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Technip has published today the results down in the second quarter of 2010. Turnover amounted to 1.485 billion euros, down 14.3% as reported from the second quarter of 2009 (18.4% excluding currency effects). Net profit reached 106 million euros, or 8.7% less than last year over the same period. The operating margin was also reduced: it reached 10.8% against 11.3% in the second quarter in 2009.

The specialist oil services records, however, a sharp increase in orders. The order backlog amounted to 8.263 million euros. In the second quarter, order intake was EUR 1.524 million, "almost evenly divided between the segments and Subsea Onshore / Offshore, against 873 million in the second quarter of 2009, bouncing about 74%.The group hopes that the resumption of orders in the Norwegian part will continue and believes that the Brazilian market remains "promising" No fax cash advance.

Work continues

Technip therefore maintains its objectives for the year. The company expects a turnover of between 5.9 and 6.1 billion euros (2.6 to 2,700,000,000 in subsea). The expected operating margin should exceed 15%.

Regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said that "at this stage, [its] operations were not affected in 2010 but the new orders could be delayed in the short term."In the longer term we believe that operators prefer to work with contractors who have maintained a constant effort to invest in security," the group added, stressing that it is a central element of its strategy .

Meanwhile measure the effects of the broad financial reform approved by Congress, the giants of Wall Street continued their slow recovery. Citigroup, which had managed to exit the first quarter of 2010 after losing a total of $ 29 billion between 2008 and 2009, has confirmed his return to profits between March and June The third U.S. lender has reported net earnings of $ 2.7 billion, down 37% over a year. For its part, Bank of America, the first U.S. retail bank, posted net income of $ 3.1 billion, a slight decrease of 4%. The day before, JPMorgan had announced a profit of 4.8 billion, up 76%.

If the performance of these three giants of Wall Street have exceeded the expectations of financial analysts, they are far from convincing.The banks, in effect, save their profits fall in provisions for doubtful debts, which remain however very high levels. At Citigroup, they have a charge of $ 6.7 billion, the lowest in almost three years. For Bank of America, the drain $ 8.1 billion against $ 9.8 billion in the first quarter and still $ 16.4 billion a year ago credit reports free.

Less capital raising

More than three years after the start of the crisis in the housing, the improvement of conditions in the shy USA relieves borrowers. But business remains sluggish, as evidenced by the decrease in revenues of large banks: – 33% for Citigroup – 18% for Bank of America – 7% for JPMorgan. The great challenge for these players is to reach boost their sales."It will be several more quarters to see a sustainable activity," warns Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America.

Last year, the Wall Street banks had managed to offset the gloom with an exceptional year in the investment bank, with capital raising records. Alas, this windfall is gone and instead the second quarter under the sign of the crisis of European sovereign countries was characterized by high volatility and lower risk appetite. This scenario weighs on commissions and revenue from emissions trading.

Three months after British Airways and its Spanish partner, Iberia announced their marriage, the Commission gave its green light to the merger that will create the world's third largest airline. In a statement issued Wednesday, Brussels ruled that the merger would not impede competition in Europe. "The business of British Airways and Iberia overlap in the field of air transport of passengers and cargo and ground handling ASSISTRA and MRO," the statement said. He added: "Passengers will therefore have more choice of appropriate flight on these routes after this merger."

The merger between Iberia and British Airways which will see shareholders of British Airways take 55% of the new group should be completed by the end of the year.It is subject to approval by shareholders of both companies, who need to vote at general meetings scheduled for November.

The two companies will consolidate into a new holding company, which will be named Consolidated Airlines International Group SA, or International Airlines Group for short, and will be listed in London and Madrid.However, the two companies continue to operate independently and continue to operate under their existing brands.

Yes also for the alliance Iberia / BA / American Airlines

One remaining obstacles to the merger had been raised when Brritish Airways announced it had reached an agreement to cover the deficit of 3.7 billion pounds (4.4 billion euros) of its pension scheme.

The European Commission also approved the alliance as British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines want to build on the model of what makes Air France-KLM and Delta, recently associated with Alitalia."Today's decision will allow airlines to set up the transatlantic alliance to which they aspired for a long while allowing some 2.5 million passengers between London and New York as well as other relevant routes of continue to enjoy a range of frequencies and competitive prices, "commented Commissioner Joaquin Almunia competition.

This is the most reassuring news announced by the U.S. authorities for more than two months. According to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen American to oversee cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico, BP should be able to contain 100% the gap in the well from which oil flows to by Monday. A new funnel, bigger than previous ones, is currently installed by the British oil.

This funnel, called "Top Hat Number 10", should recover up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day (12.7 million liters), against 25,000 now. The authorities are optimistic that based on their assessments, the well lost more than 60,000 barrels per day. The previous dome will be first removed. A large quantity of oil escape so well for 48 hours.But once the new funnel posed, the results will be immediate, promises Thad Allen.

Since April 20, the day of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform off the coast of Louisiana, BP has increased its attempts to clogging, all unsuccessful.

No stop before August

BP was more cautious in its forecasts. Bob Dudley, responsible for managing the disaster, spoke of another scenario where difficulties in installing the new funnel could delay the time from Monday to Thursday.

But authorities are confident: "We have the climate we need," said Thad Allen. The admiral, however, required to calm the enthusiasm that followed the announcement. "I used the word 'contain' and not 'stop'," he commented. According to him, the well would not be closed as well as two-pass will not be completed.These wells, dug deep to inject cement and mud, should not be installed until mid-August. Once the leak stopped, the extensive cleaning and restoration of the ratings will continue.

Anadarko does not pay

On this last point, BP was again struck Friday denied Anadarko Petroleum. The company, which owns 25% of wells responsible for the spill, said she would not pay the $ 272 million that BP is asking her to cover their share of cleanup costs, according to U.S. law known pollution.

On June 18, the tension was raised a notch between the two partners lorsqu'Anadarko stated that the explosion of April 20 on the platform Deepwater Horizon, "was preventable and was a direct result of decisions and actions BP unthinking.

In another e-mail sent Friday, a spokesman for Anadarko, John Christiansen, however, felt that his group remained "committed to working in good faith with BP to reach a satisfactory resolution."

BP is now awaiting the response of Mitsui, which owns 10% of the wells. The British oil giant is claiming $ 112 million for cleanup costs. The company has not yet made its position.

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This Wednesday should be placed under the sign of the decline in Paris at the opening, according to the indices that predict a future decline of 1.2% in early trade, and while the CAC 40 seems to resist breathlessness on ambient exchanges.

The leading index has managed to maintain the 3,700 points on Tuesday evening, but the threshold should not take from the gong.

In Europe, stock markets have made concessions on Tuesday after nine sessions chained up on. Announcing the easing of exchange rate policy of China, made Saturday, had pushed world stock markets Monday. The first steps in this direction have been given yesterday and Wednesday, with two cuts in a row the central rate against the dollar. But in exchange, the effect was short-lived. And on Wall Street, poor statistics on the front of the immmobilier has cast a chill on the market.So, this morning, the main financial centers of the Asia-Pacific are following suit.

At around 7:30 on Wednesday, the euro is at equilibrium after fell Tuesday. This rating 1.2270 dollar.

Economic News Authority

In France, the business climate in the French manufacturing industry fell slightly in June, according to the business survey released Wednesday by the INSEE. The synthetic indicator has lost two points to 95, its first decline since February, when economists on average expected stability.

At noon, the Court of Auditors present its report on the situation and prospects of public finances.

In Germany, the GfK consumer barometer, always watched closely, will be visible at 8:10.

In the euro area, the first estimate of the PMI will be unveiled at 10:00.

And the United States, 16 hours, will be made public promises of home sales for the month of May, after a bad real estate statistics published in the ninth Tuesday: – 2.2% in volume last month, to 5.66 million units annualized.

The traditional weekly crude inventories will be available at 16:30.

Finally, this evening after 20 hours, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Fed will issue its statement.Highly regarded by investors, note any change in the discourse of the Federal Reserve.

The rate strategists believe that Societe Generale U.S. Federal Reserve will raise its rates faster and stronger than expected by the market and call for caution on U.S. government bonds.

Societe Generale wants to Kerviel lost 4.9 billion

Societe Generale will call Wednesday Kerviel just 4.9 billion euros in damages, a record amount corresponding to the loss she attributes to "fraud" of its former trader. Yesterday, the former CEO of Societe Generale, Daniel Bouton, has admitted "failures in the control of the bank during his testimony before the Tribunal of Paris.

L'Oreal Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO, said in an interview with Reuters that his group had no plans to change the status quo in the capital of the world's number one cosmetics line with the Pact of shareholders that binds to the Bettencourt family.

Alstom Alstom and Areva does not want to marry with Areva. "To dance the tango, it takes two. Areva does not really want to dance. We no longer so eager to dance ourselves, "Patrick said Tuesday Kron, Alstom's Chairman, at the general meeting of shareholders.

Total Total and oil stocks are worthy of attention.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA) publishes 10:30 prospects of markets for oil and gas.

ArcelorMittal the world's number one steel company, announced Tuesday that the apparent demand and actual demand for steel would remain positive in the second half of the year, even if they should show a slowdown during this period. Lakshmi Mittal, the CEO that the slowdown in demand was due to seasonal reasons. The boss also said he did not think the steel industry return to its pre-crisis level until 2012.

EADS Airbus forecasts a near-doubling of its production of A320 aircraft in China, 48 aircraft in 2012, said Zhao Haishan, an official of the manufacturer in Tianjin in the north, was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency .

The group Vivendi has denied an Indian newspaper Economic Information Times that he is in talks with Reliance Communications to take a 26% in the second mobile operator in India. [

Insurance Axa, CNP, Scor … : Values of insurance will also be regarded as the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) releases on the market situation and its prospects.

Banks The banking sector remains to be monitored throughout the session. On Tuesday, he suffered a spate of bad news.In addition to degradation of the note in the long-term debt, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole said the cost of risk on its Greek subsidiary Emporiki would weigh 450 million euros more than expected. The BNP Paribas has yielded 1.92% and that of Crédit Agricole SA 4.69%.

Discussions on a tax credit and tighter prudential rules also weighed.

The Renault-Nissan automaker Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, said he received 890 million yen (8 million euros at current exchange rates) for 2009-2010, making him one of best paid bosses in Japan. Carlos Ghosn made the announcement at the annual general meeting of shareholders of the Japanese group, held Wednesday in Yokohama (Tokyo area).This does not include fees paid 1.24 million euros in 2009 he has received as CEO of the automaker Renault, Nissan's largest shareholder with 45.7% of the securities.

Peugeot Peugeot Italy said Tuesday it has signed an agreement with Sorgenia first private operator in the Italian electricity market created and controlled by Rodolfo De Benedetti, for the launch of its Ion Electric Vehicle in Italy.

France Telecom, the company announced Tuesday it would invest about 515 million euros over the next five years in its network in Switzerland a few weeks after abandoning its planned merger with Sunrise, blocked by the competition authority of the country .

Nexity Group has announced the launch of its buyback program of up to 4.5% of its share capital, which will be followed by cancellation of shares they have acquired as well.This operation is designed to optimize the management of the group's balance sheet.

A symbolic announcement just days before the opening of the G20 summit in Toronto. The People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, announced Saturday that it had decided to continue the reform of the mechanism of the exchange rate of the renminbi (yuan's other name) in order to "increase the flexibility .

"The world economy is recovering gradually. The recovery and rebound of the Chinese economy is increasingly confirmed, leading to greater economic stability, "argued the central bank in a statement published in English on its website. "It is therefore advisable to take the reform of RMB exchange rate."

Since summer 2008, the yuan has remained stuck at around 6.83 against the dollar, fluctuating within a very narrow margin vis-à-vis the greenback.A contentious issue between China and its trading partners, most notably the United States, who believe that the yuan is undervalued, allowing Beijing to sell its products for export at very competitive prices.

In a letter to heads of State and Government of the G20 on Friday, President Barack Obama had given the record of the yuan on the table, a reference to it. "I also want to stress that exchange rates determined by the market are essential to global economic vitality," he wrote in his letter.

China has always rejected international pressure. The Deputy Foreign Minister, Cui, had also insisted on Friday that the issue of the yuan would not be up for discussion G20 payday loan companies. "The renminbi is the currency of China.This is not something that the international community needs to discuss, "he told a joint press conference with Zhang Tao, head of international department of the Central Bank.

A move immediately welcomed

Announcing this on Saturday continued reform of the yuan, the central bank has focused on "China's efforts to encourage a global rebalancing. The institution has admitted that the "special policy" introduced by Beijing in the heart of the global financial crisis had perhaps more reason to be in a context of economic recovery, but recalled however that "the stability of the yuan has played a major role in mitigating the impact of the crisis, which has contributed significantly to the recovery in Asia and the world.On the other hand, the central bank has insisted that the gradual return to a flexible exchange rate of the currency does not mean "great changes or major changes, namely a re-evaluation.

The gesture was appreciated nonetheless. Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary, said in a statement that the reform of the yuan could make a "positive contribution" to global growth. "We welcome the decision by China to strengthen the flexibility of its exchange rate," he said. The Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn also found that Beijing's decision was "very encouraging".

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Societe Generale Securities Services (GSS), a subsidiary specializing in securities trades in Societe Generale, announced in a statement Monday night for a commercial partnership with U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp U.S. Bank. The objective of this association is to provide investors with a global service fund administration, global custody, lending, securities lending or distribution of funds.

The French bank, which is the number six world titles with the conservation of 3.246 trillion euros in assets under custody, has not been quantified business objectives but it does ensure that the alliance is not motivated by reducing costs. "The goal is not cost synergies but revenue synergies", explained Alain Closier, director of GSS, indicating that this type of alliance has never been tied up in securities trades.

No capital alliance

"This is not a partnership capital, held to clarify Alain Closier low fee payday advance. "There is not any exchange of shares between the two groups. We have no agenda or planned merger between the two institutions, "he added. "We always talk about critical mass, to pool plants to decrease costs," said the officer referring to reconcile and partnerships established by other banks in this business.

Also asked about a possible sale of securities of the SocGen activity or a possible strategic partnership, Alain Closier said that the rumors currently circulating were "unfounded"."There are always rumors fed by different sources, such as competitors, then taken over by consultants looking for business. It is difficult to comment on rumors, especially when they become increasingly accurate and increasingly unfounded ", he further said.

After the Athens Stock Exchange, the Portuguese market in turn undergoes the wrath of investors. On Wednesday, the Lisbon Stock Exchange appears in sharp decline. Around 11:00, Paris time, the flagship index of the Portuguese market, the PSI 20, plaice and 5.77% at 6740.38 points. This drop comes sanction decision by Standard & Poor's yesterday, degrade debt rating Portuguese, from A + to A-.

The rating agency also downgraded the debt rating Greek, she now sees as speculative ("junk bunds). As listed in the category BB + BBB + cons before, government debt is regarded as far more risky than that of Portugal, due to repayment capacity considered more tenuous. Yet the Greek market oscillates around equilibrium Wednesday morning.The main index of the Athens Stock Exchange, the FTSE / 20 Athex back slightly after gaining 0.76% to 828.63 points.According to a financial analyst in Paris, several factors explain this calm in Athens.

Psychological and mechanical effects

Investors see some first as the next allocation of aid to Greece, which should cover $ 45 billion or 55 billion, the International Monetary Fund considering to extend its contribution of 10 billion dollars, according The Financial Times.

Furthermore, "prohibiting short selling in the Greek market this morning can also cause a mechanical increase in the index, investors who are forced to buy back their positions," says financial analyst, who notes that " the Greek market has largely underperformed the European markets for several weeks. "

He also whispers in the trading rooms that some operators is positioning itself to try to take advantage of the situation.Thus, "banks can now arbitrage, borrowing from the European Central Bank (ECB) at very low rates, around 0.5%, and buying bonds Greek very profitable." The rate of Greek bonds to ten years continues to rise: it exceeded 11.076% on Wednesday morning. Until then, long yields a euro-zone countries had never exceeded the threshold of 10%.

All European markets tremble

Greece and Portugal are not the only country to see them off the gap between the rate of return on their bond and a risk free loan for the same period. Spreads of Iceland, Spain and also France's rise. In other words, investors' doubts about the creditworthiness of these borrowers are continuing to strengthen.

This lack of trust leads the major indices falling everywhere in Europe.Around 11:30 am Spanish IGBM fell by 3.41% to 1047.61 points. The German Dax drops 1.97% to 6038.22 points. In London, the FT100 was down 1.05% to 5544.91 points. In Paris, finally, the Cac 40 2.28% yield and password below 3800 points to 3757.10 points.

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lefigaro.fr / jdf.com: carbon tax rejected, disagreements at the Copenhagen summit. These events would not they have a negative impact on Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)?

Alain Zeitouni: I think, however, that these cons-time advocate of SRI. They illustrate the inability of states to agree on what policy to adopt and highlight companies that have a real socially responsible approach. Investing in SRI is an investment in a well-run company with good governance and employability positive and more likely to see its share price appreciate.

AFG (French Association of Financial Management) will also require management companies by July 31, a code of ethics which they must answer a series of questions about their SRI policy.Management companies will therefore have an obligation to be transparent with investors in our case, we will put this code available to our customers on our website.

Why did you choose the multi *? How do you reconcile with SRI?

As a society, we believe it is more appropriate to rely on several topics related to SRI, rather than a team with SRI extra-financial analysis.It is well known that our SRI funds Alphastar Barclays profit pricing that allows investors to actively contribute to social awareness, with 20% management fee will be donated to support local civic projects through our structure Barclays Solidarity.

SRI funds are they more efficient than conventional investments?

It is difficult to measure but what is certain is that SRI is more resistant in the phases of market correction and presents a more defensive profile, if uptrend. In other words, there is an outperformance in the market phases. SRI is not a barrier to the market performance. Instead, he must give value added to the fund compared to a traditional investment.The management team should also bring in funds through the performance of traditional criteria such as the revaluation of securities and its prospects.

How do you select your values?

Our management approach is based on a "best in class", that is to say that we select the best titles in their class, whatever the category. In other words, we do not exclude sectors that initially do not appear to be consistent with the ISR, such as the automotive and oil industries, for example.

While values have a real socially responsible approach, we keep them. For example, some car values are investing heavily in R & D to reduce pollution from their vehicles or oil stocks investing in renewable energy. The purpose of a product is primarily SRI performance.We believe it is unnecessary to have a debate about whether a particular value or not SRI.

Why is it your portfolio as concentrated (Barclays Alphastar SRI consists of 13 funds, Ed)?

Our portfolio consists of only 13 funds, because we were not convinced of the other approaches SRI funds, and we believe this issue to make it more readable, it is not necessary to invest in more funds . Accordingly, we are heavily invested on each line, because we have strong convictions on certain themes (sustainable development, corporate governance) that we identify as a source of added value.

Amund and Natixis are historical actors of SRI investing in this topic for many years. They have a database of the oldest of the place.We also returned UFG shares Sarasin Euro Mid-Caps, while our investment universe is large caps. The idea is to identify mid-cap stocks that are concerned with the theme of SRI, but that hardly communicate, because they do not face the same pressure as the major media values.

What is the performance of your fund?

Our fund outperformed the MSCI Europe since its creation of 1.5 basis points (-19.18% against 20.73%) and the underperformed since the beginning of the year (2.98% against 3 57%). This reflects the fact that our portfolio is too concentrated on European values. Because of the difficulties of Greece, the euro has sharply d?sappr?ci? and our portfolio with him. Thus, more than one reason for the market for a reason related to the SRI we underestimate performons index.We therefore decided to refocus on Europe in integrating the England and Switzerland in our portfolio.

That is why we returned OFI leader who is a fund invested in European companies considered in a leadership role within their industry and their competitive universe. We also selected HS Europe, which is invested in European companies also meeting the constraints on environmental, social ethics and governance. We believe that given the pressures on the euro, the single currency will continue to depreciate.

* Multi-management is a technique that selects the most experienced managers and more effective and provide access to larger customer base through a single medium (CPF unit trust or life insurance contract).

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Air France-KLM fails to emerge from the fog in which she sailed past four quarters. The airline announced on Wednesday a further loss in the third quarter of fiscal shifted 2009-2010, the fifth in a row. Over this period (October to December), the group garnered a net loss of 295 million euros. This is less than the 508 million the previous year but well above the 216 million expected by analysts. The operating loss also disappointed expectations, to -245 to -194 million against expected by the market.

In the third quarter, revenue fell 16% to 5.19 billion euros. Observers had expected 5.34 billion euros."The business has shown during this quarter are some signs of recovery but in an economic environment that remains challenging," the group said in a statement.

Operating loss record throughout the year

For more, Air France KLM expects operating profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal offset "the same as that of last year" was 574 million euros. This "given the expected recovery later in unit revenues, lower capacity and an increase of about 300 million dollars from the oil bill.

This means that at this rate, the operating loss over the whole year could reach a record. Indeed, nine months, the group's operating loss amounted already to 788 million euros.Adding to the loss of 574 million harvested in the fourth quarter, the operating loss over the entire year could exceed 1.3 billion euros.

In a more distant future, Air France-KLM confirms targeting a return to balanced operations for its fiscal year 2010-11, excluding the impact of oil hedges prior to 2009. The company relies on cost reductions, "expected a slight increase in unit revenues, the implementation of medium-haul product and restructuring initiated in cargo activity.

The general environment is showing signs of improvement in the airline also confirmed the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The situation could hardly be worse than in 2009.

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