The Top News

Caisse des Depots (CDC) has designated Monday's Deputy Director General Antoine Gosset-Grainville for the interim Augustin de Romanet until the e presidential election.

The mandate of Augustin de Romanet, CEO of the public institution since 2007, expires on March 7. President Nicolas Sarkozy had warned earlier this year that he would take no appointment as head of public institutions play a vital role in economic and social policy of the government before the presidential election of April-May

"Augustin de Romanet today informed its Executive Committee and staff of the Deposit of its decision to designate Antoine Gosset-Grainville, Deputy Director General of the Deposit, as director and acting in the absence or incapacity of the CEO, "says the CDC said in a statement. 

Appointed general manager of the Deposit by Jacques Chirac two months before he left the Elysee, Augustine had said in early January Romanet be candidate to succeed himself. Under its mandate, with the financial crisis, the Deposit has intervened on many fronts, including participation in the rescue and the dismantling of Dexia or bailout of insurer Groupama.

The name of the secretary general of the Elysee, Xavier Musca, circulated as a possible contender for the post of CEO of the CDC.

Augustin de Romanet denied on Sunday evening as a candidate or being approached in the event of a replacement for Mr. Frérot at the head of Veolia Environnement.

Values ​​to follow on Wednesday at the Paris Bourse, where the CAC 40 advances 0.57% to 3,430.96 points at 12:15, investors hoping that in Greece, leaders policies validate the draft agreement on the reforms demanded by its lenders in exchange for the second aid package of 130 billion euros.

* THE BANKING among the main beneficiaries of the market in hopes of a solution in Greece, while the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) will, according to Director General ral Assistant Christopher Frankel, probably have to play a key role in restoring the situation of the Greek debt.

FARM CREDIT advance of 3.74%, 2.91% BNP Paribas and Societe Generale 2.48%. The Stoxx sector index was 1.25% grants.

* The CYCLIC also benefit from the possible impact on growth in the euro area of ​​a favorable outcome to the crisis in Greece. ALCATEL-LUCENT rose 1.86%, 1.78% of Renault and Lafarge of 1.33%. The Stoxx auto sector is 1.21% and the resource base 1.33%.

* ArcelorMittal (4.25%) is ahead of increases in the CAC 40, the value advantage as the eve of its earnings forecast for 2012, and its solid fundamentals judged by the market ;.

* VINCI (1.79%) said Tuesday night expect a stabilization of its operating margin in 2012 to its 2011 level, in a context of expected stagnation in activity due to uncertainties in Europe.

* TF1 (7.29%) is ahead of increases in the SBF 120 and M6 earns 2.51%, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has raised its recommendation on the two values ​​of "neutral" to "buy" . 

* NEXANS (6.98%), the world of cable, said he was confident for 2012 after a year 2011 marked by strong organic growth but also by a net loss of 178 million euros, a result of provisions related to an investigation of European competition authorities.

* KLÉPIERRE (1.84%) will propose for 2011 a dividend up 7.4%, to 1.45 euros per share, after last year's growth of 3 , 6% of rent, but the land has made no comment on the possible reduction of the participation of BNP Paribas.

* A reverse trend, SANOFI (-1.75%) shows the largest decrease in the CAC 40, 2012 announcing the exercise more difficult than last year with the loss of patents of several of its major EM ; medicines, including its anticoagulant Plavix. 

* EADS lost 1.24% while the euro rose against the greenback in morning its highest level since mid-December to 1.3290 dollars.

* BOURBON (-2.49%) signed the largest decrease in the SBF 120 on profit-taking, analysts said, after rising 29% since the beginning of the year . The group reported an acceleration of growth in the fourth quarter of 2011, which allowed him to cross the symbolic milestone of one billion euros in annual sales, and pre see a continued improvement in 2012.

* FAURECIA lost 1.32% after a gain of 37% between late December and February 7. The supplier has confirmed its 2015 target of sales after a strong 2011 for the automotive supplier, with North America and China and despite an expected slowdown in 2012 in part because of Europe.

PSA Peugeot Citroën, which owns 57.4% of Faurecia, gaining 2.08%.

* THALES (-1.36%) has published an annual turnover down 1% and slightly below market expectations, but confirmed its operating margin targets for 2011 and 2012.

* ADP was down 1.04%. HSBC lowered its guidance on the title to "underweight", against "neutral".

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index is expected to grow about 4% from its current level and the end of next year, a growth limited by fears about the financial situation of Europe and the United States, according to a Reuters poll published Thursday.

The quarterly survey of more than 40 analysts and fund managers over the past week shows that the index comprising the 600 major European cap should come out to 250 points at the end of December 2012, against 240.08 points at the close on Wednesday and 265 , 25 points late July summer before his fall (-15% in August and September).

"The factors (rebound, Ed) largely concern the ability of the industrial states to bring order into their finances, whether it's debt management or the needed balance between spending and revenues "said Christian Jimenez, president of Blue Diamond Management.

"So the emergence of a new method for solving the debt crisis which should allow the return of confidence.

According to a survey, less than a third of French say they are willing to buy the French public debt. The survey refers to the success of the "day Treasury Bills" in Italy where the people were invited to invest in government debt. It goes from 8.86 to 9 euros gross time to reach 1,365 euros for 35 hours, or about 1,073 euros net per month.

Less than a third of French say they probably or definitely willing to buy the French public debt if they were given the opportunity, according to a Harris poll for the site information and the agency Jolpress Image & Strategy to be published Tuesday in the Tribune . Only 6% of French people would buy "certainly" the debt of the country at rates comparable to those charged by banks, and 24% would buy "probably" of such bonds, said the survey.

Member States of the European Union plan to withdraw from the future European Stability Mechanism (MES) the possibility of involving the private sector in the financial rescue of a country, said Friday four sources familiar with the matter.

Ongoing discussions are taking place in the broader context of trade reform on the European Treaty, on which Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel agreed Thursday in Strasbourg, it was said the same source.

This does not however affect the participation of banks and insurers in the second EU aid package to Greece, where they pledged to remove 50% of their claims to the country.

"France, Italy, Spain and the peripheral countries are in Germany, Finland and the Netherlands are against," said one source.

"(The first) say that Greece is a unique case in terms of private sector participation (…) He felt that if it is a unique case, then do not include in the text (the European Stability Mechanism).

GDF Suez confirmed Friday its target dividend for the period 2011-2013.

The CEO of energy company, Mestrallet, said at a conference organized on the occasion of the exhibition that the group was Actionaria for the next two years a dividend at least equal to that of the previous year.

"We commit not to lower the dividend," he confirmed.

Asked about the debate on nuclear energy in France, Mestrallet declined to take a stand.

"We have no nuclear power in France, we have in Belgium.

The powerful U.S. broker MF Global is set to the tune of 6.3 billion euros in European debt. This is the eighth largest bankruptcies in the United States since 1980. The shock wave will however be less than that caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The U.S. broker MF Global, coming off a black week, filed for bankruptcy Monday, October 31.

The U.S. broker MF Global, in particular very difficult situation because of its exposure to European debt, filed for bankruptcy, according to court documents available on Monday. The company has submitted a New York court record placing it under the protection of U.S. bankruptcy law, the board felt that this operation was "in the interest of the company, its creditors, its shareholders and other stakeholders. " This would be the eighth largest bankruptcy in the United States since 1980.Among the largest creditors of MF Global include U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank German establishment and the media group CNBC.

MF Global, which appears as one of the first commodity dealers and products in the world, was in a very difficult position because of heavier than expected losses announced last week. Already battered on the market since the summer, the New York group had agreed on this occasion be exposed to the tune of $ 6.3 billion in European government debt, more than half in Italy and more one billion to Spain, two countries in the sights of investors.

"The biggest victim of the debt crisis"

Rating agencies have subsequently threatened to bring down its debt in the "speculative", which would have signed the end of its activities.Faced with speculation on the establishment, the action of the group was suspended earlier in the day on Wall Street and the New York branch of the Central Bank of the United States announced it would interrupt his dealings with the facility . According to the Wall Street Journal, talks with Interactive Brokers Group, which had planned for the weekend to buy the assets of the broker for approximately a billion dollars, were ultimately unsuccessful.

The bankruptcy of the group could send a shock wave in the markets, but its impact should not be as important as the impact of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. However, these are "the biggest victim so far of American debt crisis of Europe," said analyst Chris Low of FTN Financial before the announcement. "Fortunately the situation of the company is unique.

Santander said Thursday that the European Banking Authority (EBA) had identified a need for her own fund of 6.474 billion euros.

She also said she would meet the new European capital adequacy without increasing its capital or reduce its dividend.

The largest bank in the euro area indicates that it is a hard capital ratio of 10% by June 2012 against 9.42% at the end of the third quarter.It notes that marking to market its portfolio of European debt would have an impact of 1.5 billion euros on its balance sheet.

BBVA, Spain's second largest bank, said Thursday that same EBA had identified a need for equity of 7.1 billion euros, 1.9 billion related to sovereign risk.

Santander has also reported net income down 13% over nine months due to an exceptional charge related to insurance policies in Britain.

Net income totaled 5.3 billion euros, while the Reuters gave 5.5 billion.

Santander's equity investors make conscious, due to the exposure of the bank in the Spanish property market and the local sovereign debt, while debt in the euro zone device undergoes a crisis of confidence.

Spain remains a weak point in the bank, which has embarked on a policy of international expansion.

But nevertheless agreed last week to sell a 25% stake in its U.S. consumer credit for a billion dollars, hoping to increase its capital in this way.

The action is gaining 3.73% in the morning.

A budget of 50 billion euros to be invested by 2020 in transport networks, energy and communications to Europe to interconnect national networks and boost growth, according to a plan released Wednesday by the Commission European.

The plan, dubbed "connecting Europe" should not only help create the missing links between the networks of twenty-seven but also promote a greener economy, strengthen the internal market and reduce energy dependence of the EU.

The modernization of transport infrastructure in Europe should concentrate 31.7 billion euros, against 9.1 billion for energy projects and 9.2 billion pan-European networks for broadband communications.

These investments will cover the most important projects but the Commission consider that no less than 500 billion euros would be needed to build a European transport network worthy of the name by 2020.

To facilitate the financing of these projects, the Commission adopted an initiative to resort to bonds, to attract private funding and risk sharing investments.

The President of the European Commission said at a press conference that the European initiative was necessary to encourage states to take the plunge.

"This investment will stimulate growth and job creation, and simultaneously make the work simpler and transportation for millions of citizens and businesses in Europe," he said.

The eviction of Pierre-Henri Gourgeon the CEO of Air France-KLM and the takeover of the group by its president Jean-Cyril Spinetta could be a lifesaving shock to the Franco-Dutch company, hit by financial indicators in red and a controversial management of the disaster Rio-Paris flight.

The second European airline in terms of sales has also confirmed the appointment of Alexander Juniac, former chief of staff Christine Lagarde, the newly created position of CEO of the national carrier Air France, and so set to resume eventually lead the group.

The arrival of this 48 year old technocrat had been widely anticipated, unlike the departure of Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, whose mandate was renewed for four years ago three months ago.

"It's a shock. It is a little surprised because Air France is not a company that used to act like that. However, it is rather good news for Pierre-Henri Gourgeon has not really good news to analysts, "said one analyst who requested anonymity.

Jean-Cyril Spinetta, who finds his chair as CEO, will be Deputy CEO Leo van Wijk, the current vice-president of the group, while Philippe Calavia remains chief financial officer.They will provide strategic coordination group to the holding of a genuine Air France-KLM, postponed from early 2012 to current 2013.

"The goal is to improve the operational and financial performance of the group in a context marked by economic uncertainty, their impact on European air transport and the situation of Air France face of increased competition from new players "the company said in a statement.

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon became Group Chief Executive in January 2009, while Jean-Cyril Spinetta, architect of the merger between Air France and KLM, had retained the presidency alone.

AIR FRANCE-KLM TROLLING

Stock Exchange on Monday welcomed the prospect of change to an increase of the share of Air France-KLM 1.43% to 5.606 euros, giving a market capitalization of 1.7 billion, against the market trend in Paris.But it remains down 59% since the beginning of the year, underperforming both the largely German Lufthansa and IAG, an entity formed by the merger of British Airways and Iberia.

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon and pays the price for its management of the company, which the French state owns 15.7% of the capital, considered too indebted, too slow to react and too wasteful, including labor costs well above those of its competitors.

The group, which now hold their exercises on the calendar year, merely to predict the end of July a positive operating result in 2011, when he had to exceed 28 million before the year 2010 on a comparable basis.

"It is believed that the duo should be able Juniac-Spinetta implement the measures necessary for the restructuring of the company that Gourgeon should have realized for several years," said another analyst.

"Two caveats, however, do this a few months before the presidential election seems a bit difficult in a society as symbolic Air France.Then, the decision appears to have been in a hurry, it will therefore take time before we truly know the new organization of the company. "

Even before the official announcement, the CFDT, which denounced the months of "rumors, calculations and combinations" between the leaders of the group, said he filed a "social watch" kind of notice of strike to get quick answers to questions employees and a clear strategy.

"We need a flight plan coherent economic and social level," he told Reuters Gilles Nicoli, secretary general of the CFDT Air France."It should not be the result of this reorganization is to delay the action plan."

Another delicate matter left to the new tandem: the catastrophe of Rio-Paris flight in June 2009. The third serious accident suffered by Air France in ten years has also raised questions about the technical training of its pilots, after publication of the interim report of the Investigation Bureau and analysts (BEA).