Archive for the 'occupation' Category
European shares opened lower Friday, risk aversion intensified significantly after Fitch downgraded Greece Moody's and that of several Spanish banks.
At 9:02, the CAC 40 index, which lost 1.2% Thursday, yields 0.74% to 2989.85 points.
The London Stock Exchange drops 0.88%, the Frankfurt up 0.9% and 2.02% fall of Madrid. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index fell by 1.03%.
Fitch Ratings downgraded the sovereign rating Thursday of Greece "B-" to "CCC", citing the growing risk of the country leaving the eurozone.
Moody's lowered the rating Thursday from 16 Spanish banks, including Santander SAN.MC, the largest in the euro area, suggesting the reduced capacity of the Spanish State to provide financial support to ; more of them.
The Stoxx European banks index was down 1.56%.
Illustrating the renewed risk aversion of investors, the 10-year rate of borrowing has fallen under German 1.4%, against 1.43% the day before closing.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro continues to trade at less than $ 1.27, to 1.2660 dollar.
The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, however, considered that the current turmoil in financial markets should subside within one to two years.
Spain has officially fallen into recession in first quarter with a new economic contraction of 0.3% over the first three months of the year, statistics showed Thursday's final National Institute of Statistics.
On the other year, the Spanish gross domestic product fell 0.4%.
Spanish GDP had dropped 0.3% in the last quarter of 2011.
"The recession is advancing at a gradual pace, but if we take into account the latest surveys on activity, it seems that the economic contraction will continue into quarters come, "said Tullia Bucco, an economist at UniCredit.
The Spanish manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in almost three years in April, while the service industry fell for the tenth month of row, according to the purchasing managers' index.
The export sector, the only one that has progressed over the last two quarters, slowed from January to March, the main economic partners of Spain is also experiencing the recession or slowdown.
Madrid seeks to convince investors that Spain is able to consolidate its public finances while reducing expenses, but the cost of restructuring its banking sector worries the markets .
The premium demanded by investors to acquire the Spanish debt rather than German debt has reached this week its highest level since the introduction of the euro, more than 500 basis points.
A Alelmand on two rather see Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidential election, a four qur Francois Hollande. Others do not care.
A German on two rather see Nicolas Sarkozy won the French presidential election and 55% of Germans support the policy of fiscal austerity Angela Merkel, according to a poll published Friday. According to the survey published in the German daily Die Welt, the German answer to 50% "Sarkozy" to the question: "What French President, the German perspective, would be the best choice?".
Of those polled, only 24% cite Francois Hollande. Other (26%) do not know or are not interested in the subject. When asked what they think the appropriate policy in this time of crisis for the euro: "maintain a policy of fiscal austerity or launch programs for growth," 55% of respondents advocate rigor advocated by Chancellor Angela Merkel . Only 33% say they prefer growth programs.
The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,004 people between April 30 and May 1.
Vivendi has been considering its strategy and investment banks are preparing proposals for divestiture or restructuring to try and halt the plunge in its stock price, several sources have told Reuters.
The difficulties of SFR, the leading provider of liquidity, led the Board to revive the old debate about the relevance of a model combining media and telecoms and put under pressure its number one Jean-Bernard Levy.
Facing the bronca shareholders embittered by a share price at its lowest for nine years, President of the Supervisory Board Jean-Rene Fourtou promised last month that the conglomerate would not remain idly and that all subjects would be put on the table, no "taboo".
Jean-Bernard Levy told Reuters on his side to the group questioned constantly on optimizing its business portfolio.
"There is no doubt that they are in full introspection on what to do," said one investment banker. "Until now, the board supported management and strategy, but the situation becomes critical and there may be a split."
Investors who dream of a quick and radical, however, may have to be patient despite the excitement in the markets by the situation mentioned by Bloomberg for dismantling and the arrival of man in the capital stock shots, Vincent Bolloré.
The contractor, who is poised to sell its conglomerate channels Direct 8 Direct and Star in exchange for Vivendi shares, wants to be a long-term shareholder and looks forward to working with the council rather than to impose its views at the outset, according to two people familiar with the CEO of Bolloré.
Most importantly, the tandem-Fourtou Levy, who oversaw the reconstruction of Vivendi after the debacle of the Messier era in 2002, is still in command.
Under the leadership of two men, Vivendi has cleaned up its financial position, streamlined its structure by acquiring minority stakes and settled a series of disputes.
The group also made acquisitions including that of the fast-growing operator GVT and tried to create synergies between its divisions with mixed success, however.
BACK TO SQUARE ONE
"All these years later, it is quite ironic that the group returned to square one: the action is at its lowest, there is still no synergies between the different business and it will be even harder to sell assets whose value has declined, "said one former executive of the group.
In a letter to shareholders dated March 27, the two leaders again rejected the idea that Vivendi would be a collection of unrelated activities with each other while judging " excessive "the conglomerate discount applied to the title, estimated at 40% by Jean-Rene Fourtou.
The challenge now is whether the group, which has previously rejected the dismantling scenarios, could this time take the plunge and abandon its hybrid structure.
"We can probably 216,000 scenarios, I do not fit into one of the 216,000 scenarios," said Jean-Bernard Levy told Reuters when he was asked about this hypothesis.
A seminar with the direction in June will be an opportunity to discuss the strategy and scope of Vivendi but a spokesman said the group meeting was held annually for several years and it was unlikely that it leads to major announcements.
According to several sources familiar with the matter, no bank has so far been commissioned for a sale or restructuring.
In a note, credit analysts at Société Générale consider the hypothesis of "break-up" unlikely unless a departure of Jean-Bernard Levy under pressure because of the difficulties of SFR.
The action of Vivendi has lost over 30% since its acquisition in April 2011 of the total SFR against 7.95 billion euros, an operation expected to result in a boost for the stock market Title and a dividend increase.
The arrival nine months later Free on the mobile market, has destabilized the operator which provides for 2012 down 12 to 15% in operating profit . Vivendi cut its dividend and the difference between the total assets of the group and its market capitalization has increased.
The AIGUILLON BOLLORÉ
Jean-Bernard Levy took the reins of SFR directly before passing the baton to a new CEO in the summer, with the promise to "tighten the bolts" within which the subsidiary recovery is deemed crucial to right the course of the action and for his personal future, according to several sources.
In this context heckled, the group is studying its options, reported by observers and bankers who do not see much to fix.
"Everything is reviewed. When they write in their letter to shareholders that nothing is taboo, it is a call for bankers to offer ideas, "said a person familiar with the group ….
….. "Unfortunately, it's not as simple as what people think when you look at the structure of the group"
.
According to sources, banks are working on a script assignment of Morocco Telecom, whose margin was still 55% last year despite a drop in sales
. Vivendi could also relaunch the IPO of Canal + France initiated last year by its other shareholder Lagardère before be suspended or sell its 60% stake in the video game publisher Activision Blizzard, the U.S. side.
But the sale of Telecom Morocco, 30% owned by the Kingdom of Morocco, could face political issues, indicates the same person, adding that the operations which appear more affluent, as Activision, have little influence on the other hand on the vision of the market prospects of Vivendi.
Some investors are pinning their hopes on the arrival in the capital of Vincent Bolloré, reputedly close to Jean-Rene Fourtou who said he would be welcome to the board.
A source close to the entrepreneur Vincent Bolloré hopes to reach 5% of the combined effect of the sale of its DTT channels and purchasing title to market. Societe Generale has recently become the largest shareholder with 7.86% of the conglomerate's capital.
"The emergence of a shareholder can bring a little more pressure on management will be forced to be accountable," said Gilles Guibout, portfolio manager at ; AXA Investment Management.
At the head of a family group, the entrepreneur would not invest one billion euros in Vivendi without an idea in mind, argues one contributor.
The activity has slowed sharply in April in the Chicago area, which serves as a barometer for the entire U.S. industry. Barack Obama visited a General Motors plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, near Detroit, July 30, 2010.
The slowdown of U.S. economy in the first quarter is on track to continue in the second. Industrial activity has slowed markedly in the Chicago area in April, according to the local index of purchasing managers in the U.S. ISM trade association said Monday. This index was down 6.0 points from March to $ 56.2 in seasonally adjusted data, its lowest level in 29 months, the ISM said.
The index nevertheless reflects an expansion of economic activity for the 31st consecutive month, the ISM wrote in a statement adding that the April figures also reflect a trend of activity to "slow further." The median forecast of analysts gave a less marked decline of the indicator, to 60.0.
The ISM Chicago extent the perception that industry in the region of the economy. He is said to be usually a good indicator of changes in the barometer of activity at all the United States. For the association, the fact that the index has declined for the second consecutive month and that this decline has been driven by a sharp fall in its component measuring the production incentive to "be more careful about the erosion of application that continues, even if the backlog increases "for area businesses.
Russia plans to give the International Monetary Fund (IMF) additional resources of over ten billion dollars but the exact amount will be determined in coordination with other emerging BRICS group says, has Saturday announced the Russian Minister of Finance.
"We have already said that the minimum contribution (Russia) would be 10 billion, the question now is to change this amount of increase to reflect the need for additional resources of the IMF" said Anton Silouanov to the press.
"We will coordinate with our colleagues in the BRICS and decide together what we can do," he said on the sidelines of a meeting between the IMF and World Bank in Washington.
The group said BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The G20 countries have pledged Friday to provide the IMF additional resources of $ 430 billion to address the debt crisis in the euro area.
According to Anton Silouanov, most of this amount, $ 362 billion, had already been promised before. "We have about 70 billion" to distribute among the contributors, he said.
Emerging economies, which were far more recipients of aid, this time have joined the effort, even if they expect, in return, that their weight within the international financial institutions increased at the expense of that of Europe.
NEW QUOTAS
The G20 committed on this road Friday, promising that the voting rights of emerging nations, called quotas, will be raised at the summit of the IMF scheduled in October.
Russia welcomed the decision, even though she was careful not to make quota reform as a precondition for the payment of its contribution. The new quota system must be clear and understandable, insisted Saturday the Russian Minister of Finance.
"We propose that the quota calculation is based primarily on two main indicators, the size of gross domestic product (GDP) of each country and the volume of their gold reserves and foreign currency," said Anton Silouanov.
If such criteria were to be retained, Moscow's influence in the IMF would increase considerably, with Russia third of global foreign-exchange reserves, with 516.7 billion dollars.
Some countries of the BRICS group said, however, have argued in favor of a better consideration of the weight of GDP, acknowledged Silouanov.
"Many countries believe that further dialogue in this area. Some countries have a quota have no interest in it is recalculated and prefer, obviously, that we keep the current formula, without bring change, "he said
.
Molson Coors Brewing will buy the fund CVC Capital Partners brewer of Eastern Europe StarBev to 2.65 billion euros, the U.S. group is keen to develop its presence in the market s emerging.
Molson Coors has prevailed over the Japanese Asahi Group, which was not willing to pay more than three billion dollars for StarBev, according to people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. brewer is mainly present in mature markets such as USA, Canada and Great Britain with brands such as Carling, Coors Light and Blue Moon.
With this acquisition, expected to be accretive in the first year, the share of emerging sales expected to rise from the bottom of a single-digit margin to around 15%, estimated Molson Coors.
StarBev is present in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovakia.
Nevertheless, analysts are wondering about the synergies of the transaction, which is why the action lost nearly 3% to 44.35 dollars on Wall Street.
"Being present in emerging markets is positive but this acquisition seems quite devoid of potential for synergies," said Kaumil Gajrawala, an analyst at UBS.
The transaction represents about 11 times Ebitda of StarBev, 241 million euros, which also carries a turnover of 700 million euros.
CVC bought StarBev to Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, in December 2009 and had sold given the interest shown by several brewers among which, besides Asahi is believed to know, were Carlsberg, Heineken and SABMiller.
CVC had paid for its acquisition of approximately $ 2.2 billion.
Unemployment in the euro area reached a high of almost fifteen years in February, with more than 17 million unemployed, and economists expect a further deterioration in this years.
The unemployment rate in the 17 countries in the region stood at 10.8% of the workforce, up 0.1 points from January, according to data published are from Eurostat.
"We expect that it continues to rise, reaching 11% by the end of the year," said Raphael Brun-Aguerre, economist at JP Morgan in London.
"There are redundancies in the public sector, incomes are falling, consumption is sluggish. The prospect of economic growth is negative and will reinforce unemployment, "he said
. The level reached in Feb February – for the first time since June 1997 – reflects the tenth consecutive month, an opposite trend to that enjoyed by the U.S. economy, credit e jobs since last year
. Economists are divided on the effectiveness of austerity policies adopted es by European governments to reduce their debt, the economic crisis affecting tax revenues, the purchasing power of consumers and investors' confidence that collapsed the year last.
Other statistics released Monday show a contraction of manufacturing in the euro area for the eighth consecutive month in March, reinforcing fears of recession in the European bloc.
North-South disparities
Despite these negative outlook, the European Central Bank (ECB) should maintain its interest rates to 1% at its monthly meeting Wednesday, rising oil prices keeping inflation above 2%, the limit under which it intends to maintain it.
"With inflation remains stubbornly high in the euro area, there is little hope of a recovery in consumption," said Jennifer McKeown, an analyst at Capital Markets.
The debates between members of the ECB in Frankfurt are more complicated than expected a little more optimistic this year fizzled, the contraction of the activity in manufacturing and construction affecting even Germany, the strongest economy of the area.
On the employment front, the northern countries of Europe, however, remain better off than their southern partners, whose economies are sealed by years of uncontrolled ready , an inadequate labor laws and a very competitive industry.
The unemployment rate remained stable in Germany and to 5.7% of the workforce in February, when it peaked around the Mediterranean, from 9.3% in Italy to 24% in Spain, which holds the sad record of the euro area.
The Spanish government has yet to unveil a great austerity budget aimed at saving € 27 billion more by the end of 2012 to fulfill the goal of deficit of 5.2% of GDP and regain investor confidence.
Beyond the euro area, the unemployment rate in all 27 countries of the European Union amounted to 10.2% of the workforce in February , or 24.5 million unemployed, against 10.1% in January.
The car wipes the biggest decline on Tuesday sectoral European markets, affected by fears of a slowdown in sales growth in Russia and China.
At 11:15, the European Index of automotive values lost 4.1%, falling from 4.98% to 5.45% of Daimler and Continental. In Paris, PSA yielded 3.6% to 13.265 Euro, Renault 3.72% to 40.010 euros, Faurecia 3.48% to 21.895 and 39.735% to 4.63 Valeo.
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Minister, Alexei Rakhmanov, auto sales are expected to increase only 6% in Russia this year to 2.8 million units, down sharply from to 23% increase over the period January / February.
Traders also refer to statements reported in the press, an official of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers that growth of sales in China would be less than the 2012 target set by the association because of slower growth.
"People are afraid from these statements. But for me, it's not a real concern, the prospects in China remain excellent medium term "said an analyst
. Despite this decline, the automotive sector index still shows a 28% increase since the beginning of the year. Renault and Peugeot won 48% 43% over the same pe period
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Japanese consumer confidence has plummeted in February. Individuals who fear a deterioration in the economic environment are more likely than those who see an improvement. A Prayer for the 23,000 dead and missing caused by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Japan.
The Japanese consumer confidence has plummeted in February, the index released Monday by the government losing by 0.5 points compared to January, witnessed the continuing concerns of the population about the situation.
The overall confidence index (expressed as data seasonally adjusted) fell to 39.5 points, 40.0 points against the previous month. It evolves rather erratic since this fall, after returning in the summer of his fall recorded by the tsunami of 11 March 2011. A result below 50 indicates that individuals who fear a deterioration in the economic environment are more likely than those who see an improvement.
In February, the global economy has yet given new positive signs after the turbulence in the fall of the worst debt crisis in Europe. But this relative calm did not embellish the mindset of Japanese consumers, who are generally anxious, especially as the challenges placed on the road to the third largest economy are huge, one year after tsunami that devastated the northeast of the archipelago.
In detail, in February, under-employment index fell 1.1 points to 36.0 points, continues to evolve sawtooth since the natural disaster of last spring, despite some relaxation observed on the labor market according to other indicators.
The sub-indicator of future income lost 0.6 points in turn to 38.9 points, many of those surveyed continue to fear that their earnings do not suffer from the economic uncertainties.
The sub-indicator of economic welfare in general has eroded to its share by 0.2 point in February to 40.6 points, and subindex purchase intentions for durable goods stagnated at 42 4 points. This survey was conducted February 15 to 6,720 homes in the archipelago.
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