Archive for the ‘people’ Category

High wages: tax withheld by employers

June 30, 2011 - 6:08 pm Comments Off

The French Association of Private Enterprises (Afep), which includes very large groups, will this evening at dinner Xavier Bertrand. Labour Minister and his guests have something to talk about everything found: the taxation of the remuneration of top managers.

Xavier Bertrand Tuesday reiterated the government's intention, not to establish a "maximum wage", but to increase the levies on companies' pay extravagant wages "- which in his view, means" several million euros. " The idea was initiated by a part of the majority in the debate on the alleviation of the ISF and the end of the tax shield. The Left had also seen a way to feel good after a "gift to the rich" … The measure should be passed in the fall.It could take two forms: a new tax or the inability to deduct the payments of the tax base of companies. "I favor the latter possibility," the minister said Tuesday.

"Branding a category»

Neither of the two formulas, in any case not suitable for Afep. Its chairman, Maurice Levy (Publicis Groupe), found the need to "be bad enough faith to consider that there is a problem together" on the compensation of top managers of French companies. Based on a study Aon Hewitt, he assured that they are on average paid less than their counterparts at the head of U.S. companies, Swiss, British, Spanish or German. "It's not healthy to attack a general executive compensation. This leads to stigmatize a category, "says Maurice Levy."I'm not at all support the idea that decides what should be the compensation of one or the other, in a total abstraction of what the company," he says. As to subject executive compensation to the general meeting of shareholders, rather than the board or a special committee, the president of the Afep sees "no need to submit to such AG decision over another ", saying that there is already" in the company a democracy that works very well. " Annual reports, accessible, detailed executive compensation.

"Personally," Maurice Levy, however, sees "no objection" that the persons whose total income is high "contribute more in difficult times," as an "element of solidarity."

See also:

"Chérèque does not believe in a maximum salary

Solar Impulse will be a second product in Switzerland

June 26, 2011 - 6:00 pm Comments Off

Nearly 150 tail. Visitors to the Paris Air Show crowd to reach a huge tent, mounted at the end of the area dedicated to the 150 aircraft on static display. The tent is home to the Solar Impulse, the solar airplane pilot Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. It is the guest of honor at Le Bourget. The aircraft, powered by the energy collected by solar cells that dress, fascinates the public. The bird-dragon has a funny look with its size equal to that of an Airbus A 340, light weight (1.6 tons), its four propeller engines of 10 horsepower each, the power of a scooter and its narrow cockpit. André Borschberg spent sixteen hours to bring the Solar Impulse from Brussels to Paris on June 14. Since the device did not fly, rain and especially wind thwarted the schedule of demonstrations.With the return of calm and sunny, the Solar Impulse could fly this weekend. "It was important to return at the Bourget six years after the first presentation of the project partners – Solvay, Deutsche Bank, Omega and Schindler," says the duo.

Total Call

We are far from the early 2000s, when Bertrand Piccard was looking for funding – 100 million Swiss francs – to launch the project after the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne was funded and entrusted to André Borschberg the first feasibility study. But the duo sticks to the motto of Jules Verne: "All that is impossible to follow."

In 2004, Dassault Aviation hear about the project. The aircraft manufacturer will not money but the brains of its best engineers to the project, becoming the "manufacturer's advice.""Dassault was the guardian of the real aircraft," says Bertrand Piccard.

Today, the project entered a new phase. The assembly of the second device begins next week in Duebendorf, near Zurich. "It looks like the first by its general shape and appearance. Its scale will be greater, between that of A 380 and B 747-8. It benefits from technological advances, a new engine, a different type of solar cells, "says André Borschberg.This engineer, former fighter pilot and businessman, pilot of Solar Impulse, alternating with Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist by training, aeronaut – he managed a tour of the world by balloon in 1999 – and a descendant of a pioneer family in the air and under the sea

Solar Impulse with the second, they hope to make long flights in stages over four to five days in a row, with the ultimate goal of a successful world tour "without fossil fuel or pollution." "The world is full of big problems that are costly and discourage," said tandem. "Aviation can provide innovative solutions by showing that renewable energy is possible. They are a source of diversification for the oil and future growth, "Bertrand Piccard is developing. The Solar Impulse is "the best vehicle for that message."The recent acquisition by Total of Sun Power, the California company that produces solar panels of the Solar Impulse, "is a good sign," said he calling Total to partner.

ALSO READ:

"Solar Impulse flew to Le Bourget

Fillon wants to tax companies that pay too bosses

June 18, 2011 - 12:20 pm Comments Off

Overtax businesses too generous with their leaders. The idea was launched by Prime Minister Francois Fillon in an interview published Saturday in Nice Matin: "With the government, I think about a device that is to overtax the companies issuing exorbitant fees."

The head of government is responding to the proposal of Xavier Bertrand, Minister of Labour and Employment, to "tax" or "frame" the "extravagant salaries." It lampooned in an interview published Thursday by Les Echos code of conduct drawn up on the subject of big salaries. "Write a code of conduct is good. The enforcement is better, "he said. Considering that some large companies did not comply with these principles, the Minister has threatened to legislate on the issue.

Shocked by some earnings

In Nice Matin, François Fillon rejects such an approach in trying to punish companies through a tax rather than the bosses through a ceiling unsurpassable. If it says "shocked" by some remuneration of senior executives, the Prime Minister "not [believe] not the regulation of wages for some totally disconnected from economic reality of the business and wage negotiations." However, he called the companies to regulate themselves. If they do not, the government will make decisions, he added.

The salaries of officers of the CAC 40 rose 19% in 2010 compared to 2011 according to a study of the expansion. Their average salary was 4.2 million.And increases do not always correspond to performance industrial markets.

No revaluation of the minimum wage

François Fillon said in the same interview in Nice morning that there would be no boost given to the minimum wage at its next revaluation. "Today, it would be an economic mistake. This will overwrite the hierarchy of wages and would drive up labor costs and thus unemployment, "he justified.

François Fillon has argued that "before 2000, the labor cost of products manufactured in France was on average 15% cheaper than in Germany."However, "since the 35 hours, this advantage was lost in some sectors such as agriculture and services, we are overtaking Germany," he said.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the next automatic adjustment of minimum wage-price inflation when the achieved 2% since the previous revaluation, "could take place" in August.

ALSO READ:

"The salaries of top managers rose sharply

Samsung launches Operation Clean Hands

June 13, 2011 - 10:32 am Comments Off

Time for spring cleaning rang Samsung. Its chairman Lee Kun-hee has thrown the cat among the pigeons by saying that corruption was widespread within the largest conglomerate in the world. "Corruption and fraud were widespread throughout the group," said the founder's son, whose rare public statements fall as oracles on its 277,000 employees.

A formula that troublemaker shock over an empire of $ 173 billion in sales, the world of mobile telephony as shipbuilding. Bribes, kickbacks and favors granted to suppliers are common, said Lee, whose engineers have also built the tallest tower in the world to Dubai. "This is a growing concern for me and I'll do it," warned, threatening, tycoon 69 years.The anger of "chairman" follows the outbreak to light a case of embezzlement within the defense subsidiary of Samsung Techwin, which has prompted its president to resign. It could lead to a general audit of the 64 branches of the group alone is worth 20% of the GDP of South Korea.

Clever cons fire

The projection of Lee confirms it was taken over the group's management. Since the beginning of the year, "Emperor" surprise teams in landing unannounced several times a week at headquarters, in the Gangnam business district, then he used to drive the business in the shadow from his home Business Card Holders. "This statement is to show everyone that he is back at the helm," says Chan-Guk Huh, a professor at Chungnam University.

A clever cons fire as Lee himself was sentenced to three years in jail for embezzlement in 2008.Samsung "buy" policies and top judges through a secret fund, showed the former leader of the group's legal department, Kim Yong-chul, in a scathing book became a bestseller in South Korea. Current practices for the chaebol but become embarrassing at a time when Samsung, the leading electronic global in its turnover has grown into a global brand scrutinized by investors worldwide.

Back to business in 2010 through a presidential pardon course, the most powerful man in Korea hopes to buy a virginity with the deal personally.

ALSO READ:

"Samsung has become the preferred brand of the French

"Samsung reinforces its position on the shelf and smartphones

Consumption, support for recovery

June 10, 2011 - 7:44 am Comments Off

The French did not wait to see their incomes grow to consume more. Consumption expenditure of households are divided up in 2010 to 1.3% in volume against a slight increase of 0.1% the previous year. They contributed well to the tune of two thirds of the growth of the French economy last year, even though the purchasing power slowed its progression, according to a study by the INSEE.

Indeed, the rising purchasing power of the French was 0.8% in 2010, against +1.3% in 2009, hit by rising prices driven by oil. The Institute of Statistics shows that even if one deducts the expenditure incurred under a contract renegotiable difficult in the short term (rent, water, gas, electricity, insurance, telecommunications, etc..) Purchasing power individual level falls slightly down.

"The increased consumption for almost all positions," notes INSEE. Clothing costs rebounded 0.4% after falling 4.2% the previous year. After falling 3.5% in 2009, spending at hotels, cafes and restaurants are also lifts, 1.1% by volume. The cost of heating and lighting by volume rose 4.8% and spending on services of the information economy such as telephones or computers rose 4.2%. Conversely, with the end of the scrapping, purchases of new cars fell by 4.9% in 2010 after they jumped 18% in 2009.

ALSO READ:

"The price of gasoline is still beating records

"Bercy officially freezes gas tariffs from 1 July

"The French consumption has reached the end of 2010 growth

Greece pressed a little Wall Street

June 2, 2011 - 10:56 am Comments Off

Wall Street puts an end to four consecutive sessions bearish on Wednesday. The Dow Jones lost 2.23% to 12,290.06 points, the Nasdaq yield 2.33% to 2769.19 points and the S & P 500 was down 2.28% at 1314.55 points.

Tuesday, as all global markets, the U.S. stock market had closed on a sharp rise, the Dow Jones climbed 1.03% and the Nasdaq by 1.37%. Investors, who were returning from a long weekend, had welcomed with relief the press releases stating that Germany would give up a debt restructuring of Greece.

On Wednesday, the new no longer effect. Quite the contrary. Moody's has cooled financial markets that had begun to hope that a solution had been found to stabilize the financial situation in Greece.The rating agency downgraded two notches note saying the country more than 50% the risk of seeing the country fail.

This decision adds to several bad macroeconomic news.United States, the employment figures in the private sector show an increase of only 38,000 in May, according to the firm ADP, while analysts were betting on 170,000 net hires.

Construction spending rose 0.4% in the U.S. in April, according to a Commerce Department estimate released Wednesday in Washington, and contrary to that of analysts who had forecast a decline of this indicator.

Manufacturing activity has slowed markedly in the United States in May, according to the index of purchasing managers released Wednesday by the industry trade association and ISM fell to 53.5%.

Side currency, the euro decreased again against the U.S. dollar after the rating is downgraded from Greece at 1 cash advance loans.4330 dollars (-0.46%).For their part, oil prices fell sharply Wednesday in New York, a barrel of benchmark dropping $ 2.41 to 100.29 dollars in a market undermined by disappointing indicators, especially for job creation States USA.

Yahoo!: -4.26% to 15.85 dollars

Yahoo has resolved its dispute with Alibaba Group in connection with the transfer by the Chinese company's online payment system, Alipay, its chief executive Jack Ma said on source familiar with the matter. The two companies reached an agreement before the meeting with analysts from Yahoo last Wednesday. But the agreement requires the green light from the founder of Softbank, Masayoshi Son, who sits on the board of directors of Alibaba. He was quite reluctant, says one. Japanese Softbank is a shareholder of Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

Google: -0.65% to 525.60 dollars

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman and former CEO of Google, said Tuesday night had "planted" on social networks four years ago. He takes the responsibility for the error that allowed Facebook to be the undisputed leader in the category.

Phillips-Van Heusen: 0.58% to 66.35 dollars

Phillips-Van Heusen for its part, announced a net profit of $ 58 million (79 cents per share) in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, against $ 28 million loss (53 cents per share) a year before. The turnover was doubled to 1.37 billion against $ 619 million a year earlier. The group is therefore the goal of annual earnings per share to range between 4.80 and $ 5 per title.

Public debt: France must convince in 2012 and beyond

June 1, 2011 - 8:32 am Comments Off

Good student, but must continue its efforts. It is, in short, the message delivered by the rating agency Fitch in France. She confirmed the debt rating "AAA", the best possible, with stable outlook. The French government has taken "a series of measures", says the agency, "which have improved the outlook for public finances." And mention the pension reform, or the draft law in fixing the principle of balance of public finances.

"However, these efforts must be extended to stabilize and then reduce the level of debt of France, which was the end of 2010 to 81.7% of gross domestic product (GDP)," warns Maria Malas-Mroueh, responsible scoring countries at Fitch. A number of risk still hovers in effect on the financial health of the state. Starting with 2012, a major election year.It should not, Fitch warns that the budget skids on the bottom of the presidential election. Especially since the forecast growth in the medium term Bercy (+2.5% per year) are considered "optimistic."

It should not, the agency said that the newly elected unleash the flange to the public finances in 2013. Instead, the agency left little choice to the government that emerges from the polls: "We expect the 2011 budget will meet its objectives (a deficit of 5.7%, Ed), but further efforts are needed to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP in 2013, as agreed. " Debt levels will then stabilize at a level higher than before the crisis, reducing the flexibility to cope with future crises.

Note "under pressure"

In the medium term, Fitch added that "the memo from France could be under pressure (read: be revised downward, Ed) if the competitiveness of France was deteriorating again and if the position of France was weakening." The agency plans and the current account balance, ie the difference between money coming in and who leaves the territory, will remain negative in 2011 and 2012, approximately 2% of GDP. Fitch impels France to further reduce its "structural rigidities".

Despite these black spots, the Hexagon rest for now, said the agency, a "healthy and diversified economy," equipped "social institutions, civil and effective policies." He added: "financial flexibility reflect its status as a major issuer of sovereign benchmark in the eurozone. Clearly, the markets like, so far, take on France.

Unlimited calls to less than 25 euros at Numericable

May 11, 2011 - 2:08 pm Comments Off

The veil is lifted. After intrigued the web for nearly a week, Numéricable book details his mysterious "mobile revolution". The cable operator announced with great fanfare the launch of a mobile telephony offer unlimited tariff of 24.90 euros per month for residential customers Numericable, and 49.90 for others.

Numéricable becomes a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO. "We go on the mobile market," with "the best offer on the market in price and service content," said the secretary general of the group Numericable, Jerome Yomtov. The group offers its subscribers an offer of unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles in France, unlimited texting and unlimited internet access (3G up to 500 mega) for 24.90 euros per month.

"To get this offer of 24.90 euros, it is already subscribed Numericable, or you become one," insists Jerome Yomtov.For non-subscribers Numericable, the offer goes to 49.90 euros. Furthermore, the proposal does not include a phone. "Our job is to provide the best possible subscription, the phone is another job, a job distributor of electronics," said the secretary general.

The site has created a buzz larevolutiondumobile.com

With this offer comes directly Numericable hunt on the land of Free. The intriguing communication campaign that preceded this announcement is also no secret intentions Numericable. The website created for the occasion, but the "mobile revolution" refers directly to Free. Indeed, Free is the telephone operator at the initiative of triple play in France, and as such, boasts of having "revolutionized broadband in France."He even used the word to his sales pitch, naming "Revolution" the latest version of its box, launched in December.

Furthermore, Numericable used the red color of Free and organized a press conference at the Pershing Hall in Paris, where Free has the habit of organizing its own press conferences!

The communication operation worked: "larevolutiondumobile" has created a buzz on the web with over 50,000 messages on Twitter, affecting over 300,000 people. The Facebook page of the site has involved more than 2,600 fans in less than a week.

But if the teasing is successful, Numericable seems to have attracted the wrath of Free. The case could be settled in court.

ALSO READ:

"The mysterious" mobile revolution "infuriates Free

"Numericable promises to cut prices of mobile

Nokia eliminates 7,000 jobs worldwide

April 28, 2011 - 11:00 pm Comments Off

Very symbolic. Having lost its place as number one global telephony to Apple last week, Nokia announced Wednesday the transfer of its Symbian mobile operating system to Accenture.

The first consequence of this partnership is the transition of 3000 employees of Nokia in the computer services company. The Finn gives a boost to abandon its system house for the benefit of Microsoft Windows phone, with which it has signed a partnership. Accenture will also mandated to work on developing Windows phone for Nokia. The group must now act quickly to address the backlog that builds up against its main rivals. For now, the battle is between Apple and the manufacturers who have chosen Android, including Samsung. Nokia and Microsoft are still on the roadside.The Finn has seen its global market share drop from 49% before the launch of iPhone in 2004 to 29% in early 2011. And this while the world market is booming.

The cuts in the number of Nokia do not stop there. Parallel to the outsourcing of Symbian, Nokia has announced the elimination of 4000 jobs by the end of 2012 payday advance. A measure intended to "align its human resources and operational sites with its new strategy," said the group, which now refers to the closure of some sites for research and development.

Repairing the lines

In total, therefore removes Nokia 7000 jobs. A restructuring that is part of his economic plan. Unveiled last week, he aims to cut one billion euros its operating expenses between 2010 and 2013, mainly through restructuring.An improved cost structure is mandatory, while Apple mocks the industry by posting a 50% margin on iPhone. This is ten times more than the operating margin by Nokia in the first quarter.

The group is facing a double challenge: it must develop one or two phones capable of competing with Apple and offer an application store as complete as those from Apple and Android. For now, the specification is far from completed.

However, ads Wednesday reassured exchanges. Nokia has won the title in Helsinki … 3.27% after having lost 25% since February 11, the date of the announcement of its alliance with Microsoft.

Cac 40 bosses best paid 24%

April 27, 2011 - 6:20 am Comments Off

The ousted leader of the Michelin and Danone takes top spot in 2011 salaries of bosses Cac 40 prepared by Les Echos. Michel Rollier has received compensation of 4.5 million euros for 2010. Frank Riboud, head of Danone, he pocketed 4.4 million euros last year and takes the second spot on the podium, followed by the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, who won 3.9 million euros in total compensation. In total, the Cac 40 bosses have affected more than 98.3 million euros in compensation. The average CEO salaries Cac 40 amounted to 2.46 million per officer, up 24% compared to 2009.

The first of the three managers sponsored by Michelin also holds the record for pay increases: salary soared 505%.This increase is directly related to the rise of the findings of Michel Rollier as not receiving a fixed salary but only secured a bonus based on the results of the giant tires.

This peculiarity makes his annual compensation very volatile from one year to another, as in the previous ranking, published in 2010 and based on total compensation patterns in 2009, the envelope of Michel Rollier displayed in downturn 303% compared to the one he had seen in 2008. He then pocketed 743,000 euros, which was then the lowest pay of executives within the Cac 40. This end up filing returns this year to the CEO of STMicroelectronics, Carlo Bozotti, with 903,000 euros.Penultimate winners of 2011, the CEO of Renault shows a total compensation of 1.2 million, unchanged from last year: Carlos Ghosn has in fact waived his variable compensation following the fiasco caused by the false case of espionage.

ALSO READ:

"Fukushima: Tepco down wages for repair