Munich Re has released the first quarter 2012 net income after minority interests of 780 million euros, a figure consistent with expectations that stage is explained by a higher revenue from investments and a low level of claims for damages.
The consensus was 776 million euros, according to 10 analysts and brokers polled by Reuters.
"Despite the economic situation remains difficult, we are optimistic for 2012 and are aiming for a profit for the year of about 2.5 billion euros," said Jörg Schneider , CFO of the first global reinsurer, said in a statement.
In the first three months of 2011, accounts of Munich Re had plunged into the red after billions of euros of damage claims after the effects of earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand.
The leaders will present on Wednesday at Opel supervisory board of the European subsidiary of General Motors a project involving the closure of two plants in Europe to reduce by about 30% production capacity , it was learned from several sources informed of the discussions within the company.
PSA Peugeot Citroën, the new French ally GM meets Friday a European group committee three weeks after the announcement of the merger between the two groups, while unions' s question the social and industrial benefits of the project.
"GM repeats regularly with excess capacity equivalent to 500.000 cars a year, we have two factories in too, and the new manufacturing manager visited the sites one after the other by playing against each other, "said Thursday a representative union of Opel's supervisory board, who requested anonymity
. "We know the main points of the strategic plan that could be Wednesday presented: it includes plant closures and no growth for the company, "he added. "If it is voted, the entire union side will vote against this plan."
A GM spokesman declined to comment on possible closures, but reiterated previous statements of the group under which the management is working closely with unions and works councils to improve profitability.
A source at Opel said no decision had been made on possible plant closures in Europe, but added that the bargaining Management was extremely limited due to the current slump in the European car market.
"Business in Europe are really bad for the whole industry right now and there is no sign of reversal," said this source.
"When things go so badly, we must take action, so the question is not what we want or what the unions want, which is the context so requires."
"We can not afford to lose time."
PRESSURE ON PSA
Employee representatives can not block a decision by management, but they have already warned that the presentation of such a project would destroy the Wednesday born Negotiations opened so far.
Factories in Bochum, Germany, and Ellesmere Port, United Kingdom, are considered most at risk even if the chief executive of Opel Karl-Friedrich Stracke has de ; clared a few days ago that he would respect the commitment not to close any site before the end of 2014.
The managing director of GM Dan Akerson has repeatedly expressed his impatience with chronic losses suffered by the European branch of the group, which reached $ 747 million (563 million) the last year.
Earlier this month, he said that two years may be needed to restore the finances of Opel in the green.
For Dan Akerson, the European automotive sector has a total of between seven and 10 plants in too. The closure of one or two sites by GM could therefore increase the pressure on PSA for a commitment on the same track.
Interviewed in early March at the Geneva Motor Show on the possible eventual closure of one or more sites of PSA after the alliance with GM, Denis Martin, director of industrial group franç ais, nor had responded in the affirmative or the negative.
Plants PSA Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) and Madrid are considered most at risk in case of restructuring the group's production.
The question may also be asked to Sevelnord (North), where nothing is currently planned to fill the void let what Fiat, the Italian manufacturer has decided not to extend its partnership with PSA on the site beyond 2017.
Promise to close in 2010, the Bosch plant in Venissieux, a suburb of Lyon, rising from the ashes thanks to the manufacture of photovoltaic panels in the most modern and important production unit of this type in France.
The German group intends to make this site the bridgehead of photovoltaics for southern Europe and northern Africa, and a model of "French production" that is central the campaign in France.
After eight months of construction, the new production of photovoltaic modules from Bosch is being phased in and the 200 employees of this plant produce in full capacity by July, 2000 panels per day, or 600,000 modules per year.
"This corresponds to the consumption of 51.000 French households, "explains Jürgen Pressl, board member of Bosch Solar Energy
. The plant is yet act as industrial miracle …
…… In 2010, the Bosch plant in Venissieux was promised at the close. Specializing in the production of diesel injection pumps, she was condemned by a falling market.
With an investment of 25 million euros, the conversion of the site has saved 200 of the 450 jobs previously identified.
"The successful transformation of Venissieux is the result of an exemplary social dialogue, and unique German enough", Guy said Maugis, president of Robert Bosch France.
To switch to the manufacture of injection pumps to that of photovoltaic modules, French employees of Bosch had to go to Germany for training.
"I was immediately voluntary," said Christelle Trioulaise, 45, who is placed in quality control. She looks forward to working conditions, "more comfortable, quieter, more interesting as new".
"But above all I could keep my job, and that's the key," concluded the worker.
"MADE IN FRANCE"
The Bosch Group has installed the new production unit in the Lyon region, not by philanthropy but by strategy.
"The French market is very important to us and here we must propose the 'Made in France', we need to produce locally," said Axel Becker, who led the project to convert.
Jürgen Pressl also emphasizes the proximity to markets such as Italy, Spain, North Africa, who are "potential customers".
"Vénissieux must become the bridgehead for photovoltaic southern Europe and northern Africa," he said.
Bosch's objective of becoming the market leader in photovoltaics, renewable energy according to the German group is the trend of the future, the era of fossil fuels being in his past.
The group spent more than four billion euros for research and filed over 4,000 patents in 2011.
Yet its leaders recognize that on this intensely competitive market, the game is not won, and that investment is still far from profitable.
"The price war is exacerbated must pass some time, and ultimately, we think about winning a very high quality of our products," said Jürgen Pressl.
In 2011, Bosch Solar Energy has achieved a turnover of 800 million euros, down from the previous year due to falling prices for modules.
Free said Thursday a "huge success" for its mobile business launched earlier this year, but without giving the number of its subscribers, and promised to accelerate the deployment of its network, subject of much controversy.
The internet service provider has a spectacular entrance in January on the French market of mobile telephony with offers at bargain prices, forcing competitors to lower rates of part of their bids to try to stem the exodus of their subscribers.
The speculation is rife, since the number of subscribers attracted to entering the fourth, recently estimated at 1.5 million by the CEO of France Telecom.
The parent company, Iliad, does not figure in its earnings release issued on Thursday, making only a state of "tremendous success" commercial activity of its rolling the dice goal of the year.
The chief financial officer, Thomas Reynaud, said that the numerical results would be unveiled in May to mark the publication of first quarter figures.
At 10:04, the title earns 0.34% to 99.09 euros, while the sector index losing 0.2% in the same time.
The group led by Xavier Niel plans to accelerate deployment of its network in order to have 2,500 sites equipped by the end of the year, against a thousand now.
Nearly 250 million additional investment expected to be incurred in 2012, after more than 400 million euros last year, said Thomas Reynaud at an international ; Conference call.
In total, the group's investments jumped nearly 50% last year to 1.2 billion euros, largely as a result of deploying the new Freebox Revolution and the frequency acquisition "4G".
This sharp rise affected the free cash flow of the group that spring -413 000 000 euros for all of 2011 while net income excluding items declined 7% to 255 million.
Iliad has also released last year a turnover of 2.12 billion, up 4%, operating profit (EBITDA) of EUR 833 million ( also 4%), against 2.14 billion and 861.4 million euros expected on average, according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.
For 2012, the focus group said a surge in sales with a growth of over 5% in the fixed without providing forecast figures for the mobile.
ACCELERATE THE DEPLOYMENT OF MOBILE NETWORK
Free Mobile has already upset the French telecom sector, only two months after its launch.
SFR has already said anticipating a decline of 12 to 15% of operating profit (EBITDA) this year while Bouygues Telecom expects a decline of 10% of its turnover.
France Telecom did not provide detailed forecast but also table for the whole group on a sharp decline in its operating cash flow from 2012 to 8,000,000,000 euros, and EBITDA of the incumbent is expected to decrease to one billion euros this year.
Stéphane Beyazian, analyst at Raymond James, said the mobile revenue per subscriber is expected to contract a third on average in the sector over the coming years. Nomura expects the bank for its part the result of operational activities of the three mobile incumbents expected to fall by 28% by 2015.
The launch of Free Mobile has however experienced some delays in the ignition. Some consumers have had to wait several days or weeks before receiving their SIM cards because of congestion of applications portability within the agency responsible for managing them.
The new entrant competitors were quick to question the proper functioning of its network and the controversy has been widely reported in the press.
Free Mobile has been charged off its branches to rest largely on the network of France Telecom, with whom he concluded a roaming agreement.
This series has led to many twists and turns of the policeman to lead a second telecommunications network inspection of Free Mobile, which demonstrated according to ARCEP, that it was meeting its commitments.
Thomas Reynaud acknowledged that about 90% of Free mobile traffic currently passing through the network of France Telecom, while stress that the network deployment of the fourth entrant in e ; silent still in its infancy.
"Our priority in 2012, is make up of mobile subscribers in the network and deploy as soon as possible", he said, adding that it was too early to say whether the group should pay more than a billion euros initially planned as part of the roaming agreement concluded for six years with France Telecom.
GDP grew by only 2.7% in 2011 against 7.5% in Brazil in 2010. The Brazilian economy has actually stagnated in the third quarter. Bay View of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil's economic growth slowed to 2.7% in 2011, after reaching 7.5% at the end of fiscal 2010, according to data released Tuesday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, public). This is slightly lower than the government forecast that predicted a GDP growth of around 3%, confirming a slower growth of the Brazilian economy was already expected by the experts because of the international crisis.
The Brazilian economy grew by 7.5% in 2010, in frank recovery from the crisis of 2008 and 2009. The sectors that grew the most in 2011 were the food (3.9%), services (2.7%) and industry (1.6%), according to IBGE.
In the fourth quarter 2011, GDP in the first Latin American economy grew by 0.3% over the third quarter and 1.4% over the same period in 2010. From July to September, growth had stagnated écomomie Brazilian.
The tender rate to ten years back below 3%
France has raised a total of 9.479 billion euros, when issued to Treasury bonds (OATs) due 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2026, announced Monday the Agence France Trésor in a statement.
This is the third award in the long run of the year. On the line OAT 4.25% maturing October 25, 2017, tenders served primarily by the Treasury (ONC) totaled 233 million euros, bringing the total of the auction to 1.058 billion euros at weighted average rate of 1.91% against 2.42% in the last similar operation on 1 December.
On the line at 3.75% maturing October 25, 2019, the ONC totaled € 343 million bringing the total amount of ajdudication to 1.593 billion euros at weighted average rate of 2.48%. AFT does not provide a comparison on this line.
On the line at 3.00% maturing April 25, 2022, the ONC totaled 620 million euros, bringing the total of the tendering procedure to 4.535 billion euros at weighted average rate of 2.91% against 3.13% in the last similar operation on December 2.
On the line at 3.50% maturing April 25, 2026, the ONC totaled 292 million bringing the total of the auction to 2.293 billion euros at weighted average rate of 3.30% against 3.65 % in the comparable operation on 1 December. Regulation of these four lines will take place March 6.
Wall Street opened slightly higher on Thursday after figures showing that weekly jobless claims remained close to a low of four years, but investors will need other incentives to buyers remain after the gains accumulated since early 2012.
In early trade, the Dow advanced 0.48% or 61.98 points, to 13,014.05 points. The Standard & Poor's, wider, gained 0.48% (6.58 points) to 1,372.26 points while the Nasdaq composite risen by 0.45% (13.45 points) to 2,980.34.
On February, the S & P 500 benchmark index fund managers, took 4.1%, the Dow 2.5% and Nasdaq 5.4%.
That said, as this bull cycle is built on trade volumes lean, many players anticipate a downtrend market in the short term.
"We are on a sacred launched two months ago and, at some point, it will pause. In previously published data, there was nothing that could trigger a movement in one direction or the other, "said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial
. The weekly jobless claims fell slightly in the U.S. during the week to 25 fe February, to stand out as expected at 351,000, close to a low of nearly four years, announced Thursday the Labor Department
…… But … consumer spending adjusted for inflation emerged unchanged for the third month following January, a trend that could raise questions about the country's economic outlook, the household expenditure constitutes one of the main drivers of the U.S. economy.
At 1500 GMT, was expected ISM manufacturing index and construction spending.
In the area of distribution, as Gap took 10.18% to 25.74 dollars after the chain of clothing stores reported an increase in February for its constant-store sales for the first time in eight months.
The action of Ford advanced 2.18% to 12.65 dollars in anticipation that the builder had a very good month of February in terms of vehicle sales in the United States. The group will release its monthly figures during the day. Chrysler has already reported a jump of 40% of its U.S. sales last month.
With over 75 million dollars in revenue, "The Artist" is already highly profitable. But this should not stop there. Jean Dujardin with his Oscar for "The artist"
The phenomenal success of "The Artist" is obviously the happiness of the actors, director, writers, and especially of those who funded the film.
The least we can say is that the investment proves profitable. Approximately $ 15 million was spent on production, which must be added the 20 million needed for the promotion and distribution. And to date, the film has already earned $ 76.5 million worldwide.
Yet it is only the beginning, and we are moving towards more huge profits. Because different rewards, and in particular received five Oscars Sunday night, should significantly boost revenues. As highlighted in the newspaper Les Echoes, the example of "Chicago" in 2003 in this direction.
The musical was indeed the same level of income (about $ 75 million) as "The Artist" at the ceremony, where she had picked up six statues. The profits are then soared, reaching $ 307 million worldwide. Same conclusion with "The speech of a king", awarded last year and whose income totaled $ 414 million.
The box office, which currently amount to over two million in France, should experience a marked revival. United States also, and a little all over the world. While one should perhaps not be paid in the euphoria of the Atlantic, where the popularity of the film remains mixed.
The DVD, scheduled March 14, should also meet a great success. A nice bonus in preparation for Jean Dujardin and his cronies, who have not finished surfing on the wave of success.
Unemployment continued to rise in January in France, according to figures released Friday by the Ministry of Labour and job center.
The number of job seekers in category A (those who have carried on any activity) increased by 13,400 (+0.5%) last month in France compared to the month of de December to $ 2,861,700. Over one year the increase stands at 6.2%.
Taking into account persons engaged in a Pool (Class B and C), the number of jobseekers rose by 0.1%, or 4,800 more people to reach 4,258,200 (+5.5% yoy).
With the overseas departments, the number of unemployed stood at 4,525,900, a figure significantly in two months of the first round of the presidential election.
Some doctors in French public hospitals do not hesitate to charge transactions at prices well above normal. The hospital in Lille Claude Huriez
A cataract operation charged 1,490 euros, while Social Security pays only 272 euros? This is not the price of a private clinic, but rather that of the Hotel Dieu in Paris. A public hospital. And these seem to be common practice, according to a study published in the magazine "60 million consumers," which highlights the excess fees to certain astronomical practitioners. Hospital doctors more greedy and round their monthly income to the tune of 70,000 euros per year.
This shift is made possible by the Debré Law of 1958, which allows practitioners to hospital to have a private practice in public institutions, up to 20% of their time. Some have therefore fully optimized, such as a knee operation, paid 555 euros for social security, and charged 6000 euros. Specialists in knee and hip have understood the principle: for a transaction of this type, the rate can reach twelve times the amount reimbursed by the safety!
These practices are also not gone unnoticed, and the owner of health insurance, Frederick Roekeghem wrote to doctors whose rates are excessive. With the threat of a sanction if the National Council of the order does not act quickly. Meanwhile, the patient is the first victim of these abuses.
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