Posts Tagged ‘technology’

November 30, 2011 - 2:00 am Comments Off

The drachma, lira and other marks will they soon return to their distributors? Among the patrons, many do not want to believe, but the taboo has fallen in recent weeks, the crisis of sovereign debt has indeed reached the heart of the monetary union. "We're not there, and policies must absolutely do everything to avoid it, demonstrates a pattern of CAC 40. But never the uncertainties have been greater, and in the circles of European bosses, the topic is everywhere. "

Within groups – especially multinationals – the challenge now is to consider this assumption is not quite school, building plans for the "case". A subject on which, not surprisingly, more people start to speak outside the euro area and within it. Across the Channel, Constable British banks have their very formally requested to develop crisis plans ad hoc.In New York and London, in turn, several large financial platforms (CLS Bank, ICMA, Thomson Reuters or FXall) that run from bank to bank transactions, including foreign exchange, have informed their customers that they were preparing. For those operators who brew massive amounts of transactions, it is to ensure full and prompt treatment, even if the name change money.

November 28, 2011 - 11:36 pm Comments Off

The RGPP is accused of degrading the quality of public service …

She, however, improved the quality of service. The unemployed, who had previously two parties, the ANPE and Assedic, are addressed only to the employment center. There are two more administrations for taxes, but only one. Another advance, the French can make 80% of their usual procedures online at any time of day and night. Finally, we are always looking to reduce delays. Thus, the Hospices Civils de Lyon (CHU) fell by over 50% of the time to transition to pediatric emergencies, reducing it to half past one.

November 11, 2011 - 8:44 am Comments Off

It's a roller coaster! After falling to 1.3146 dollar, the euro has rebounded sharply, to $ 1.42. These days, he came back around $ 1.36. These violent movements illustrate the nervousness of the operators. In their defense, it is increasingly difficult to predict the various economic and political events.

Strategies in all were very pessimistic about the euro a month ago have adopted more moderate judgments fast cash now. "European politicians have given themselves time to solve problems. While Greece is in trouble but it still has until mid-December to collect the necessary financial support, "said John Kicklighter, Currency Strategist at DailyFX.

At Saxo Bank, comments are more incisive. "The sharp depreciation of the euro against the dollar mainly due to the renewed concern about the Italian debt.

Trichet supports a review of the European Treaties

October 16, 2011 - 3:00 pm Comments Off

As his term ends at the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) October 31, it is not a Jean-Claude Trichet to lecture who spoke Sunday at the Grand Rendez-Vous on Europe 1 / Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France / i> Télé, to discuss the crisis at the moment Europe.

With his experience of eight years at the head of the institution, who was also governor of the Banque de France, has recommended that Europeans hear the messages addressed to them. His advice? First, be "extra vigilant" with regard to public finances. Rejecting the idea that the euro area and its currency are "threatened" by the crisis, it nevertheless stated that "all countries without exception must be extremely careful." "Protect yourself rather than cure," he summarized, adding that "it depends on us that we can have the least slower growth."

Then you have to "think about the future," stressed the President of the ECB. "Tomorrow, I think we need to change the treaty to be able to prevent a member of the euro area to roam and create problems for everyone else," he said, referring to the Greek crisis that Europe in a hard to control. He called for a reform that would make the European Council "able to impose decisions" in a country slide, with "possible sanctions".

It includes some of the "outraged"

"We must strengthen the management and governance of globalization in all fields," he also said in reacting to the movement of indignation that spreads in several major cities."There are obviously a number of lessons from the crisis that the lessons are harsh: it is not possible to leave a financial system and consequently a global economic system that is as fragile." This does not mean "demolish" the banks, he insisted, recalling that "pay three-quarters of the economy."

That he referred to as de-globalization theme is in vogue right now, as advocated by the Socialist-Arnaud Montebourg, and one can imagine Jean-Claude Trichet tense in his chair … and find that it is a call to strengthening of global economic governance.

BlackBerry accumulated failures

October 12, 2011 - 4:28 pm Comments Off

Second failure in two days for users of BlackBerry. Just hours after suffering a first stop on its servers Monday, the Canadian was again faced with a similar problem yesterday. Virtually all countries are affected. Consequence: the sending or receiving mail on BlackBerry were disrupted and access to the Internet. The explanations provided by the group are at least succinct: "We are working to restore service and apologize for the inconvenience." The breakdown would originate from a server malfunctions in Europe, according to sources.

These blackouts are more embarrassing for BlackBerry, which had the reliability of its services is signed. Aimed primarily at business users, the brand can not afford such failures.Especially since it is increasingly challenged, including the professional market, including smartphones from Apple and Samsung faxless cash advance.

Rumors of sale to Vodafone and Microsoft

In addition, these incidents are still undermining the leadership of the group which faces a shareholder revolt led by investment funds. They call for a change of management or the sale of the company. Since the beginning of the week, rumors have multiplied. The Wall Street Journal referred to a sale of the Vodafone brand. Others imagine a takeover by Microsoft, but it already has a partnership with Nokia.

These rumors have helped support the stock price. On Wall Street, on Tuesday, shortly after 20 hours (French time), the action Research in Motion (the maker of BlackBerry) was the same upward trend, gaining 3.63% to 24.07 dollars.

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Eurazeo would be interested in Axa Private Equity

September 30, 2011 - 8:44 am Comments Off

All on a diet! Insurance companies to banks, asset sales affecting the entire financial sphere. So after Groupama, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole is now the turn of Axa confirmed the reduction of its balance sheet in order to cope with the crisis.

The French insurer has confirmed the sale of its subsidiary's equity division, widely reported in the press. "The purpose of this review, which could lead to a transaction or not, is to explore strategic options for the participation in the group Axa Axa Private Equity," the insurer said in a statement easy to get unsecured personal loans.

And pretenders abound. According to The Tribune on Thursday, the group would be interested Eurazeo.The U.S. Carlyle and KKR would also have views of the largest private equity fund French.

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State speeds up the outsourcing to private

September 2, 2011 - 12:20 pm Comments Off

The Department of Defense is mobilizing to help reduce public spending. Authorized since 2004 to sign agreements of public-private partnership (PPP), the military have a growing use, like other state services.

The Air Force is leading. It announced yesterday the award of the contract to upgrade its computer networks and communications in a pool of companies led by Alcatel-Lucent. This contract runs on sixteen for a value of 350 million euros, the amount of royalties to be paid by the Air Force over the period. The state expects "tens of millions of euros in savings" through the pooling of engineering resources used on other projects as well as the speed of network deployment."Without the PPP, we would never have as quickly renovate and take advantage of new technologies," says Marc Leclere, director of central purchasing in the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA).

Financial arrangements entrusted to the Caisse des Depots

PPP is the second signed by the DGA and the first for the Air Force. The yard is huge. This is to equip a hundred bases, to wire several hundred buildings and installing 36,000 "access points" (for computer, telephone or system) to build high speed, with the latest fiber optic generation, the future "Internet protocol network service" of the Air Force (Air-RDIP). The construction should start in the coming days with commissioning of the first "positions" equipped end of 2012. The deployment should be completed in 2014. Alcatel-Lucent's partner INEO, an infrastructure specialist defense techniques.

As for the financial package, it is entrusted to the Caisse des depots associated with the Luxembourg investment funds SEIEF. The pool of partners committed to cede 10% of contracts outsourced to SMEs and to provide reclassifications to hundreds of military and civilian personnel involved. Alcatel-Lucent will assume management and maintenance of networks of Air Force with the requirement, half-life of RDIP-Air, an "update" so that it benefits from technological developments.

All of the information flow internal air bases including allowing the Air Force to conduct its missions – such as surveillance of airspace – will therefore be outsourced. The information will be protected and secured through five levels of privacy from the most basic to the "secret NATO" and "confidential defense".Alcatel-Lucent is also committed to service quality (availability and reliability) together with a penalty system if necessary. The operation could RDIP-Air School with the Navy and the Army in time, although for now the two armies have computer networks and communications referred to as "suitable."

Three sectors where the state says its operations in private

1. The defense pointed

The Army had the ball rolling in 2008 benefiting from the first PPP contract signed by the DGA. Specifically, with the company DCI has taken over the management of flight hours and the helicopter fleet of the School of Dax which trains pilots of the French armies.

The contract worth 400 million euros spread over twenty-two years. It must allow a saving of 600 million euros.But the PPP's most famous landmark is undoubtedly the contract of 3 free 3-in-1 credit report.5 billion euros, signed in early June, with Bouygues to build the "Pentagon in French" (pictured) at Balard. In 2014, 10,000 military and civilian staffs of the three armies and the DGA have to regroup. The PPP is not always the rule to outsource activities and services where military competence is not necessary. After the lawn or airport maintenance (based Cognac), the Ministry of Defence had retained in 2006 the American GE Fleet Services to manage its fleet, more than 20,000 commercial vehicles. With, in sight, a savings of 25% on an annual budget of 90 million.

2. Transportation and Maintenance

Bikers of the gendarmerie and the police accompanying the convoy will soon be a thing of the past exceptional.The state decided to entrust to private companies the management of transportation of wind turbines, ships and other bulky goods. Effective November 1, this measure is indicative of the willingness of departments to focus on their core missions. This is the philosophy of the modernization of the state launched since 2007. The functions called "media" such as purchasing, information technology, are among the first to be restructured. "We look first at the pool," says one at Bercy. A purchasing department of the State, which oversees the current purchases of government departments, has been created. The state also uses outsourcing. No more garages in the ministries: the management of their 72,000 vehicles will be performed by private companies at the end of the year. Caretaking, cleaning, heavy lifting, the reception is already provided by the private staff at Bercy.This is also true at the Musée du quai Branly. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he, a single private provider for the maintenance of its buildings in Paris. The government can also go further, by giving public-private partnership in the management and construction of prisons.

3. Public enterprises

Public companies, subject to increasing competition, should ensure the public service closer to the citizens without increasing their operating costs. It is the object, including the action plan for rural areas launched last year. The plan includes for example the Post Office launches 17,000 "contact points", mainly in shops run by individuals. In this way, 90% of French people will have access to a courier service within 5 kilometers.For their part, the old disused railway stations could be reused to pool several services in one place: social security office, ticket sales SNCF, EDF payment services. The state is full of ideas. Left to ogle the side of the private sector. The opening to competition of regional express trains (pictured) could well tip the railway in the private sector. It is expected that a "social framework harmonized" be defined so that they retain their current benefits. The Elysee confirmed in an engagement letter to the President of the SNCF. And Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the responsible minister of the SNCF, was asked last June that the negotiations between social partners are committed as soon as possible. These issues should be addressed in the coming weeks as part of Focus on the rail.

Skirmish between the IMF and the Europeans

September 1, 2011 - 9:32 am Comments Off

New twist in the controversy over the health of European banks which opposes the IMF to European officials. The new CEO of the Fund, Christine Lagarde Wednesday held the first meeting of its Board of Directors of European banks. On this occasion, the Fund's economists presented their calculations indicate a probable equity gap of around 200 billion euros for all European institutions, the Financial Times. While European banks inscribed on their balance sheet obligations of States in the euro area market value, their tangible equity would fall from 10% to 12%, said the newspaper.

The newspaper stresses, however, that the amount shown in the "Report on the global financial stability", the traditional semi-annual report due on 21 September, is not final.These figures are obviously equivalent to those that led Christine Lagarde Saturday to encourage Europeans to recapitalize banks on the continent.

Analysis strongly opposed by European leaders. "The vision of the IMF is biased," said the Spanish Finance Minister, Elena Salgado, the FT, explaining that the Fund was wrong not to take into account potential losses without regard to assets Bunds, which saw During their ride. Wednesday, the Minister of Economy, Baroin, has in turn ensured that the French banking sector did not raise "no worries".Statements in line with those of the governor of the Banque de France Christian Noyer and the president of MEDEF Laurence Parisot, who had followed the lead of European leaders as the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn.

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Sponsors cautious against the return of the icon Laure Manaudou

July 14, 2011 - 6:40 pm Comments Off

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.

Legrand goes into overdrive

June 20, 2011 - 8:00 am Comments Off

Just over five years after his return on the stock market, Legrand decided to convene today to financial analysts to present the group's prospects in the medium term. The meeting is held in Limoges, where Legrand has one of the French centers of research and development and a "show room" where he can show his skills in home automation and home assistance.

Legrand is a leading electrical and digital infrastructure in the building. He directed last year's 3.89 billion euros in turnover. Its products are the most visible switches and outlets, but it has extended its offer for several years in the areas of home automation and energy efficiency. Elements that have enabled it to deliver excellent results. And it's not over."We set targets in the medium term annual growth of our average total turnover of 10% and an adjusted operating margin averaged 20% after acquisitions," said Gilles Schnepp, Chairman and CEO Legrand.

To achieve this, the group is a clear acceleration of acquisitions. "Until now, we spend an average of 200 million euros per year to our external growth strategy, says Gilles Schnepp. Now, we have increased the amount to 400 million euros on average per year. Over the past twelve months, we completed seven acquisitions as well, especially in the new segments. "

Focus on emerging economies

The target group now two types of companies. First, the actors in the new economies. "We are already present in these countries. For example, we established in Brazil since 1977.Emerging economies now account for 35% of our business, but we want to increase this share to 50% within five years. "The group also wants to develop or strengthen in new segments. Home automation is to say the pilot via a digital interface functions as diverse as lighting, heating, opening and closing of the shutters or video monitoring of visitors, is in a. Other preferred areas: systems to improve energy efficiency or the digital infrastructure. These activities already account for nearly 20% of its sales and growth is more important than more traditional trades.

This dynamic policy of acquisitions can be done without recourse to debt. Funding is made possible by the structural improvement of the group's ability to generate cash."Five years ago, cash flow (cash flow) of Legrand represented 6% of our sales, says Gilles Schnepp. Last year it had risen to 13%. "

A change made possible by an improvement in its processes, including the decline of its product platforms, much like in the car, or shortening the development time of its products.

Performance that does not go unnoticed by investors. In five years, the stock has gained 49% while the CAC 40 sold 25% over the same period.