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Objective: London Olympics 2012! The challenge is ambitious Laure Manaudou but probably not impossible. "She recovered in the skin of a champion," said Gilles Portelli, CEO of Havas Sports & Entertainment. Absent from the basins since September 18, 2009, the swimming is preparing to make his comeback this Thursday in Athens to the United States. She has eight months to return to competitive, qualified for the Olympics taking place in mid-March. His former mentor, Philippe Lucas, believes it. "It's a good thing for French sport. It changed, it is a mother. She has thought through many things. Swimming was missing.

The importance of achieving good performance will depend in fact a new interest of major sponsors (Lancel, EDF, Arena, among others) who have stopped working when she announced her retirement. These contracts Lancel, EDF Arena and allowed him to reach about three million euros per year between 2007 and 2009. Reportedly, the contract of sponsorship with the chairman of PPR, through his holding company Artemis, who reported one million euros per year, is suspended and not broken. Discussions are therefore underway between the two parties to try to bring back Laure Manaudou and Francois Pinault.But suddenly, its value would decline significantly Advertising (LPG contract with him would bring 200 million euros per year). Necessarily all brands can not match the prices of luxury brands. " Most experts interviewed do not believe that the financial aspect is the main motivation behind this "comeback". "She would have stopped swimming in this case," explains Gilles Portella.

After accumulating the gold medals like pearls and posted disappointing results, shaken by romantic escapades, Laure Manaudou is trying to write a new story of his sporting career. "She now has a stable life, a companion who is immersed in the world of swimming (Frederick Bousquet) and one child (a little old Manon a little over a year). The risk of "relapse" is lower, "said François Guyot. But not nonexistent.

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.

Still no comment from Oberthur Technologies on Thursday. Yesterday, Bloomberg launched the rumor of the sale by the specialist of security technology in its field of smart cards CardSystems, then this Thursday's Les Echos that delivers its information on the possible transaction. According to business newspaper, Oberthur want to part with 60% of this activity, which represents 73% of its total turnover, which would be valued over a billion euros. Rothschild and advise the company transaction could be in the form of an LBO is to say, an acquisition by a bank loan.According to Les Echos, the offers of the candidates will be received during the first fortnight of June.

Oberthur, which is no longer publicly traded since November 2008, is the world's second largest smart card with 20% market share worldwide, according to Gemalto, another French side in the Paris Bourse, which claims about 40 %. If smart cards are the heart of business, Oberthur weaker margins amid fierce competition.This could explain why the group wants to break away.

Sell ​​to watchlist De La Rue?

But the transaction would not she intended to make funds available to propose a new offer on the UK's De La Rue, he has failed to buy earlier this year? Oberthur could indeed put on the table more than 1.08 billion euros previously offered to pay for a company that works primarily on the trustee and that prints the tickets of more than 150 countries around the world instant payday loan. Eyeing a lucrative market that Jean-Pierre Savare, CEO of Oberthur, even if it might confront the British government, who intends to protect its business.

In addition, analysts said Exane BNP Paribas, "if the activity CardSystems was sold to an investment fund, it is not certain that the owner undertakes R & D, while at the same time Some key executives could leave the company. " For them, "the industry could then experience a period of turbulence that could lead to Gemalto the opportunity to win market share." Meanwhile, Gemalto folds from 1.37% to 33.73 euros on the Paris Stock Exchange on Thursday to 13 hours.

The activity CardSystems provides smart cards and related services to segments of the mobile but also payment, transport, digital TV and convergence.The other divisions handle everything trustee (bank notes, checks, etc..) Identity (manufacturing and personalization of documents such as passports or driving licenses), and the cash protection ', emerging market of equipments for the protection of banknotes in the distributor for instance. Oberthur Technologies has approximately 6,800 employees in all continents of the world.

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A shareholder in American control will succeed one Italian: according to our information, the management company DNCA Finance is about to be bought by private equity firm TA Associates. The transaction values ​​between 300 and 400 million euros the French firm high of 5.5 billion euros of assets under management.

Banca Leonardo, the bank's business Gerardo Braggiotti owns nearly 70% of DNCA Finance which he had joined in 2006, continues its focus. The Italian bank will remain the capital of the management company, up to 10%. Jean-Charles Mériaux, patron management DNCA Finance, and Joseph Chatel, president, will remain second and third respectively shareholders of the firm.A share capital will also be reserved for employees, present and future of the management company established in 2000.

DNCA Finance, which manages a range of 10 French and Luxembourg UCITS, has based its development especially in the booming wealth management advisors. His new shareholder is an investment fund Boston, which already owns British fund manager Jupiter Asset Management. TA Associates, the head of funds totaling $ 16 billion of capital, fired on all cylinders. He just announced this week its entry into the capital of a management firm Stadion American Money Management, but also an investment in Bigpoint, the German tenor of online games.

"Too big to go away, but not irresponsible." That is essentially the message delivered by the Japanese authorities on Friday after launching Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the operator of the nuclear accident in Fukushima, an injunction to compensate victims forced from their homes or stay confined to their homes.

Fixed by the Government, this compensation reaches $ 12,000 (8350 euros) per family and $ 9,000 (6250 euros) for a single individual. In total, about 48,000 homes are affected by the evacuation of the exclusion zone according to Japanese media reports, an estimated $ 600 million (415 million) charge for the group.

A figure confirmed Friday by the operator, the voice of its President Masataka Shimizu, specifying, however, this very tentative estimate.For it is only a first payment, and it is not impossible to imagine a possible increase of compensation in case of extension of the exclusion period. A scenario more than likely in view of the confusion reigning on the site yet, more than a month after the earthquake and tsunami. The first payments to families will take place from April 28, said the leadership of TEPCO.

The bill gets heavier for Tepco

Facing these are deemed insufficient, several families went directly involved in the protest headquarters in Tokyo Tepco. For society, which in 2010 made a net profit of 1.89 billion dollars (1.31 billion euros), the charge may seem bearable.But it adds to the $ 24 billion (16.7 billion euros) required, Masataka Shimizu according to the resolution of current problems (rupture of the cooling circuits, explosions and radiation leaks) and restarting reactors.

Moreover, beyond the displaced families, TEPCO will also likely take into account compensation for loss wider (inability to grow for farmers, contaminated water, etc.).. According to JP Morgan, this compensation could reach a total of 24 billion dollars (16.7 billion euros) for the current fiscal year, while Bank of America-Merrill Lynch estimates that if an extension of the crisis Nuclear bill could exceed $ 130 billion (90.3 billion euros).

The situation may therefore be very critical for the fast group that supplies a third of Japan's electricity.According to the Nikkei newspaper, Tokyo, who could hardly afford to crumble Tepco would train alongside his orders to compensation, to set up an insurance fund guaranteed by the state. The latter, whose amount remains to be determined, would serve both to replenish the coffers of TEPCO and provide additional compensation of victims, also of the order of 12,000 euros per family. The fund would be financed by bank loans guaranteed by the state.

Broad program of cost reduction

The plan, looking like a loan, would allow the nuclear operator to bear the massive costs of compensating victims.This government support is crucial to TEPCO, which before the disaster showed a net debt of $ 91 billion (63.2 billion dollars), since heavier by a new bank loan of 24 billion dollars (16.7 billion euros).

The company will then reimburse the state for several years by a system of special dividends. By then, the company will implement a serious program to reduce costs that go through pay cuts for executives and managers, even for employees. TEPCO could also sell more than 1, 2 billion (0.83 billion) of real estate assets, according to Japanese media.

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Certainly, the financing of high-speed rail line between Tours and Bordeaux is a story full of twists. Latest episode, Vinci, selected in March 2010 to build and operate this path, calling for several weeks an extension to the original contract of 7.2 billion. Reportedly, the largest group of French construction and concessions asks his client RFF (Réseau Ferré de France) to pay a supplement of more than 60 million. He argues in particular the rising cost of raw materials.

Vinci does not speak on the subject, but if it goes in this direction is that it can hope to have the right for him. Last year it was agreed with RFF its price of $ 7.2 billion would remain the same until February 28, 2011. The final concession contract between the two parties should be signed before that date.But today, the famous agreement is still not signed. Obviously, RFF is not willing to pay that amount. Negotiations between the two parties are therefore likely to be rough.

These discussions inevitably evoke why preliminary steps essential for the signing of the contract were not completed. First, Vinci had to find loans to the tune of three billion. However, it has not yet achieved this financial closure. "It's complicated given the large number of bankers around the table," said Xavier Huillard mid-February, the group's CEO. The record is, indeed, complicated given the very high amounts of this operation, unprecedented in France.

Communities left behind

The state, meanwhile, was to finalize the contribution of local authorities to round. It was anticipated that 57 communities contribute $ 1.5 billion.Again, this agreement was expected in late February. But the diversity of local contexts has hampered this movement. Especially in the context of district elections. In addition, some communities (General Council of the Landes region of Poitou-Charentes …) have long refused to put their hands in the pocket for this project. Recognizing this, the Minister of Ecology and Transportation, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, left a deadline until April 15 to gather the latest signatures. This has raised the contribution of some as the General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

But a few days before the deadline, a final tally shows that 200 million missed the $ 1.5 billion. The main recalcitrant? Poitou-Charentes headed by Ségolène Royal, who has just committed to a loan repayable to the state 102 million. Suddenly, everyone wonders who will fill the hole.All eyes turn to the state. But experts say if the state could consider to supplement community failing to 100 million, nothing says it is ready to settle without flinching a note of 200 million.

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While the country remains on alert this morning after a second explosion at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Daiichi, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to take exceptional measures to counter the effects of the disaster in the economic and financial systems. The BoJ has in effect this morning to four injections of cash for a total of 15,000 billion yen, 175.2 billion euros. The institution hopes to support the markets with its massive influx of cash.

His intervention had immediate effect on the yen, which fell abruptly when he was mounted in the early morning. The Nikkei index of Tokyo Stock Exchange plummeted finished him sitting on a decline of 6.18%.The volume of transactions reached a historic high on Monday to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with over 4.88 billion shares traded on the primary market, representing more than 2.5 times the average normal. The Tokyo Stock Exchange has nevertheless been valuable to rate.

Automotive and nuclear values ​​fall

The share of the company Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), which operates nuclear plants in trouble, was particularly affected, it lost 23.57%, all holders of securities rushing to sell. The values ​​are also among the automotive titles most penalized Mitsubishi Motors plunged 10.9% and Toyota 8.1.

Indeed, many Japanese companies are facing serious damage on their production sites.Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Sony, Mitsubishi Motors, Suzuki, Panasonic or Toshiba have suspended their activity in one or more plants.

As for oil prices, they are on the downside on Monday in electronic trading in Asia. A barrel of Brent WTI lost nearly 2% to less than 100 dollars a barrel. The market is worried about a drop in demand in the short term in Japan.

Even if the destruction of the earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan on Friday remain difficult to assess, AIR Worldwide, a specialist in risk assessment, advanced at a cost of $ 34.6 billion to insurance companies.For its part, the rating agency Moody's believes that the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan will be only temporary for the country's finances.

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The redemption price would be fixed in April, and the report advocating the "right price competitive" known until mid-March. According to the Journal de Dimanche (JDD), the findings of this report, ordered the former director general of INSEE Paul Champsaur, "are ready and recommend the price of 39 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).

The new law on the organization of the electricity market (prefecture), which shall enter into force on 1 July, stipulates that EDF, the incumbent electricity, must yield to its competitors – GDF Suez Direct Energy and other Poweo – up to 25% of the electricity produced in nuclear power plants. The selling price must be set by ministerial order. This new mechanism is expected to boost competition in an industry dominated by ultra-EDF.More than three years after market opening to competition, the French are indeed remained mostly faithful to the regulated tariffs.

Reflect production costs

EDF had voted for a rate set at 42 euros per MWh, Henri Proglio, CEO of the group, believing that selling below this limit would mean the "looting". Alternative suppliers, including GDF Suez, hoping for a price closer to 35 euros per MWh.

To fix the wholesale rate at 39 euros, experts have focused on the impact that the price on your household. The increase for the public, would be at least 35% in five years, with the wholesale price of 42 euros asked by EDF. It would be 30% at 39 euros, a level considered more reasonable by the Champsaur report, according to the JDD, or 5% per annum by 2015.Difficile to go below, however, according to the report."If the government does not overly increase the rates for individuals, it should not set a price too high for manufacturers," said a relative of Paul Champsaur quoted by JDD. Nome law specifies that the award should reflect "economic conditions of production" of nuclear power plants and it will be "consistent" with a specific tariff to business, Tartam (transitory regulated tariff for market adjustment) .

Friday, Energy Minister Eric Besson had told AFP that "nothing was adjudicated" and that dialogue "continue."He said that this price would be fixed "by a decree signed in April, after an arbitration of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister."

(With AFP)

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French banks bear the brunt of the deepening of the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire. Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo out, trying to stay ahead of the state and against the last presidential election, has announced last night on public television RTI "on decrees that the State of Côte Ivory took control by taking a full and complete participation in the capital of some banks. These include the SGBCI and Bicic, which are subsidiaries of Ivorian French banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

His decision is to "preserve jobs and ensure the access of Ivorians and traders to their assets" in "as soon as possible." France has "condemned" the "nationalization" of banks, through the voice of the spokesman of Foreign Ministry.The two French banks have their part to comment the intentions of Laurent Gbagbo.

Financial asphyxiation

Following the post-election crisis, born of the struggle between Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and outgoing Alassane Ouattara, President-elect acknowledged by much of the international community, the Central Bank of African States (BCEAO ) has severed its ties with Abidjan in January to try to suffocate the Gbagbo regime. This isolation has closed the financial tap francs CFA president.Far from giving up, Laurent Gbagbo attempted to mount a viable banking system across Ivory Coast, the price of a "huge pressure" on the subsidiaries of large foreign banks to remain in business Business Card Holders.

But with the lack of liquidity, technical difficulties and legal risks, and the threat of sanctions wielded by the BCEAO against banks working with the Gbagbo government, especially when faced with violence that threaten the safety of their employees, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale first, yesterday, gave the signal for withdrawal. "Other banks will close," predicted one senior industry.

Effect "cataclysmic" freezing the financial system

Already five major foreign banks have decided to suspend their activities. The interruption of their business is blocking the Ivorian banking system, plunging the country a little more into chaos.The economy had indeed already been drastically slowed by the sanctions of the EU imposing such a ban on the two ports, the country's lung. The effect of blocking bank could be "cataclysmic," according to some.

Already, Abidjan went to stop their banks to withdraw their money. "It is feared the contagion effect, so we just remove a little about our savings," says one entrepreneur. "I'd rather have my money on me, it is unclear what will happen," shouts one soldier. The political crisis appears to have already led to a banking crisis that goes straight to an economic crisis.

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Despite the rise of the franc, the Swiss watch industry is growing again. In 2010, exports of the sector amounted to nearly 12.3 billion euros, or 22.1% more than in 2009-results that reflected their pre-crisis level, due to the vivacity of Asian market.

After a year of slowdown, how brands have they faced the recovery? Some had anticipated the rise in sales. "In late 2009, our results were already excellent," says Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot watches. We bought more raw materials and hired 60 people! "Other chains have also relaunched the recruitment as Breguet, Tag Heuer and cores. Some, finally, forcing customers to wait. "For a Panerai or a Montblanc, it can go up to a year, said H. Roderich Hess, former CEO of Montblanc Switzerland.Customers know that the luxury watch requires exceptional skill and they patiently wait. "

The industry is optimistic, however, hampered by the rise of the franc. In an interview with the magazine Bilanz, the director of Swatch, Nick Hayek, estimated at 380 million euro loss for 2010 sales caused by depreciation of the euro. The competitiveness of the Swiss watch has declined.

To fix an exchange rate to their disadvantage, producers have raised prices of their watches: +5% in 2010 for Audemars Piguet and Cartier, who think all over again, like Jean-Claude Biver No teletrack payday loans. "While ensuring the value of our currency on forward markets, we have adjusted our prices four times in 2010, an increase of about 20%," says he.

Subcontractors affected

The rise of the franc was not all bad.It allowed the watchmakers to buy at lower prices for raw materials and components abroad. A strategy has its limits: to get the "Swiss Made", these companies must in Switzerland at least 80% of manufacturing costs for mechanical watches.

If large groups are doing well, this is not the case for their sub-contractors, some 600 Swiss companies that still show the effects of the crisis. "They are affected first and the last to resume growth as brands sell their stock before ordering new," said Jean-Daniel Pasche, president of the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry. After losing 20% of its turnover, the director of Pac Team, Alain Borle, "sees a light at the end of the tunnel.Watchmakers have not really launched new programs, but I think imminent. "

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