Archive for the ‘technics’ Category

Berlin opens the way for Plan aid to Greece

February 20, 2012 - 8:32 am Comments Off

 

Wolfgang Schäuble has opened the way for the adoption, on Monday, a second plan with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, amounting to 130 billion euros. But it is not private to lecture on the Greek government, while ensuring the Greek people of his compassion for the conservation measures that strike.

According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the idea of ​​establishing an escrow account for the interest payments on Greek debt, which was the German Government, should be held tonight in Brussels by the finance ministers of the euro area. Unlike that of a commissioner to oversee the implementation of rigor, to which Germany has given up against the outcry. However, in an internal report, the German Ministry of Economy casts a very negative effect on the progress of reforms in Greece and openly doubt it will be able to avoid bankruptcy. This will certainly complicate the ratification of the new aid plan by the Bundestag, scheduled for February 27.

Critical or pessimistic statements of German officials on the situation of the country have moved the Greeks and sharpened their sense of being imposed a European tutelage. Greek President Karolos Papoulias has himself condemned what he thought of "teasing" the German finance minister's struggle to stay in Athens for the euro area no fax payday loans.

"In front of aid, there is always someone who wants to get help, found Wolfgang Schäuble. We remain available for some time to help the Ministry of Finance officials to build a Greek tax system efficient. So far the offer has not been entered. "

"Compassion"

The German minister, who had been strongly criticized in Athens after claiming he had "serious doubts" about the validity of elections in April in Greece, he assured "sympathize" with the Greeks. "The vast majority of those affected by the reforms and austerity measures – and let me express once more my great respect for them – are nothing to do with the slow pace of reforms, the loss of competitiveness or inefficient use of budgets in the past, "he says.

And remember that the Greek minimum wage will be at the future "at about the same level as in Spain."

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Organic products continue to gain ground

February 19, 2012 - 12:36 am Comments Off

 

Organic products seem immunized against the crisis. Last year, sales were nearly $ 4 billion euros, an increase of at least 10%, as estimated by the Bio Agency. A sacred performance. Over the same period, sales of consumer products (food and hygiene products) have indeed stagnated in volume, and increased by only 3% in value.

Despite prices 20% to 50% higher, organic products, which represent less than 2% of the food market, continue to attract consumers. However, they are less likely to try the bio. In 2011, 40% of French reported consuming at least once a month for organic products, when they were 43% in 2010 and 46% in 2009, according to a survey by the CSA institute. "In a crisis, the curiosity of consumers is less, recognizes Elizabeth Mercier, Director of the Agency Bio. But market growth in 2008, the year of crisis, was 25% and 19% by volume. " In contrast, 18% of those who consume at least one organic product a week they intend to increase their intake this year. "This allows us to expect a further growth of organic products in 2012," said Elisabeth Mercier.

More visibility on the shelf

"The potential of new consumer stays there, half the French having no problem purchasing power," said Didier Perreol, group president Ekibio (Priméal, Bisson, My life without gluten?), Which states that Organic consumers are mostly from the wealthier classes.

"The market continues to grow as a supply effect contributes mechanically to increased purchases," says Isabelle Senand, author of a study on the bio for Xerfi. This is the result of the number of openings specialized brands (Naturalia Biocoop, La Vie Claire?), Pioneer of organic and enlargement of the assortment in supermarkets and hypermarkets. Today, 10% of milk sales are conducted in organic section, over 15% of sales? Eggs but only 6% of sales of fruits and vegetables. Last year, innovations in the organic section have increased among the national brands, ham Fleury Michon Pom'Potes Materne to Mont Blanc.

"The distributors have established themselves in this market with their brands and national brands, explains Isabelle Senand. All signs now have their own organic brand, which is largely the democratization of the market. "

The price gap has in fact reduced in grocery, fruit and vegetables or dairy products. "In five years, our prices are down 15% due to higher volumes, which allowed us to increase productivity," says Daniel Tirat, CEO of two cows, the brand of organic yogurt from Danone, the second mark market.

In three years, the market for organic fresh dairy products has doubled to 100 million euros. "We are in a logical recruitment of consumers, two thirds of our buyers who have never eaten organic yogurt, adds Daniel Tirat, which will test next month at Monoprix sales of butter and cream The two cows. We need the bio is even more visible rays. "

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U.S.: Congress renewed its tax breaks

February 17, 2012 - 7:56 am Comments Off

 

Determined to help the growth, in this election year, Republicans abandoned their zeal for deficit reduction. While the campaign for parliamentary and presidential undertakes November, Republican leaders of the House of Representatives agreed to a compromise that will cost nearly $ 100 billion budget for the current year.

This is extended through December of reductions in social charges weighing chiefly on wages. Some 160 million Americans benefit from this gift, supposed to boost consumption and sustain growth to be too fragile by Barack Obama. The average American will have 80 dollars a month more.

Rise of Barack Obama in the polls

Since December the right wing of the Republican Party, very influential in the House, tried to package this as looking for savings of an equivalent amount elsewhere in the budget.

The Republican retreat is the rise of Barack Obama in the polls thanks to recent signs of improvement in the labor market. He campaigned on the urgency of reducing taxes on the middle classes, while wishing to increase taxes on the rich. Maintaining a budget deficit greater than 8% of GDP this year, and about 5.5% of GDP next year, do not seem to scare the Americans, or on Wall Street, which is found even at its highest in seven months.

Unemployment benefits reduced

The compromise that should be passed by Congress this week also provides a progressive shortening of the maximum period during which the unemployed can receive benefits. It will increase from 99 weeks to 73 weeks now by the end of the year.

The Republicans would rather reduce the period to 59 weeks. In yielding on this point, they got the cost of this measure is funded in part by an increase in pension contributions for federal employees. In addition, the Republicans give up a projected savings in health spending.

The electoral climate that prevails in Washington is so tense that it is likely that once the tax package passed no important legislation can not move forward until December. It was at that time, and after that we know of who emerges victorious in November elections, as important decisions will be taken to respect the timetable set last year in budget savings.

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November 16, 2011 - 3:44 pm Comments Off

Apple announced Tuesday after the close of Wall Street that the media group's boss Disney, Robert Iger, integrate its board, now chaired by Arthur Levinson, who was one of the leading officials of the board of the group in 2005. These decisions were taken one month after the death of founder and CEO of Apple Steve Jobs. In addition, Apple has opened for the first time Wednesday discussions with advocacy groups accuse the Chinese environmental industry working for the manufacturer of computers and smartphones U no fax needed payday loans.S. large-scale pollution.

The Dell IT group released Tuesday, also after the close of Wall Street, with net income up 9% in the third quarter of fiscal offset to $ 893 million, slightly above expectations.

November 14, 2011 - 10:52 pm Comments Off

The U.S. stock markets have opened slightly lower Monday. In early trade, the Dow Jones ceded 0.17% to 12,132.64 points and the Nasdaq 0.23% to 2672.49 points. On Friday, the New York Stock Exchange ended in the green, driven by the hope of breakthroughs on the front of the crisis in the eurozone.

The events in Europe during the weekend still seem to dictate the evolution of Wall Street. Since the appointment of Lucas Papademos, former European Central Bank, to head the new Greek government was followed by that of the former European Commissioner Mario Monti as the new prime minister in Italy last night.

November 13, 2011 - 1:00 am Comments Off

Qatar Airways, the first customer for the A350 XWB, the new long-haul Airbus will have to be patient. EADS, the parent of European manufacturer, announced on Friday on the occasion of the publication of the results of nine months, the factory of the competitor of Boeing Dreamliner will be the first half of 2014 rather than late 2013. The assembly of the first aircraft factory in Toulouse, will begin in the first quarter of next year and not at the end of this year. This delay will cost 200 million euros at EADS, which has set aside that amount in its accounts.

These announcements reflect "what we know today," said Hans Peter Ring, Chief Financial Officer of EADS. The band plays caution. He prefers to deliver defect-free devices instead of doing everything to meet its production schedule. The European giant draws lessons from the excesses of the A380.The announcement of the delays of the A380 in June 2006 caused a collapse of the action and the most serious crisis in the history of the company.

This decision revealed seventy-two hours before the opening of the Dubai Air Show was predictable. In June, during the Paris Air Show, Airbus announced a year and a half behind two of the three versions of the A350 XWB. Management had set the stage by explaining the weeks preceding the calendar was tense for "a very risky program."

In late September, Thomas Enders, CEO of Airbus, told the BBC: "We always start date for the final assembly of the first aircraft in late 2011. But there is no magic date. We learned a lesson simple enough for the A 380: it is useless to push sections of the aircraft on the assembly line if they are not ready. "

November 8, 2011 - 2:44 am Comments Off

France Televisions will participate there in the war effort budget? MPs Gilles Carrez, chairman of the Finance Committee, and Patrice Martin-Lalande, deputy of Loir et Cher, a member of the Finance Committee and co-chair of the Task Force Internet, broadcasting and information society, the same wish if the means differ slightly.

Specifically, this is to limit the payment of appropriations made to the public company for the loss of advertising revenue due to the partial shutdown of advertising on the main branches of the group since 2009. France Televisions already committed for 2012 to increase its advertising revenue from 410 to 425 million euros but also revert to the state 28 million euros in credits not used by the public group.

But the chairman of the Finance Committee would go further.

New sharp rise in unemployment in September

October 26, 2011 - 9:16 pm Comments Off

The news could not have come at a worse time. According to data recently published by the Ministry of Labour, the number of registered unemployed at the end of month employment center has increased again in September. And not a little: from 26,000 in Class A (unemployed who have not worked at all) and 27,600 in categories A, B and C (including job seekers who have had a reduced activity during the month ).

By category, so there is between 2.78 and 4.175 million unemployed in France. A level not seen since January 2000 in Class A and never reached at all, the combination A, B and C.Results for the six months to less catastrophic for the presidential and the more so as the number of registered unemployed in category D (that is to say, training, training, illness or device reclassification as contract Professional security and therefore not required to seek work), jumped 3.8% in September after several months of declines or relative stability. Proof, if needed, that the social treatment of unemployment on public money is well and truly left full in September.

In a statement, Xavier Bertrand "takes note of these poor figures related to the downturn." The Minister of Labour and Employment took the opportunity to recall the "absolute engagement" government "on the employment front, especially for young people."And for good reason: the number of under 25 not engaged in any activity which have registered at employment center grew 0.6% in September, bringing down over-year to 2% when it was over 6 % on the first months of the year.

It is mostly young men who enrolled en masse in September (1.3% against 0.1% for young women)."The new measures already in force of the law of 28 July 2011, including the ability to start an apprenticeship contract immediately without learning, practical solutions to the challenges made in the field should enable all young people wishing to enter alternately you can do, "warns, however, Xavier Bertrand cashadvance.

Sudden economic downturn

The Minister did, however, no word in the direction of the unemployed and senior long-term which, when not hurt, have been hard hit by the economic downturn last month. The number of unemployed people over 55 increased by 2.1% in group A (a jump of 14.3% over one year) and that of long-term unemployed, 0.7%.

The cold shower is especially icy for job seekers registered for more than three years employment center (+2.5% on month and 21% year on year).Immediate consequence, the average length of employment center has yet to take one day at 456 (against 394 days two years ago), and the share of registered unemployed for over a year unemployed now stands at 38.2 %, up 8.5 points history since the beginning of the crisis.

Apart from the inscriptions following a redundancy which continue to decline (-2.5% over one month and 12% year on year), the other two main reasons for entry are on the rise: the purpose CDD (+4.5% on month and 9.7% year on year) and for temporary assignments (+0.3% in a month and 13.6% in twelve months).

As for administrative radiation, often a source of controversy, they are this time not in any case. They rose in effect from 4% in September and were virtually unchanged over the year.The other bad news, confirming the sudden economic downturn, concerns finally collected and vacancies filled by employment center that fell in September, respectively, 7.1 and 5.3% over one month.

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The EU is considering 108 billion euros to bail out banks

October 23, 2011 - 2:12 pm Comments Off

Creditor banks in Greece will have to accept losses "substantial" in the new bailout of the country, warned Saturday that the European Ministers of Finance. Last night, the central bankers of the euro zone had "agreed to say that we had to have a substantial increase in the contribution of banks" in the form of a depreciation of their claims, said the leader of European finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker.

• Discount of up to 60% of the Greek debt

According to diplomatic sources, the ministers agreed to effectively negotiate with the banks at a discount of "at least 50%" against a target of 21% decided on July 21 with the banking sector. They thus de facto endorsed the conclusions of an expert report which was presented by the troika of donor funds in Greece (EU, ECB and IMF).The paper believes that a discount of 50 or 60% hope to stabilize Greece without having to increase in the amount of gigantic international loans that have already been promised.

A "discount" is the term used in relation to the financial depreciation of the value of loans taken by creditors in this case private banks and investment funds that hold government debt. A discount of 50% borne by the private sector, the second program of financial support pledged July 21 to Greece, however, should be slightly revised upwards with government loans (Europe and IMF) to 114 billion euros, against 109 billion euros.To maintain the envelope of 109 billion euros unchanged, it would bring the discount to 60%, according to calculations by experts.

• Recapitalization of banks to the tune of 108 billion euros

The question is whether the banks that have so far dragged its feet to give the pot, will accept a negotiated settlement does not pass through a default of Greece. In return for the effort required on the Greek claims, there are plans to recapitalize banks in Europe. Following a meeting of EU finance ministers, this Saturday, in preparation for the summit Sunday, no agreement had been finalized on this point, due to the persistence of disputes.

"We have made some progress on the banks" and "we have laid the groundwork for an agreement" which will still be subject to "discussions between heads of state" and called for European governments to meet in summit Sunday said Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg. Countries of the European Union are considering a recapitalization of its banks to the tune of 107 or 108 billion euros to help them cope with the crisis, has also said a source familiar with the matter.

But according to European diplomats, "there is no agreement on the recapitalization, it gets stuck a little." According to one of these diplomatic sources, "Spain insists on having a comprehensive, not only on the recapitalization of banks but also on strengthening the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF)." On the other hand, "the ministers are trying to agree on the minimum capital."The European Banking Authority (EBA) has proposed that banks reach a level of capital of 9% by mid-2012. A diplomat acknowledged that some countries in the viewfinder of the markets, like Italy, Spain or Portugal, feared that the recapitalization will further undermine public finances.

• The Fund will not support a bank

Moreover, the French proposal to grant a banking license to the Fund support the euro area (EFSF) so he can refinance with the European Central Bank "is no longer on the table," said Minister Dutch Finance Jan Kees de Jager. Only two options are being discussed to increase the firepower of the device, he told reporters Saturday.These two tracks on the agenda now that the mechanism acts as a partial insurance of the public debt of countries in difficulty or higher participation of the IMF to the device, according to a German government source. But there is "significant differences between countries" on the issue, said Jan Kees de Jager.

How to leverage the capacity of the EFSF was the main sticking point between Berlin and Paris at the approach of the EU summit. France, worried about its budget deficit and are "triple AAA" prefer tap into the existing European funds, starting with the ECB. Germany, also sensitive to the separation of powers as inflation risks, refuses anything resembling a crisis by printing money in Europe.France was not only to advocate the involvement of the ECB, arguing that this system worked very well in the United States or Great Britain. She was supported by Spain, Italy or Belgium.

The European Relief Fund currently has a lending capacity of 440 billion euros, part of which is already committed for Ireland and Portugal. This envelope is considered insufficient to prevent contagion of the debt crisis in countries as large as Italy and Spain, increasingly in the firing line of credit rating agencies.European countries negotiate so hard for weeks on the best way, via a "leverage" to multiply by up to five response capacity of the Fund's financial debt of fragile countries.

(With agencies)

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Barilla wants to eat his pasta to Chinese

October 22, 2011 - 8:32 am Comments Off

Pasta with pesto sold alongside kebab silkworm larvae or fried chicken feet? This is the crazy challenge of Italian Barilla, which hopes to soon be eating his pasta to the Chinese. "Fast food is an effective way to install the brand and a direct relationship with consumers, said Guido Barilla, chairman of the Italian group that carried out last year EUR 4 billion in sales. If food purchases for the home are traditional, there is now a real interest of people in the street to the kitchens of the world. "

In the Middle Kingdom as in the rest of Asia, food is becoming more and more often on the go, bought in the shops that fill the streets.Or international chains of fast food like McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken, which are present in large cities.

"The goal of Barilla is to be present in twenty years with an offer dedicated to Asia, which is consistent with the true Italian gastronomic tradition, says Guido Barilla. We look at different ways to adapt the offer to local habits with recovery modes that do not exist in the business portfolio of Barilla. "

Ready meals in Europe soon

Therefore no question of selling Barilla noodles Asian or to eat his pasta with chopsticks. The Italian group, which wants to reach consumers in major cities of the region is still at the beginning. He formed earlier this year a regional team of five people based in Singapore. He also sent ten people in Tokyo.All work closely with the headquarters in Parma.

In emerging markets, which account for only 7% of sales, Barilla also looking to South America. "Barilla is a family business, we are not pressed by the objectives of growth or profitability, says Guido Barilla. Our priority now is to install Barilla in new geographies. But we do not make shots. What matters are the group's financial stability and product quality. "

The internationalization of the Italian group has accelerated since the mid-1990s, when Guido and his brothers and sister took over the reins of the company at the death of their father, Pietro, grand-son of the founder.

After settling in France – its second largest market after Italy – and Germany in the 1980s, Barilla headed for the United States.Three years ago, he won first place in the pasta market. Barilla, which generates $ 500 million in sales in the U.S., it now holds 30% market pulp and posted growth of 4 to 5% per year. The Italian was offered four years ago a second plant in the country, near New York. The growth potential is enormous. If the Italians consume 27 kg of pasta per year per capita, Americans eat three times less …

Meanwhile, Barilla brand of pasta popular in Greece and Turkey. In Europe, where the group wants to expand its business scope, it introduced last year pasta with vegetables. This board today the launch of cooked pasta, bearing the signature of chefs.France, where the brand holds 20% of Barilla pasta market, would be among the first countries to sell this product.

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