Posts Tagged ‘technology’

Finance departments vulnerable

July 13, 2010 - 2:04 pm Comments Off

All local authorities are not equally affected by economic difficulties: this is the finding of the last report of the Observatory of local finance. The communes and intercommunal are spared the game as the departments and regions, they have no right to have an operating budget deficit. In 2009, they have done better: the excess of income over expenditure increased by 8.5%. It must be said that the mayors have taken advantage of early mandate to raise taxes. One way to form a mattress care.

The general and regional councils also have used the gun tax. But it was not enough, especially for departments. For the latter, the surplus between income and expenditure has shrunk by 17.8% in 2009. For social spending soared 5.3%.The crisis has pushed the bill of RSA and the aging of the population that of personal autonomy allowance (APA). The elected county expect a similar drift in 2010, "For some departments, the budget balance is very fragile," concludes the report.

Reduced investment

However, in 2011, the constraints will become even stronger. The funds that the departments, but also municipalities and regions, receiving state, which represent nearly 30% of their income, will no longer increase. This was decided by the government. Moreover, the reform of business tax will reshuffle the cards in local taxation. The communes and intercommunal retain a large basket of tax which they may determine the rate.The departments themselves, will not play on the property tax and regions on the gray card No fax cash advances. A situation that worries the county and regional elected and pushes them to invest less.

In 2010, capital spending will drop the first 2.2% and 3.4% of the latter, according to the report. Spared, the mayors expect an increase of 4.5%. "But eventually, the municipalities will be affected because they receive subsidies from the regions and departments," warns Philip Lawrence, in right-wing President of the Finance Committee of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF).

What are the solutions? The local financial professionals, such as UMP or Marc Gilles Carrez Laffineur propose to increase the redistribution between rich and poor communities.Another avenue: better management of intercommunal. For staff costs have mostly slipped to this level (they will grow 8% in 2010). The groups of municipalities have produced savings but duplicates! The government, he promised a reform of the APA to relieve the departments and the establishment of ad hoc aid. "But for now, we are expectant. If nothing happens, we will introduce a bill that will force the state to finally make up our social spending, "said Claudy Lebreton, President PS Assembly departments of France. Meanwhile, between votes and budgets insincere appeal to the courts, the climate remains tense between elected officials and county government.

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The CAC 40 should attempt the recovery

July 6, 2010 - 1:48 pm Comments Off

The hesitation should still be the centerpiece of the trading session in Paris on Tuesday. The price volatility in Asia this morning is scary but the return to green after opening indexes down should motivate operators. In particular, Tokyo, the Nikkei closed up 0.77% after having started the day down 1.14%.

Investors Parisian try to turn the page of a session that saw ACC closer Monday to its lowest level this year at 3332 points (-0.48%). Half an hour of opening, the CAC 40 index future rises from 0.39% to 3348.50 points.

These days, markets are not reassured by the mixed indicators published last week, the United States as in the euro area. Doubts over the speed of the global economic recovery weigh more on the morale of the market.In Europe, these fears result in volatility of the euro against other currencies, after falling throughout the morning against the dollar, the euro regains 0.31% to 1.2544 dollars around 7.35.

On Tuesday, the markets await the opening of Wall Street may choose to pursue. U.S. markets open again after an extended weekend related to the national holiday. The meeting will begin with the analysis of the PMI services which will be published shortly after the opening. Apart from this indicator, no other major news is expected.

Air France wants to save

As for values to follow, Air France (Air France-KLM), which showed a record loss last year, plans to cut 4109 jobs over the period 2010-2012 to meet the air transport crisis .

Areva should always be led by Anne Lauvergeon.According to sources close to the matter quoted by Agence France Presse, Nicolas Sarkozy has decided to maintain the group's boss at his post until the end of his mandate. Rumors had often reported the contrary.

Also in the nuclear site EPR Flamanville, led by EDF also suffer delays. An audit suggests a period of 24 months. EDF expected to make the announcement soon.

Lastly, investors would still react to the publication by Stephane Richard of France Telecom's strategic plan for five years. The operator also wishes to reach 300 million customers around the world to this date and hire 10,000 people by 2012.

LVMH Sephora offers a Brazilian company

July 2, 2010 - 2:04 pm Comments Off

Brazilian acquisition for LVMH. The French luxury group said on Friday taking a controlling stake of 70% in Sack's, the leader in sales of perfumes and cosmetics on the Internet and a leading distributor of beauty products in Brazil. No amount has been disclosed about the investment.

This acquisition will enable the world's leading luxury brand Sephora develop the Brazilian market, first in line and in stores, the company said in a statement.

Sack's, founded in 2000 and based in Rio de Janeiro, sells over 270 brands and over 83,000 customers in its database. The site for online sale is one of the three most visited sites in Brazil, with 4 million unique visitors per month. Brazil and beyond, the South American markets are extremely holders for the sale of luxury goods.

Google wants to change strategy in China

June 30, 2010 - 4:24 pm Comments Off

Google gave in Beijing. Given the refusal of China to see the California company to redirect its users to search the Hong Kong-American group, Google has decided to terminate the transfer, in order not to be censored by Beijing. "In the coming days, we will not fully returning all our Chinese clients to the new page," said David Drummond, Google's vice president, the official blog of the company. He added: "The Chinese government has made clear that this operation was unacceptable.

Without a license, Google will "cut off all contact with China"

David Drummond also explains the decision by the expiration of the license granted to Google to operate in mainland China. "If we continue to redirect users, our license PKI (Internet content provider, Ed) will not be renewed.Without this license PKI, we can not operate as a commercial site Google.cn. So Google would cut all contact with China. "

After the New York Times revealed in late April that the identification system Google has been attacked by hackers from China, relations between the California company and China have deteriorated markedly. In this context, it is not clear that Google sees his license renewed. And to complicate this relationship further, Beijing has promulgated a law that requires every provider of a mapping service to obtain a license to practice in China for fear of seeing his service to close.In other words, that Google Maps may be available in China, Google must obtain a license.

Regulation of European businesses worried

Like U.S. firms, their European counterparts also fear a tightening of laws against them over the next two years, according to a study by the European Chamber of Commerce in China released on Tuesday. 40% of respondents are concerned about a rise in discrimination against the foreign companies. According to the chairman of the House of Jacques Boisséson, in the case of environmental degradation, they may not choose to remain "absolutely." But about 80% of them are optimistic about growth prospects in China.Proof that it is the political aspect is concerned between the two parties.

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London is helping BP

June 12, 2010 - 8:40 pm Comments Off

The United Kingdom is helping to champion its oil. British Prime Minister David Cameron and his finance minister George Osborne reiterated the importance of BP for English and American economies Friday. The group is under fire from critics across the Atlantic for his management of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a spokesman for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, "said he was in everyone's interest that BP remains a financially strong and stable". Nearly 40% of shareholders are British-including 25% of pension funds, and 40% are also Americans. The support of London has boosted the share price BP, whose market capitalization has lost several billion dollars since the explosion of the platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The title BP ended the session Friday up 7.2% in London, and 3.63% in New York.

Less good news for shareholders, BP has decided to suspend the payment of dividends, the Times of London. "The board of directors met Monday to approve the temporary deferral of payment of dividends," writes the British daily. BP has not confirmed the information, but the Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, told the Wall Street Journal that he was considering not paying dividends.

David Cameron is to hold talks on the phone with Barack Obama on Saturday 17h. The exchange promises to be tense: the two leaders must stand firm against their public opinion. The first to defend a large national group, the second to refute accusations of inaction.

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Saint-Gobain increases its production in France

April 15, 2010 - 7:12 pm Comments Off

Can you still perform in France? At a time when a movement of deindustrialization affects the Hexagon, Saint-Gobain slice on the downturn. On Wednesday, the group inaugurated in Chemill? glass, next to Angers, a glass wool factory last generation called G3. A major investment (100 million euros) with the key, the immediate creation of 75 jobs including 25 items made by subcontractors on the site. And when the unit running at full capacity it will employ 150 people. A move welcomed by Prime Minister Francois Fillon, present at the inauguration: "In France, we built factories! You are proof that our country has an industrial future. "There is no inevitability to the relocation, he said the group's CEO, Pierre-Andre de Chalendar.The cost of labor, even if it is too high in France, is not always an obstacle to industrialization. "

That was 38 years, Saint-Gobain had not started a manufacturing plant in France this kind of product. But other businesses of the group have also recently made the choice of production in France. Mid-February, Saint-Gobain has finalized the extension of a site that makes double glazing Crissey, near Chalon-sur-Saone. With again a few tens of indirect jobs.

Sustainability

If Saint-Gobain is the bet of "Made in France", is by economic realism. "Once the fiberglass travel more than 400 to 500 km, transport costs become excessive, recognizes Xavier de Maistre, General Manager France of Saint-Gobain Isover cash advance.We therefore produce locally for local markets. "In this case, the group chose to locate in Maine-et-Loire, for he had no factory producing glass wool to the markets of west of France.

Saint-Gobain has also launched the opening of an industrial site, because it believes in market prospects opened by the Grenelle Environment. A bet bolstered by the commitment reiterated Wednesday Francois Fillon not relegated to the status of sustainable development subtopic: "The green growth is not the end of the industry: it's renewal." Thus, Saint-Gobain will have to Chemill? a production capacity sufficient to isolate 100 000 houses per year. However, since 2012, some 300 000 to 400 000 houses built each year will be the standard BBC (building low consumption) to be very well insulated."In addition, there are 22 million buildings constructed before 1973 and 30 million non-insulated and poorly insulated," says one at Saint-Gobain Isover. In fact, the glass wool G3 is a good answer to these problems: compared to previous lines, it provides better thermal protection of 30%. What Saint-Gobain dampen somewhat the crisis currently affecting the construction industry.

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The traffic finally off again at Air France-KLM

April 8, 2010 - 9:36 pm Comments Off

In trials with Irish rival Ryanair, and having given up to launch its low cost, Transavia, Air France-KLM posted in March up 4.7% of its passenger load factor to 80, 5% (+5 points), according to a statement released Thursday. The total number of passengers carried in March amounted to 5.9 million people. This is the first increase since December 2008. In February, the traffic had emerged down 0.6%. By comparison, Ryanair carried 5.3 million passengers in March, an increase of 13%. Its load factor was 79% (+2 points).

"The continuing recovery of passenger and cargo operations has been significant in the month of March both in terms of traffic and unit revenue.Even if they were significantly higher than last year, they remain below levels reached in March 2008, "the statement said.

The largest increase (+7.2%) is recorded on the Asia network for a load factor of 88.5% (+5.8 points) against 2.2% for the Americas and Europe, whose respective load factors amounted to 85.1% (+4.4 points) and 67.2% (+4.4 points).

At the Paris Bourse, the stock has lost 1% to 11.87 euros in a market that has yielded 1.20%.

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Gemalto offers another world leader

February 3, 2010 - 4:56 pm Comments Off

A little over two months after buying the banking group Xiring, Gemalto, a French company listed in the Netherlands, on Wednesday announced a new acquisition, the global leader in strong authentication on mobile.

The Finnish Valimo Wireless was the first to generate an electronic signature legal, available anytime and anywhere on a laptop."Valimo enables mobile phone users to securely authenticate, digitally sign documents and confirm transactions with a legal value by using a simple sentence that they themselves have chosen, or that of a PIN, "the company said in a statement.

Thus, Gemalto will provide the solution Valimo Mobile ID which allows secure access, such as its online banking, mobile payments, government services, mobile commerce and electronic, or the management of identities and rights of access to enterprise applications.

Olivier Piou, the CEO of Gemalto believes it is time to position itself on the mobile electronic signature, "considered next few years, and has now reached a stage of maturity significant" cash flexcheck advance . Age is also cited by 30% of private sector employees and the physical appearance by 28% (multiple answers were possible). Ethnicity happens however much in mind as trigger by witnesses of discrimination (38%), before motherhood (33%).

If the company management is most often due to private sector employees, victims of discrimination, in general, are silent on their fate in business. 40% of them claim to have in effect said nothing when 50% of victims by public officers have spoken with their management or their supervisor. For more than half of those who are silent, signaling the injustice they have suffered would not have changed.

The French loan to a decline in retirement age

January 11, 2010 - 12:50 am Comments Off

The French do they realize the inevitability of the efforts to achieve a satisfying retirement? This suggests that a poll published Sunday in the JDD. According to this consultation Ifop *, breaking with previous surveys on the subject, 41% of respondents said they were ready to contribute more to retire as soon as possible. The average age of starting accepted amounted to almost 62 years, one third of respondents saying the same for departure between 65 and 69 years. A first. Because of this development, the level of concern by the amount of future pensions continues to grow, 76% of respondents reported little confident, against 61% a little over a year.

If the French are therefore more willing to make sacrifices, they do show, however, little lenient with successive governments.They are in fact 40% believed that the pension system has not really been up to this reform, while 48% believe that those assets have gone done the wrong way.

An instructive survey, a few months of a new launching system. The Head of State has chosen last year to advance the timing of the pension reform from 2012 to 2010. If the CGT said the current system "viable", the secretary general of the CFDT Fran?ois Ch?r?que decides in contrast to the introduction of a points system, more personalized than the current system, as was done in Sweden. For now, the government appears not convinced, saying the country had recently suspended the system. If considering a reduction of the legal age of retirement now set at 60 years, a dues increase does not seem so far not in the agenda.

* Conducted the 7 and 8 January on a sample of 1019 persons, representative of the French population aged 18 and older, including 522 active. Quota method. The interviews were conducted by telephone at residence of respondents.