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The luxury sector is doing decidedly. PPR has surpassed analyst expectations by announcing on Friday, thanks to the acceleration of group sales in the period, net income Group share up 113.3% over one year to 403 million euros. His real turnover in the first half is also in an increase of 3.6% over the first half of 2009 to 8.139 billion euros.
"Our strong reaction from the outset of the crisis to maintain our competitiveness and the development of offensive trade allow us to benefit from the initial effects of the global economic recovery," said Francois-Henri Pinault President and CEO of PPR said in a statement. Earnings from operations also increased from 20.7% to 708 million euros.
"Good prospects"
The weight of the activity of PPR International has indeed continued to grow in the first half, representing 60.5% of the turnover of the group against 59.7% a year ago. Emerging countries in particular have contributed to make the results of PPR, with trading up 11.3%. Gucci now 40% of its sales in emerging countries, against 36% a year ago.
As its competitors in the luxury, like Hermes, LVMH and Burburry PPR announces results improved versus the first quarter 2010, reflecting the fact that the sector enjoys full recovery. The luxury division of PPR, Gucci Group (Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron …) recorded an increase of 11.1% of its turnover to 1.82 billion euros. Less than Hermes, however, who announced last week a turnover up 23% over the first half of 2009.Francois-Henri Pinault, however, anticipates "good prospects", in the short and medium term.
Good news for holders of a booklet A. Next Sunday, August 1, the rate of return on investment the most popular in France will increase from 1.25% to 1.75%.
The French plébiscitent more than ever the Livret A. At the end of 2009, there were no fewer than 59.3 million savings books (and blue, distributed by Crédit Mutuel), nearly 65 million inhabitants! If one adds the 600,000 booklets initiated by associations, there are nearly 60 million savings books (59.9 million to be exact). That is 10 million more than 2008 (49.69 million booklets A and blue).The current 60 million books, however, must be qualified because, contrary to what the law says, many French people have more than one account.
The widespread distribution of the Livret A, 1 January 2009, has allowed this very old investment (born 1818) to learn a new youth. "The interchange has resulted in strengthening the collection, especially during the first quarter of 2009, in a context it is true in favor of regulated savings," said Christian Noyer, governor of the Bank of France and President of the Observatory regulated savings. For the record, between August 2008 and February 2009, Book A reported 4% net of taxes!
Young people more attracted
In total, at the end of last year, the outstanding Blue Book A and amounted to 183.4 billion euros, up 11%.Of this amount, "153 billion euros have been collected by distributors historical (the Savings Bank, La Banque Postale and Crédit Mutuel) and 30.3 billion from other banks, which for them represents 18% collection, "said Christian Noyer. This proves that, contrary to what some feared, dealers history have resisted the opening to competition.
Disoriented by the chaotic stock market and uncertain economic climate, investors continue to place their savings passbooks regulated, however low returns.
Despite a slump in June, in the first six months of the year, collecting on the book A and book Sustainable Development (ex-Codevi) remained positive at 990 million euros. This trend should continue and even grow in the coming months.Generally, the higher rates in effect encouraged the French, always very reluctant to risk, to feed their booklets.
In late 2009, 42% of assets were placed on 4.3 million booklets only! In contrast, more than half of the accounts (30 million) were credited with less than 150 euros. Is it because the book A is held mostly by young people (usually minor)? Older people (over 65) it would generally prefer other types of investments, such as life insurance.
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The Livret A rate will be raised in August
"In Depth Life Insurance
The U.S. stock market should be reluctant to take on the leadership on Monday. The index futures are predicting a slight decline in opening of U.S. markets. The index futures Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq 100 fell back in effect respectively by 0.13% to 1099.50 points from 0.04% to 1873.10 points.
On Friday, the NYSE has ended sharply higher, buoyed by another round of quarterly results from U.S. companies of good quality and were reassured on the results of resistance testing in European banks. The Dow Jones gained 0.99% and the Nasdaq 1.05%. On the whole last week, the Dow Jones gained 3.23% and the Nasdaq rose 4.15%.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro steadied against the dollar. In the morning, it was worth 1.2901 dollars against 1.2906 dollars on Friday.
A busy week on the macroeconomic level.Today investors expect the sales figures for new housing. Another highlight, the U.S. central bank should publish its Beige Book Wednesday on the economic conditions. It will be very guarded while the president of the institution, Ben Bernanke said Wednesday before Congress the slow recovery, with no announcement of new funding in the economy.
On Tuesday, it is the Standard & Poor's / Case Schiller home prices and consumer confidence, which will be followed, before investors only look the next day on orders of durable goods. But it was the day Friday with the first estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) U.S. second quarter to be expected this week.This new burst of publications should be especially followed when investors are questioning again on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
U.S. companies are still likely to take stock in their accounts this week, including the program six companies forming part of Dow Jones. Tomorrow investors expect such figures CIT and Lockheed Martin and those sitting in the middle of DuPont.
To follow today the title of BP traded on Wall Street. The British press refers to a departure from the CEO of BP, before tomorrow, the date of publication of interim results of the oil giant.
Always on the side of values, General Electric said Friday its increased dividend of 20%, the quarterly dividend from 10 cents to 12 cents. GE also announced a resumption of its share repurchase programs.He had stopped this practice in September 2008. The board gave its approval for an additional $ 11.6 billion. "GE hopes to end the year with $ 25 billion in cash, including proceeds from the sale of a majority stake in its subsidiary NBC Universal to Comcast" say the analysts at Aurel BGC. Some of this money will be used to buy three billion dollars in preferred shares that the group has sold the holding company Berkshire Hathaway of Warren Buffett in October 2008.
Also note Friday night, the FDIC, the federal agency whose primary responsibility is to guarantee bank deposits, announced the bankruptcy of six new American banks, bringing to 102 the number of closing establishments since the beginning of year. These six failures will cost about 394 million dollars to its compensation fund the FDIC.
On the ground of appeal as that of growth, France is doing "less bad" than its main competitors. It is the belief of the French Agency for International Investment (AFII), which on Monday published its panel's attractiveness in 2010, in collaboration with the Center for Strategic Analysis (CAS), Treasury and Datar. While foreign direct investment last year saw a decline of 41% in developed countries, they have fallen "only" 35% in France.
The Hexagon's interest to maintain this advantage: the French subsidiaries of foreign groups provide more than 2.5 million jobs, 20% of R & D and almost 40% of these exports are linked to foreign establishments.And since 2007, when the crisis was suffering its effects, new investment decisions by foreign companies will be permitted to "maintain or create approximately 30,000 jobs" each year.
"Beware the gap between what the economic data and leave out the perception of foreign investors," said Monday David Appia, president of the AFII. This paper attempts to twist the particular blow to conventional wisdom: that France would not fiscally attractive to businesses. "People often think that taxation in France is a weak point but in reality the situation is more complex," said Director General of CAS, Vincent Chriqui bad credit pay day loans.It must be determined "globally", argue the AFII and CAS.
"Strong signals"
The tax can not be reduced to the corporate tax (IS). "The effective tax burden on enterprises in France is much lower than the nominal rate of the SI would suggest," says the report. It must also consider the tax base and exemptions. Ultimately, if we look at the revenue of the IS reported to EBITDA, "France is in a better position, with a tax rate of approximately 17% of profits." Dietary improvements reserved for impatriate removing the ceiling of the research tax credit – now "the strongest incentive to Europe" – and the removal of business tax on productive investments also "sent a strong signal towards investors foreigners.
More generally, France is ranked fifth in the world for business location costs (employment, installation, transportation, taxes, equipment and energy) and one in Europe, the document stresses the AFII, which compiles data and existing rankings, making comparisons between France and eleven other neighboring countries.
Often criticized by customers, the outsourcing of call centers to foreign countries is becoming a government priority. According to Le Parisien on Sunday, the record has been taken over by the Secretary of State for Employment Laurent Wauquiez. The latter is studying a plan of action to fight against the leakage of these jobs outside French territory.
To emphasize the installation of these centers in France, the Secretary of State may well introduce a surcharge "of calls from sites located abroad.Conversely, companies deciding to keep their call centers in France would receive the "nudges" as aid in recruitment, training, installation in rural areas or relief from social security contributions, believes Learn daily.
More transparency
Laurent Wauquiez would generally aim to "make practices more transparent" left to prepare "a list of poor performers. The fight against the relocation, however, looks very difficult. According to latest estimates, dating to 2008, the Union of professional contact center (SP2C), an employee of a call center Morocco is for example paid between 400 and 450 euros a month against a minimum of 1320 euro gross France (including bonuses and thirteenth month).The battle is also likely to face the refusal of the Commission in Brussels which could object to these tax measures.
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"The Post: public facing an unprecedented challenge, a necessary change." The title of the report of the Court of Auditors formally released Thursday speaks for itself. The government agency at a critical juncture. In debt and facing a collapse of its top market, mail, the Post will benefit from a capital increase of EUR 2.7 billion, provided by the State and the Caisse des depots. The two sides are negotiating the valuation of the company and hope to find common ground in late July.
In this context, the report of the Court was awaited. The sages of the Rue Cambon had already studied the Post in 2003.Returning to their audit work, they were able to measure the progress accomplished: modernization of industrial facilities, improved management of the company's … very positive developments, but that might not be sufficient "to deal deep and structural decline in the mail and opening the postal market on 1 January next competition within the Community. "
The dividends of La Banque Postale
To catch up, according to the Post Office should the Court's experts work on the cost of its network, delays in productivity and quality of its service. Especially as the company's management has adopted a strategic plan, "Ambition 2015", which assumptions are deemed voluntary by the Court. When The Post estimated the reduction in mail volumes between 2008 and 2015 to 30%, the Court suggested that he perform simulations starting with a scenario of a decline of 40%.
Jean-Paul Bailly, CEO of La Poste considers this as severe in 1 hour payday loans. For a leader, the company has shown, given the information available at the time of any possible reactivity to adapt to the collapse of mail. He recalled that in late 2007, "Nobody could anticipate the crisis" mail since, between 2003 and 2007, the total decline in traffic addressed had not exceeded 2.3%. Regarding the criticism on the quality of service, the CEO noted that the objectives set by the government have been exceeded in 2008 and 2009.
The banking subsidiary of La Poste, La Banque Postale, is also discussed. While the Court emphasized an increase in net banking income lower than expected, Jean-Paul Bailly emphasizes the exceptional resistance of La Banque Postale to the financial crisis.He returned to the strategy of developing new business banking (consumer finance, property and casualty …) partnerships. The choice "was in no way constrained by the priority given by the group to other investments."
It is a voluntary process that aims to accelerate the implementation of its services. In this regard, the Governor of the Bank of France in his own response to the report, asked the Post Office to ensure that its subsidiary "has the human skills and techniques required to address this market." The Governor also noted that the distribution rate of 45% of its income in the form of dividend proposed by the strategic plan of the Post Bank, would penalize a period "where capital must be strengthened."
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The Court of Auditors hairpin Post
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic
This is a first since early 2010. In the month of May, the French have spent more money on their livert A investor.
According to the Deposit and Consignment Office (CDC), withdrawals exceed deposits were $ 310 million. Net inflows (deposits less withdrawals) remains positive on the first five months of the year of 2.49 billion. In late May, are deposited on the Livret A, held by 50 million French people, amounted to 187.4 billion euros.
For its part, the booklet Sustainable Development (LDD) has seen its assets (deposits) to fall by 460 million euros in May
The rate of the Livret A, which is the same as LDD, is blocked since 1 August 2009 to 1.25%, the lowest level since its inception in 1818. However, it should be increased to 1.5% or 1.75% on 1 August, as announced by the Minister of Budget Baroin.
Even increased, the rate will remain below the 4% achieved two years ago.
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The Livret A rate will be raised in August
The British government announced austerity cure the biggest since the Second World War. The measures announced thus leave little room for surprise. On Tuesday before the Parliament, the finance minister George Osborne has announced that his government had a deficit of 1.1% in 2015-16 against 10.1% this year. This means that the deficit would increase from 149 billion pounds in 2010 to 20 billion in 2015/16.
To achieve this objective, the minister calls for reducing departmental running costs of 30 billion pounds per year by 2014-2015. The expenditure review will be presented to Parliament on 20 October. The salaries of public servants will be frozen for two years.Similarly, net borrowing of the state are scaled down to 149 billion pounds this year, six billion less than expected last week by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the new independent oversight body budget. The net borrowing should be reduced to 116 billion pounds in 2011-2012 to 89 billion in 2012-2013, then gradually to 20 billion in 2015-2016.
Among other measures announced: an increase in VAT, which will be increased to 20% from January 4, 2011, against 17.5% currently. "By the end of the mandate of the current Parliament, this measure alone will bring more than 13 billion pounds per year of additional revenue. This is 13 billion pounds that we will not find a reduction in spending or a tax increase on income, "he said. The tax on capital gains will also spend 18% to 28% from midnight.
The government also plans to raise the legal age of retirement at age 66. Similarly, a decline of social protection spending is projected to save 11 billion pounds by 4-5 years.
Tax on banks
In addition it will create a tax on banks apply from January next year to British and foreign institutions. This new tax will be calculated on the basis of the balance sheets of banks and mutual groups and British subsidiaries of foreign banks' local payday loans for self employed. "Once fully in place, we expect that the tax will generate more than two billion pounds of annual revenue," he said. The Alcohol, tobacco and fuel will not be taxed.
Changes are also in the agenda on taxes.George Osborne announces plans to cut one percentage point per year for four years the corporation tax to bring it to 24% against 28% currently. "This will give us the lowest rate of major Western economies and the lowest rate of G20," he added. Tax relief for 23 million taxpayers paying the lower tax bracket (20%) will be increased by £ 1,000 in April 2011, allowing them to save 170 pounds each. "The burden" will be "fairly shared", according to the minister.
Growth revised downwards
This budget "emergency", described as "inevitable", will impact on growth of the United Kingdom. The British economy should grow more slowly than expected due to fiscal consolidation. Growth in 2011 is revised downwards to 2.3% in 2011 against 2.6% expected by the OBR.But the minister provided an acceleration thereafter: 2.8% in 2012 and 2.9% in 2013.
"We are on track to reduce debt and achieve a structural budget balance by the end of this legislature, George Osborne promises.
Rejection of the Euro
George Osborne in the wake on Tuesday announced the dissolution of the service of his department who was assigned to work on a possible accession of the United Kingdom to the euro. "I can confirm that, as stated in the coalition agreement, this government will not adopt the euro during this Parliament.So I put away the Treasury Department responsible for preparing for the euro, "he told the House of Commons.
The new government combining conservative and liberal Democrats from the legislative elections of May 6, had promised in his coalition program that the United Kingdom does not adopt the euro and making no such move during the term.
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Discussed Tuesday by "government sources" quoted by AFP, the tax "special" on incomes over 11,000 euros per month to finance retirement, lived. If that threshold had been applied by household income, a couple of executives earning 5,500 euros each have been struck. A level consistent with the definition of "rich" François Hollande (PS) but remains visible in the middle class for Nicolas Sarkozy. The government is therefore seeking a way to help high incomes.
Among the possibilities is a slice of the additional income tax. This is part of decisions that must still be taken as setting the new age. "For the public finances, better go to 62 by 2018 (or extension by a quarter per year) to 63 years by 2030," argues a government source.Way to break in the speech? Response no later than Wednesday, with a press conference of Éric Woerth. The head of the state will not talk about retirement at this point.
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