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For 30 years, Ikea would have dreamed best advertisement. But a month after the revelation of illegal surveillance practices of employees and customers by Duck chained Mediapart then, the direction of Ikea France wants to show it has taken stock of the situation. Vanoverbeke Stefan, head of the French subsidiary of the Swedish furniture giant, yesterday presented its action plan and its working group to improve the image of the group being undermined by the discovery of internal mails mentioning the use of detectives private and the font file. Activities that led to Ikea France sidelined several top executives, including Jean-Louis Baillot, CEO of the subsidiary at the relevant time. "An internal audit by an independent firm has established that there had been research practices of information not consistent with our values. This is unacceptable and I regret it, "said Stefan Vanoverbeke. The current owner is careful however to discuss the future of the people involved to "preserve the presumption of innocence" and leave the floor of Versailles, seized by the CFDT union, do his job. "It is up to judges to say what is illegal or not. We just want to cooperate, "he said.

A pilot initiative

And as proof of his goodwill, Ikea France, which has already seen its headquarters raided and visited by the CNIL (Commission Nationale Informatique and freedoms) in its stores, plans to give the prosecutor the results of its internal audit. But it is mostly a working basis for a group of four managers responsible for "strengthening the values ​​and ethical standards." "It's not an excuse but it does not direct a company of 10,000 employees as a company that has only 500. The findings of the survey showed us that our way of working no longer fit our size, "explains Stefan Vanoverbeke.

Ikea already had a code of conduct but the group had been working to develop a global charter. Irregularities discovered in France gave a good boost to the initiative, even if the boss of Ikea France considers that there is "no reason to believe that such practices occurred in other countries where group is established. " No investigation has been carried out elsewhere. "France will be a pilot," he says. Beginning in June, the working group should thus be able to make concrete proposals for reforming corporate governance, support managers and staff, recruitment of technical change but also monitor compliance with the group values . "We developed this action plan because we want to act quickly to give answers to our employees, social partners and customers. But we hope that these answers are of quality, "says the CEO that all employees of the group can now contact directly by e-mail. For clients, Stefan Vanoverbeke remains attentive to comments left on forums where he received "varying degrees of concern." Not enough empty stores nor sinking sales, however.

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Low cost car insurance is not only smart, it is a great money saving tool that every person needs to know how to find it and apply it to their daily lives.

 

The company's ready-to-wear founded in 1973, purchased by Edmond Cohen in 1990, and renamed to Fursac, is hosting a new shareholder. The Building Fund and Business Development (EDCF), funded by the ISPs, major banks and insurers French, takes 28% stake by bringing Fursac of 11 million euros. Five million are on loan from LCL and OSEO.

Objective: To help the company with 100 employees, attached to a European clothing and fabrics 100% Italian, find a new impetus. The company, which has nine stores in France, wants to open 25 within five years, in Hexagon, but also in Brussels, Luxembourg, Geneva and London. She hopes to double its turnover, which reached 23 million euros last year, up 20% compared to 2010.

Of Fursac, which had its heyday in the 1980s comeback. In 2006, the company was placed under administration, having invested heavily to rejuvenate its image and move upmarket. She then lost in the Galeries Lafayette locations of province, and its sales had fallen below 15 million euros. A dark period forgotten.

"This long-term strategy has been slow to develop, but has proven successful," said Benoit Sellam, the EDCF. Worn by Harry Roselmack, Tony Parker, Thierry Henry and Gad Elmaleh, costumes Fursac, sold 600 euros on average, younger. They represent 60% of sales, accessories and casual wear have grown. Above all, the company returned to profitability and has virtually no debt.

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The CEO of Veolia Environnement Antoine Frérot, threatened three weeks ago by a coup attempt, Friday conducted a redesign of the Group Executive Committee to accelerate the implementation of its strategic plan.

"Denis Gasquet (Director of Operations, ed), Olivier Orsini (Executive Vice President and General Secretary, ed) and Jean-Pierre Frémont (executive vice president of public authorities and business, ie) left the band," said a statement Veolia, which had already revamped its board of directors Thursday.

Thursday, Antoine Frérot had already reached not to renew the appointments of two directors, the businesswoman Esther Koplowitz Spain and the former head of Sanofi Jean-Francois Dehecq, considered close to former CEO and current CEO of Veolia EDF Proglio. At the Paris Bourse, the Veolia Environnement has accelerated its rise, taking 4.53% to 12.69 euros in a market up 0.26% shy to 3:12 p.m..

Public outcry over Proglio

Disagree with the strategy of his successor to reduce the size of the group, including pulling of the activity of public transport, for deleverage, Proglio, director of Veolia always, wanted, according to press reports, Mr. Frérot to land and Borloo put in its place. But the outcry over this scenario had aborted the project.

The Executive Committee of Veolia from nine to seven members. Six were already (Jérôme Gallot, Jean-Michel Herrewyn, Franck Lacroix, Jean-Marie Lambert, Jerome Le Conte, Pierre-Francois Riolacci). It hosts more Sylvain Boucher. "This entire executive committee is engaged with determination in the successful implementation of the strategic plan," says Veolia. The group recalls that this plan is to refocus on the water, waste and energy services, reduce costs of 420 million euros by 2015, to sell 5 billion euros of assets and reduce debt to below 12 billion euros at end 2013.

 

BNP Paribas has limited the damage last year. Despite the crisis of the euro, which hit the banking sector especially during the second half of the year, the French group reached 6 billion euros in profit in 2011, down only 22.9%. It's better than expected by the market.

This figure covers two very contrasting. On the one hand, the retail place performance. Over the full year, this activity reached 5.9 billion euros'' profit before tax, of which nearly $ 2 billion in France (12%). the fourth quarter alone. Networks alone will clear almost all of the taxable profit of the group: 1.2 billion on 1.3 billion.

On the other hand, the sovereign debt crisis weighed heavily on the bank. A pressure that is exerted on the first banking business and investment banking. The division will have realized that 6 million profit last quarter, although this remains more than adequate compared to the losses recorded by many major European banks that have already published their accounts.

Especially, BNP Paribas will found in 2011 more than 4 billion euros in losses on its portfolio of European government debt: $ 3.2 billion on Greece, whose value was reduced by 75% in the perspective plan restructuring being finalized at the European level, plus 872 million of realized losses on the sale of government securities. Since the summer, BNP Paribas has significantly reduced its exposure to sovereign debt. She also collected 148 million of losses on loans it has sold to lighten its balance sheet.

With 6 billion profit in 2011, BNP Paribas is expected to maintain its lead over its competitors. Credit Agricole SA announced in December that he would complete the year in the red after a cleaning operation of its balance sheets. Societe Generale – which will publish its Thursday tomorrow – has warned it would not distribute any dividend.

In this regard, BNP Paribas says it will affect a quarter of its distributable income to the payment of a dividend payable in cash or shares. The bank says in effect have already exceeded the target of 9% capital adequacy set by the authorities in the whole industry in Europe.

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The benchmark rents (IRL) continues its momentum. Indexed to inflation, the index increased by 1.90% yoy in the third quarter 2011, according to INSEE, its largest increase since the first quarter of 2009.

Following the same curve as the price index, the benchmark rents had fallen sharply during the crisis, before recovering from the first quarter of 2010. However, according to figures released Wednesday by INSEE, inflation emerged up 2.2% year on year in September, despite a slowdown during the past month.

Consequence of this increase in the IRL, the owners can raise rents to their tenants under lease, 1.90% maximum per year. This ceiling is not to be confused with the increase that may require the owner at the end of the lease, and which itself is not subject to this limit.

Rising rents slows

They are also in the process of marking time, like the sale price. The latest observation Clamor, the rents charged to new tenants were up 0.9% over the first eight months of the year, against 1.4% a year earlier. In 34% of cities in France, this trend is even negative. This is for example the case in Paris (-0.1%), Bordeaux (-0.9%) or Toulouse (-0.4%).

In other cities of the Hexagon, however, rents remain strong on the upside. This is the case in Lyon (+1.2%), Nantes (+1.7%), Lille (1.9%) or Le Havre (+2%). For the full year, Clamor expects an average increase of 1.5% to 1.8% against 2.5% in 2010.

The Observatory notes wide disparities between the cities but also between the quality of rented accommodation.Owners who make improvements before entering into a new lease rent on average well 9.3% more than the previous occupant. However, when the property is rented without work, its rental value decreases by an average of 5.4%.

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SNCF never ceases to celebrate 30 years of its TGV. After the launch last May of a train specially decorated, a new celebration takes place Saturday night in the Gare de Lyon in Paris. The President of the SNCF Guillaume Pepy, and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, will attend a particular video show projected on the facade of the Gare de Lyon which left the first TGV, the September 22, 1981.

A few figures summarize the tremendous success of the first high-speed train developed by Alstom to accommodate all age groups, mobile executives, young, old … In all, nearly two billion passengers have taken in 30 years. 83% of French people have traveled at least once on board the TGV, which now serves 230 stations.

But the station pulled the alarm a few years ago commercial success, the TGV is not an economic powerhouse.The accounts of the industry are deteriorating, the fault, including the tolls the operator must pay to Réseau Ferré de France, the operator of the system for the use of high-speed lines. Today, nearly 30% of high-speed lines in circulation are not profitable. Guillaume Pepy regularly reminded that the company can no longer afford to invest in next-generation trains business cards.

The future railway landscape

Several projects of new lines are under way: the Rhine-Rhone, just opened, the Tours-Bordeaux, Brittany or the Loire region, not to mention the circumvention of Nimes and Montpellier. But others are virtual as the Paris-Caen. The success of the TGV has indeed given to the regions want to have "their" TGV.But the question of funding problem and use increasingly common in public-private partnership, a financing involving the state and communities in building a private group, is not a panacea.

After the festivities, Focus on the rail, a kind of rail Grenelle oragnisé by the Department, will again bring together industry players at round tables austere. Objective: To shape the future landscape railway … and give the French the prospect of other celebrations in the coming decades.

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The risk of contagion from a crisis of debt grow even further. After Greece, Ireland, Portugal and most recently the United States is now the turn of Italy to see their credit ratings damaged by Standard & Poor's. The rating agency lowered a notch credit ratings long and short term attributed to the third European economy A/A-1 against A + / A-1 + before. S & P also maintains a negative outlook on the evolution of economic activity in Italy. In other words, it does not degrade once the debt rating of the country.

The degradation of S & P is all the more unexpected it had been no warning from the agency, in contrast to Moody's.The latter had announced Friday that it would complete in October, with a month lag, the examination of the Italian credit note for a possible cut, citing a difficult economic environment.

Standard & Poor's, the downgrade of the debt is directly related to the low economic growth and a fragile political situation. In fact, the ruling coalition of Silvio Berlusconi has only a slim majority. Thus, the rating agency believes that the differences in the Parliament will continue to restrict government's ability to respond decisively to a macroeconomic environment inside and outside tricky.In addition, many escapades of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi also helps to weaken the ruling coalition.

The difficulties of the incumbent government to impose measures were illustrated by the recent childbirth painful austerity plan. This program changed multiple times is not convincing and suggests that S & P "will undoubtedly contribute little to boost economic performance of Italy, especially in a context of tighter financial conditions and because of the program fiscal retrenchment of government. " Facing a debt of 1900 billion euros, equivalent to 120% of annual GDP, the Berlusconi government has pushed through last week by parliament an austerity plan providing for 59.8 billion euros in savings with the aim bring the budget back to balance in 2013.

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Twenty-four years after the first world held in New Zealand, rugby world last week signed a homecoming, celebrating the opening ceremony of the 7th edition of the World Cup. Certainly, in the meantime, the world of rugby has changed profoundly, from many countries in an amateur status to a professional model. However, the edition that has just begun in the land of long white cloud, earth history of the discipline, will not be remembered in terms of costs and economic benefits. New Zealand, a small country of 4.2 million inhabitants, has in fact not the same financial resources than previous organizers. Plunged into an economic crisis, it was also affected in February by an earthquake that devastated the city and the stage of Christchurch, the second largest city.What add to the bill related to the organization, and limit the financial benefits expected from the competition.

More limited carrying capacity

Estimates of the study Mastercard "Report on the economic impact of Rugby World: 2011 World Cup," the economic activity generated by the event is expected to reach $ 654 million (479 million), 18 % less than the 2007 edition in France. Main reason: the carrying capacity, especially in the stages are not the same. In New Zealand, the largest chamber (the Eden Park in Auckland) can accommodate 60,000 rugby fans. This figure drops to 40,000 for the second largest stadium. In total, only five of the twelve speakers in the competition beyond the 30,000 seats. In France in 2007, all exceeded the 32,000 seats.Enough to blow up the number of tickets sold in the Hexagon at 2.25 million, against 1.35 million sold in 2011 according to MasterCard. Next visitors, a double standard as well, since 95,000 fans are expected in the country of Blacks against more than 325,000 in 2007.

Overall, the economic impact of the sixth edition of Rugby World Cup in 2007 was estimated at 540 million euros, of which over 85% from the tourism (spending by spectators, lodging, drinks, souvenirs …). A record that does not beat New Zealand in terms of direct benefits. It remains to know the net financial gain from the competition.Those of this edition will not be known precisely until a few weeks, but we know already that they will be affected by 550 million euros spent on building or renovating stadiums, where France had limited its expenses (most stadiums were renovated for the World Cup soccer in 1998). The catastrophe of Christchurch should also weigh on the accounts. In 2007, net income of the competition had reached about 113 million euros, while New Zealand could lose money on this event.

The hearing will be at the rendezvous

The only consolation for the organizers of New Zealand against the semi-economic success: the increasing popularity of the rugby world should not be questioned. About 4 billion viewers (cumulative audience) should follow the matches of the competition.Almost as much as 4 years ago (4.2 billion according to URS Finance and Economics and the International Rugby Board). More than 220 million euros in marketing and TV rights for the event have been sold by the IRB, against only 190 million for the French edition of 2007. The fact is that New Zealand will not see the color of money, revenue from TV rights and advertising contracts falling directly into the pocket of the Board, to fund the global development of rugby.

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Apple has made off with digital music. The group of Cupertino recurrence in video on demand (VOD). United States, its download platform iTunes controlled the first half of 2011, 65.8% of movie sales online, says a study by the Institute IHS Screen Digest. According to it, video on demand and downloading films have generated $ 229 million in revenue over the period.

Within a year, Apple has gained almost a point of market share. In parallel, the number two market, the platform Zune Video Marketplace Microsoft lost 2.3 points to 16.2% market share. The disappointment is huge for Sony, whose PlayStation Store will not pick up more than 4.4% of revenues from online video, against 8.2% market share in the first half of 2010.

Only Wal-Mart, with its platform Vudu and Amazon have increased over the period.They control 5.3% (+4.3 points) and 4.2% (0.2) of the market. Both players have recently muscled their offerings in the online video, is launching a range of streaming, or by signing new agreements with Hollywood studios.

"The expansion of the market share of iTunes is a remarkable result in view of increased competition from aggressive rivals some" notes Arash Amel, senior researcher in charge of digital media at IHS. The Apple platform was driven by the growth of the park iPad, special offers on movies and the ability to stream movies from a wireless terminal on a screen Apple TV, IHS analysis.

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The race against time for Christmas toys began. The year 2011 is not easy. In addition to the rising price of raw materials, manufacturers and distributors must manage an additional constraint: the implementation, since July 20, the new European directive on toy safety. This significantly strengthens the requirements. So, in laboratories and offices, the list of requests made to the standards continues to grow … "The timing is not ideal compared to year-end holidays," says Stéphane Azoulai , Vice President Lansay.

The new directive, which replaces a text dating from 1988, strengthens the regulation, including through improved product traceability. Each toy must now be accompanied by his "identity card".Which identifies the entire production chain, from raw material origin to the name of the toy factory where it was manufactured. As for the 'CE' (European Community), it must be printed directly on the product or its label and not only on its packaging.

"The goal is to enable consumers to find out where the toy," says Serge Milon, toy expert at SGS, the world leader in inspection and certification. Mistrust has indeed increased in recent years, the list of suspect products (cadmium, phthalates …) have ceased to grow.

The Directive also takes into account the changing attitudes of children. The markings were made more accessible by using shorter sentences and more punchy ("choking," for example).The new text drummed cards especially among manufacturers, distributors and importers in an area where more than three quarters of the products are manufactured in China. The responsibility for quality and safety, is now shared paydayloan. It no longer lies only to manufacturers.

An implementation guide accompanies the 150-page directive to allow decoding risk analysis, monitoring records … If some importers or distributors may prefer a blind eye to the origin of a particular toy, they could now show zeal. Some will have to conduct additional inspections. "This is monstrous files to provide our clients, Stéphane Azoulai sorry.Some signs are up again test the toys in the laboratory. "

Advantage given to European manufacturers

The cost of the new standards, up from 10% to 20%, also changes the game. It takes 1,000 to 4,000 euros per product, depending on its level of sophistication. Products stored for more than three years must also board safety tests. "When 150 references, it starts to do a lot!" Stéphane Azoulai plague. "These high costs lead us to limit the depth of our range, adds Thierry Bertoux, CEO of Jemini, the French soft toys and furniture for children. It is easier for a multinational company to amortize these costs over several million pieces. "

Some companies have chosen to transform their organization to adapt to the regulations.At Lansay, one person was previously in charge of standards and procurement. A team will soon be established.

If it is more restrictive, the new regulations, however, gives a competitive advantage to European companies, "insofar as it creates barriers to entry," said Thierry Bertoux. "Making cost could lead to compromise at the expense of safety, says Serge Milon. It is a way to make quality and safety of products up by applying best practices. "