Ka-shing on its UK business.The Hong Kong billionaire head of Cheung Kong Infrastructure offers 6.9 billion euros for the acquisition of the distribution network owned by EDF in the UK.

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Pussyfooting on Wall Street

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

The U.S. stock market started in the red on Wednesday, in an atmosphere remained febrile for several major events at the macroeconomic level. But shortly after, the indexes are spent in the light green: the Dow Jones gleaning 0.05% to 10,543 points, the S & P's advance of 0.17% to 1115 points and the Nasdaq is up 0.14% to 2292 points.

New orders for durable goods in the U.S. declined for the second consecutive month in June, official statistics show released Wednesday, confirming a slowdown in growth in the second quarter. The Commerce Department reported a decline of 1% of these orders, the highest since August 2009, after a decline of 0.8% (revised) in May Analysts on average had forecast an increase of 1% in June

On Tuesday, the NYSE has closed in a fragmented, divided between publications very positive company like DuPont chemist, and the downturn in consumer confidence in July.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro remains at its highest levels for two months around $ 1.30.

At the macroeconomic level, the U.S. central bank must now publish its Beige Book on economic conditions. It will be very guarded while the president of the institution, Bernanke said there is just one week before the Congress, the slow recovery, with no announcement of new funding in the economy.But it was the day Friday with the first estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) that will attract the attention of investors instant payday loan no TeleCheck.

Cephalon shunned after his semi

On the side of values, the telecom equipment maker Broadcom (+0.08% to 37.56 U.S. dollars) yesterday announced the closure of Wall Street quarterly profit of $ 278 million, against $ 13.4 million the year last.Turnover was up 54% (+10% sequentially) to $ 1.6 billion.

Note also the biotechnology group Cephalon (-3.23% to 60.87 dollars) has published a quarterly profit of $ 89.1 million, well above expectations.

Always on the side of values, the Wall Street Journal, the Google Internet Group (+0.03% to 492.75 dolars) is in talks with several publishers of video games in order to enlist their support for the implementation Length of service to rival social network Facebook.Some game publishers approached by Google Playdom be included, a publisher whose Disney announced the acquisition Tuesday, Playfish, bought last year by Electronic Arts, and Zynga, in which Google has already invested, it said.

For its part, the Microsoft IT group (-0.31% to 26.08 dollars) has criticized the partnership between Yahoo! Japan and Google, saying it would end the competition in the internet search in Japan and has questioned its "legality".

Also note, the oil group BP (-1.32% to 34.5 U.S. dollars) will have to "change the culture" after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, said its new CEO, American Bob Dudley at of an interview on ABC.

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"The Chinese economy should be consolidated"

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

lefigaro.fr / jdf.com – The slowdown in China is it disturbing for the world economy?

Yi Tang – Rather than "slow", I prefer to use the term "consolidation". China has still a yoy growth of 10.3% in the second quarter. The Chinese economy has certainly been a highest of 11.9% in the first quarter of this year and two of the three engines of China's economic growth in infrastructure investment and consumption have in fact seen their share in gross domestic product ( GDP) decline, while exports increased. But this consolidation is a natural and even necessary to avoid overheating. Note that the consolidation levels are higher than last year at the same time.Now, the year 2009 was so exceptional for the Chinese economy as a result of comparison with this year will necessarily be less favorable. We expect GDP% between 9 and 10% in 2010 to China.

What impact is there on the Chinese stock markets?

Paradoxically, since the confirmation of the consolidation of the Chinese economy, Asian stock markets' performance rather positive. However, fears of overheating and "double dip" (recession followed by recovery and then a new relapse) had plagued the financial markets and new opportunities for the long-term investors on the Shanghai and Scholarships Hong Kong. We encourage individuals to return to Chinese equities from one or two months and are positive for twelve or eighteen months.We also note that investors have a vision of increasing long-term actions, while so far the Chinese were accustomed to behave as short-term approach and more sheepish than international investors. He must be aware of that being a portfolio manager is very young in this country: the first asset management companies in China were introduced in 1998.

The change of status of China, which moves from an economy driven by exports to an economy supported by domestic consumption, he will offer new opportunities for investors?

Absolutely. This change is very positive for China and especially since it is now confirmed. The country has long said he would change the economic model without it being proved by the figures. Quite the contrary. The share of domestic consumption in GDP fell between 2001 and 2007.But since 2008, the government has clearly realized its desire to boost domestic demand by increasing spending on health and grants for education or for poorer totally free credit score.

This change will he impact your portfolio allocation?

We will clearly strengthen us in the consumer values. Our specialists will visit various areas of the region and identify trends. We are generally positive on the cyclical sectors in which the valuations are relatively attractive.

We will also strengthen the real estate industry. Three months ago, the government has taken a series of measures in this field. While the sector has seen massive sales, we have to position ourselves.Since April, we recorded an increase of 20% for a pocket which represents only 6% of our portfolio. Finally, we are strengthening in the commodities sector, because we thought that economic activity remains strong in China, and that the sector is oversold.

Conversely, we will reduce the share of defensive stocks such as pharmaceuticals (6.5% to 2%) and telecommunications (15% to 12/13%), for which we won respectively 40% and 50% and between 11% and 20%. We believe, unlike other managers forced to remain invested through management benchmarked, that valuations are too high now. For the first time we have seen in China as heads of companies bought back shares with their own money. This confirms our fundamental belief that companies are good and that the Chinese economy remains in good health.Rather than trying to replicate the performance of an index, we prefer to focus on the fundamentals of companies and their level of recovery.

Agricultural Bank of China could become the biggest IPO. Have you positioned in this title?

We have not invested in Agricultural Bank of China because we believe that the action is too expensive. Moreover, we do not, in general, the market capitalization as a criterion for management. We are lacking in banking stocks for nearly two years, but gradually reinvest in this sector. If the fundamentals of the Chinese economy evolve only very rarely, the value of its businesses varies, it very quickly. We will focus again to the Agricultural Bank of China, where the valuations of financial stocks will be more attractive.

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Wall Street is evolving in a piecemeal

Monday, July 12th, 2010

The caution is in U.S. markets on Monday. As we enter the ball of the first quarterly results on Monday, including Alcoa's after-hours trade, the U.S. markets move in an uncoordinated manner. The Dow Jones lost 0.09% to 10,189 points, in contrast, the Nasdaq advance of 0.56% to 2209 points and the S & P 500 gained 0.01% to 1078 points. Friday, Wall Street closed higher in very small volumes before the opening of the quarterly earnings season. The Dow Jones rose by 0.58% at 10,197 points, the Nasdaq 0.97% to 2196 points and the Standard & Poor's 500 by 0.72% to 1077 points.

The euro under $ 1.26

On the foreign exchange market, the euro has further retreated from Monday to below $ 1.26, on a foreign exchange market characterized by a weaker yen due to the electoral defeat of the ruling party in Japan and Pending results of the first companies in the United States.In the eurozone, the key event of the week will be put on the market for Treasury bills Greek tomorrow, the first since the announcement of the bailout of the European Union and the IMF in May

The week will be rich in promises of economic indicators in North America. In addition to the cascade of results expected in the coming days, markets will look especially to the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.They will look particularly at whether the Fed fears that the crisis of sovereign debt in Europe weigh on U.S. growth.

The ball starts quarterly results

In the absence of major macroeconomic publications on Monday, the market should focus on the first quarterly results announcements in the United States.

As always, the kick the ball in quarterly results, will be given by the aluminum giant Alcoa today after closing. Follow in the week the groups technology Google, AMD or Intel, and banks JPMorgan and Bank of America. The figures will be scrutinized with JPMorgan special attention because many investors believe that it is the financial will signal a rebound in real markets.

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The requirement for U.S. investors

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Between the French listed companies and U.S. investors, the reports are looking good. Despite the crisis, Paris remains the third preferred destination after Great Britain and Germany. But this affinity could become even more intensity, if we believe a research firm Financial Dynamics on the attractiveness of companies listed on the Paris Stock Exchange with 30 institutional investors on Wall Street. Europe weighs only 13.8% of their portfolio and the size of France went a small 1.6%, which suggests the study, could grow if the managements of French companies were showing "greater transparency and if the publications were more accurate results and frequent. All these qualities, however, already claimed by large listed companies. Yet Americans remain unsatisfied.While 62% feel well informed about investment opportunities, 38% complain that they do not quite grasp the subtleties of the governance and regulation at the French. This does not prevent them from playing for high: 39% of respondents prefer large-cap, over 10 billion euros. And 23% opt for those between 5 and 9.99 billion euros.

To choose between two companies in the euro area, 53% of investors focus first on to dissect the "fundamentals", only 16% consider the prospects for growth as critical. Which is good in this day and age.

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War trial graphics Kerviel

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

What's better than a nice graphic to save everyone a complex financial statement? Nothing. The trial of Jerome Kerviel, which opened June 8 at the Paris Criminal Court, is the scene of a squabble curves and histograms.

On Tuesday, it comes from the days when he officiated at Societe Generale. As usual, two competing theories. That the defendant, who ensures that his positions were stratospheric in plain sight at all times by his superiors and the various supervisory bodies, both in terms of unrealized losses (less than 5 billion euros in July 2007) in terms gains (1.4 billion in December of that year).And his defense to the form of 'graph', a comparison of the cash positions of the eight traders of the Delta One desk.

It shows seven lines of different colors follow almost straight trajectories, as brave barges pretending to race in the same channel. And then a red line, Jerome Kerviel, who could have been drawn by a trader during an exercise in crazy bungee jumping. It falls very low, it goes very loud, it falls, and so on. Mr. Metzner triumph, the yoyo manic over the barges is apathetic to him one more proof that the hierarchy "could not ignore" what was going on in the trading room of La Defense.

But it would be too simple. Because the plaintiff out of his sleeve another powerful "graph," which proves exactly the opposite.In this figure apparently scientific but objectively confused lines sawtooth cross in all directions. That of Mr. Kerviel is drowned amidst the other, no more extravagant than the average. "It's like comparing apples and oranges," protested the prisoner. "Not at all, contends Ms. Dumas. This is the other "graph" 'which is misleading because it is a focus on a small activity of Delta One "— the risk-free, which should have been monopolizing the energy of Mr Kerviel.

In short, it turns in circles.

In the afternoon, Moussa Bakir, 34, appeared at the bar. He was a trader at Soc Gen where he hugged Jerome Kerviel. Then he joined the brokerage subsidiary of the bank, Fimat, as broker.In mid 2007, the two men how to work and seems to become friends – witness the picturesque email exchanges, interspersed with "lol" and whatnot lexical far removed from the professional jargon.

Mr Bakir recounts how, at the end of 2007, he executes orders more and more — there will be tens of billions of euros — initiated by his friend: "The volume increases, commissions too. But my work has been monitored, encouraged and welcomed. I saw nothing unusual in my case. " At stake, a bonus of nearly $ 1.5 million for the broker.But the huge volume of financial products that negotiates on behalf of Jerome Kerviel it puts some flea in his ear, and he asks the trader for whom he acts: "He told me it was for a client bank, a fund based in London, through a so-called "Doubt," which he had often done by telephone, he saw some who scolded and whose goal was to win one billion. Jerome has often spoken of Mat.

Jerome Kerviel: "It did not happen like that. He was insistent, so I told him about a client. Yes, it was a hoax.

The President: "But why would he have spoken again later?"

The accused: "I do not remember having done."

The Chairman: "Keep up your statements?"

Witness: "I stand".

Monday, Kerviel felt twice as playing with the controls of the bank constituted a "national sport".The next day, he acknowledges having created a "hoax" to counter the curiosity of a friend. A big hoax, namely: Mr. Kerviel, which multiplied the fictitious positions to hide his positions, he also invented a client of flesh and bone to justify its investments unreasonable. He was named "Mat". How long he thought he would play only this game of chess?

Wall Street chooses the rise

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Tuesday's session starts on a positive note. A few seconds after the opening, the Dow Jones is 0.66% at 10,258 points, the Nasdaq climbed 0.62% to 2258 points and the S & P wins 0.58% to 1096 points.

On Monday, after having risen during the session, the Dow Jones fell into the red after a further deterioration of Greece's debt by Moody's. At the finish, the Dow Jones dropped 0.20% while the Nasdaq has eaten 0.02%.

On Tuesday, markets were reassured by national indicators considered generally positive. The subscript "Empire State" measuring the evolution of manufacturing in the state of New York continued to rise in June although employment has declined sharply, according to the regional Federal Reserve. The index stood at 19.57 against 19.11 in June in May

Also note, the import prices in the U.S., who have registered their biggest drop in ten months in May because of the plunge in prices of petroleum products.

U.S. investors are also added reassuring the reaction of European markets after the announcement of the deterioration of the debt rating by Moody's greek last night. The evolution of the euro (which returns above the $ 1.22) has become a yardstick of investor appetite for risky assets. But auctions Spanish, Irish and Belgian reassured markets on the debt problems of the region despite the lowering of the Greek sovereign rating speculative grade by Moody's.

BP, still under pressure

On the side of values, BP shares traded on the NYSE are attacked again, facing political pressure on the British group: they fall from 1.29% to 30.39 dollars. According to the parliamentary committee of inquiry of Congress, BP took risks to save money in the drilling of Macondo, the source of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A hearing leaders of the group is scheduled today before this Committee and President Barack Obama has a speech tonight faxless pay day loans.

In addition, Fitch downgraded six notches Tuesday of the memorandum of oil due to higher estimated cost for compensation of victims of the spill.

The media group News Corp. (0.61% to 13.20 dollars) submitted to the British BSkyB, which already owns 39%, a bid rejected for being too low, but both companies are continuing discussions with a view a friendly offer.

Apple (1.21% to 257.36 euros) announced Tuesday the launch of a new version of its Mac mini personal computer, its entry-level model, sold from $ 699.

Best buy (-5.94% to 38.61 dollars) Tuesday reported a bpa of 36 cents under its first quarter and a turnover up 7% to 10.8 billion dollars. The consensus of analysts polled by Reuters gave an bpa 50 cents on revenue of 10.930 billion dollars.

Pepsico (0.58% to 64.22 dollars), the world's number two soft drinks, has no plans to split its bottling subsidiaries, whose capital it has recently risen to 100%, said Monday one of its leaders, Tom Greco, while his arch rival Coca-Cola has hinted he might go that route. He added that the buyout of minority other bottlers not among the priorities of PepsiCo but it could be a buyer if some shareholders wanted to sell their shares.

Hershey (-0.26% to 50.75 dollars) said on Monday forecast earnings per share (EPS) 2010 adjusted between 2.47 and $ 2.52, in line with the consensus. It also anticipates a turnover up 6 to 7% in 2010 compared to 2009.Hershey plans to cut between 500 and 600 jobs, or 5% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan and cost savings of 60 to 80 million dollars (49 to 65 million euros) per year.

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Trade Electrical trial Kerviel

Friday, June 11th, 2010

The first witnesses in the trial of Jerome Kerviel to show unfavorable to the former trader. However, the three lawyers of the Societe Generale seem nervous.

My Veil, Reinhart and Martineau do not in place. Sometimes they twirl and shake, like swallows on a wire, while nearly two representatives of the Crown. The result is a mass effect on the side of the charge, which accentuates the loneliness of the accused, sitting in a chair – which is probably not displease her advice. Sometimes, in turn, lawyers for the plaintiff are powerful whisper the word to reporters, as if they have trumpeted the court might be misunderstood.

Here are just a witness who has everything to please them: SN is a trader at Societe Generale. Tall, slim, short hair, gray suit (a standard, obviously), this old friend of Mr.Kerviel stands slightly hunched, embarrassed of the man whose belly gargoyle society. "I do not necessarily asked to be there," he slips to the President. But since there is, he sings the lament of an honest financial embittered: "We all have limits to respect. Jerome Kerviel took positions stratospheric, endangering the bank and its employees. We are fighting every day to earn a little money in the bank. I am disappointed and disgusted. "

Mr. Metzner asticote this model employee: "If you say the lesser evil of the Company generally, you would find your chair tomorrow?"

The witness, categorically: "Yes."

The lawyer, humbug "Try …"

Martineau and yelping My Veil: "MSunder oath! We want him to give false testimony: "The prosecutor Jean-Michel Aldebert, while caveat:" Do not terrorize witnesses, Master! "

Mr. Metzner and his partner, Nicolas Huc-Morel, now produce a picture that at first sight, shows that the theoretical limit imposed on the traders would have been "disabled" – understood: it was not expressly prohibited Kerviel to invest billions. Claire Dumas, part of SocGen, refutes the argument. The three councils of the bank seriously nod of the head, Mr. Metzner is gloating.As Mr Kerviel, but it should be noted that his ostensible irony and his disposition to take up anyone questioned irritate the president, who often questioned.

Societe Generale, it comes out of his sleeve a graphic frightening: If it had not "unwound" Kerviel aberrant positions from January 2008, she had said she lost, not 4.9, but 29 billion. This time, his trio swagger, while Mr. Metzner, red as a peony, storm: "These pieces have not been disclosed to the defense!"

The performance resumed Friday morning.

Separated hotels, Accor Services is renamed Edenred

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Paradise red … Accor Services changes name and becomes Edenred in 40 countries where it operates, through its Ticket Restaurant and food stamps for the basics. This new identity is part of the demerger of the group Accor, which will be halved on July 2 with a side hotels (Accor) and other services (the new Edenred).

Each of these activities will be listed separately on the stock market. "We wanted a positive name that embodies our values, easy to pronounce and that can be incorporated into many languages, says the Figaro Jacques Stern, head of the service arm of Accor and a future issue of Edenred. We have reviewed hundreds. It was unanimous executive committee. "The firm specializes in creating names Kaos Consulting with teams internally, is behind the new name.

Eden means paradise in eight languages."In 95% of countries where we operate, people understand its meaning without translation," says Jacques Stern. Eden, in Edenred is, above all, "social ties, generosity, sharing. It is also the name of the company's project ("Undertake a different picture"). And the red ("red")? It is a direct reference to the logo that appears on most tickets for the company, a red ball. "In addition, red means network in Spanish, said Jacques Stern. Now our business is a business network, connectivity between businesses, employees and governments. "To have her new name, Edenred had to buy some domain names.To start, the company has installed 40 red balls huge cloth 5 to 7 meters in diameter in symbolic places: the role of Defence in France, in the middle of the Danube in Hungary … Edenred not intended to replace brand names themselves, there will be no major advertising campaign for the general public. "This is a company name. It is primarily for our 490,000 corporate clients, said Jacques Stern. Its launch is very economical, between 1 and 2 million euros. "

Brazil, the largest market

Already a world leader, Edenred intends to use its new autonomy – without Accor – to accelerate its development. It expects an annual growth in issuance volume between 6 and 14% for future years. Jacques Stern seeks settlements in 6-8 new countries by 2016 and it promises to innovate.In Brazil, the largest market Edenred (France is number three, behind Italy), a ticket culture will be launched in September. Dematerialization is a priority. To date, 70% of the offer is sold in paper form, with significant differences from one country to another: 80% in Brazil, but 15% in France. In 2016, the goal is to be 50/50. "At first, this represents an investment, but dematerializing our products, we enrich them," explains Jacques Stern. In Italy we have just launched a prepaid card, which incorporates advances for expenses for employees in addition to the Ticket Restaurant. "

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The G20 bury the global banking fee

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Barely out of cardboard, the global banking fee is already forgotten. After two days of meetings in the South Korean port of Busan, the G20 finance ministers have finally buried the idea of imposing a universal tax on banks to finance the rescue of the financial sector. Under pressure from Canada, Japan and several emerging countries, the G20 has decided that the imposition of tax concerns only countries where governments have funded bailout of their banks following the financial turmoil triggered Wall Street in 2008. A compromise that left the United States and European countries the right to establish their own tax waiver on their banking sectors, but reflects differences in approach within the group of the twenty largest economies in the world.

Canada, which will host on June 26 in Toronto the next summit of G20 leaders, as well as Australia and Japan have argued that their banks should not pay for the mistakes of their American and European counterparts. An application supported by big emerging countries like Brazil and India argued that their banking sector is healthy and does not require the establishment of a security background. "This is a view somewhat optimistic" said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF head who introduced new tax proposals in Busan.

The South Korean Presidential G20 hopes to win here at their summit in Seoul in November, an agreement on guidelines that would frame the future bank charges while leaving wide latitude to reluctant countries.

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