For Gap, the trading session which opens at the New York Stock Exchange will be very difficult. The clothing giant tumbles 17% in opening bell on Wall Street Friday. Gap said Thursday after the close that its annual results would be "significantly" worse than expected with a first quarter reported net income 23% lower than a year ago (233 million U.S. dollars) particularly impacted by the disaster on March 11 in Japan, the year already seems wrong party.
For the remainder of the year, Gap's performance will mainly be sealed by far outweigh the cost estimates on which was based management. "The group now expects that production costs per unit are 20% more expensive than anticipated in the second half of this year," said Glenn Murphy, the owner of Gap, in a statement.And even the price increases passed on its products will not help. Thus the net profit per share forecast for 2011 is now between 1.40 and 1.50 dollars, 1.88 to 1.93 against dollar before.
The cost increase is attributable to that in cotton. Pound of cotton surpassed the dollar in September (+65% in total over the year 2010) and continues its surge in currently trading at $ 1.60, amid global demand is not falling face a production which has been beset by bad weather.
The profit warning, issued by one of the largest textile groups in the world should thrill the sector as a whole. Especially as other major brands like H & M, struggling not to pass on these higher charges on their prices.The impact could be even heavier.
Change of course at the Gap
In early May, the art, warmth director Patrick Robinson, 42, joined Gap. Whoever was working since May 2007 to provide the Californian label image sharper mode has been replaced by Jennifer Giangualano, senior vice president of design and infant child, who resumed the post in the interim. Or comparable to the "fast fashion" or the lucrative "second line", the world of jeans and, overall, the casualwear is in perpetual motion.
The arrival of Abercrombie & Fitch on the Champs Elysees yesterday in the form Theyskens Theory as the media and commercial success of the Japanese behemoth Uniqlo but also more trendy labels like J Brand or Acne … forced to revise its Gap Design course but especially its strategy and positioning.
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Renault will probably not expected to start full-scale experiment one hundred electric vehicles in such a climate of tension. But the real false espionage case was Thursday in every mind. The scandal "has not changed the electric vehicle program. Between what is said today and what we said six months ago, it has not changed our marketing plan for a single day, "was keen to stress Koskas Thierry, the owner of this activity Renault. His former assistant, Matthew Tenenbaum is one of three group executives wrongfully dismissed for industrial espionage.
The kickoff of this project called Save and targeted at Yvelines, near Paris, is an important step for the automaker, at 6 months of marketing its first cars running abreast.Renault is to launch Fluence sedan and minivan Kangoo electric version in the fall of 2011. The quadricycle Twizy is scheduled for the end of the year. Finally, Zoe, flagship of the range vehicle, is scheduled for fall 2012. Renault and its ally Nissan invested $ 4 billion on power.
Test behavior
Save the project but started a little late since it had originally, start at the beginning of the year. It will run until July 2012. Forty clients will test the vehicles. Mainly businesses – such as Carrefour, France Telecom or Otis – and communities.The first cars were delivered: the prototypes of Renault Kangoo and electric Fluence, and Nissan Leaf (sold in France this summer).
"The goal is to study driver behavior (their mode of conduct, the frequency of refills) and its impact on the autonomy of the vehicles, but also to test our after-sales services, that is to say our ability to repair an electric vehicle incident, "said Bernard Cambier, commercial director of Renault France. Firefighters in the region have also been trained to work on damaged cars without fear of electrocution.
More than 200 charging points are being deployed. Renault has teamed up with EDF, Schneider Electric (for the provision of terminals) and Total, which will place two terminals fast charge (30 minutes) in its service stations.This experiment, amounting to 23 million euros, is financed by the Ile-de-France, ADEME (Agency for Environment and Energy Management) and the General Council of Yvelines. The initial feedback is expected within two months.
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Affected by the crisis of the disc labels would they even dream? Two months after the sale of Warner Music Edgar Bronfman Jr., the prospective takeover of the major U.S. seem to shake the door of the bank Goldman Sachs.
Live Nation, the giant concert organization, claiming to be the last time, revealed the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post on Friday. It is well to mark the seventh interest in Warner, after BMG Music Publishing, Sony, the investment fund of billionaire Poju Zabludowicz Tamaris, the fund's billionaire Russian-American Len Blavatnik, the fund Yucaipa Ron Burkle, Platinum Equity or Permira.
But Live Nation has very different interests of the latter.While it is primarily the catalog of Warner Chappell, and revenue from the exploitation of rights, which attracted investors such as BMG, Turner lurks on the production activity of the recorded music major.
The latter would, in effect, expand Live Nation offer, which already covers much of the music profession. Organizer of 20,000 concerts a year, Live Nation has gained a foothold in the ticket purchasing Ticketmaster last year. The group also controls the company Front Line, which specializes in artist management. Live Nation has, moreover, of working in merchandising and merchandising online payday loans. Finally, via Live Nation Network, Turner also holds agreements between brands and artists.
Sales erode
All these activities play an increasing role in the artists' income, while sales of recorded music are being eroded.The acquisition of Warner Music at Live Nation would get their hands on the activity of recorded music. Less profitable, it remains a precondition to sell tickets for concerts, tours, T-shirts and management contracts. But the operation could thus face a denial of competition authorities. The shareholders of Warner Music could therefore be tempted by an offer of a simple competitive standpoint.
Another uncertainty, the financial position of Live Nation. The group posted a record loss of $ 228 million in 2010. The group has 165 million of free cash flow. According to the Financial Times, Live Nation could lean group Liberty Media, which owns 20% of Live Nation, to submit an offer.
All activities Warner (production and editing) is now valued at between 2.2 and 2.5 billion dollars.A price likely to decline while the major EMI, fell into the hands of his creditor, the bank Citigroup, should be placed on the market soon.
Portugal is in deepening crisis. A few hours apart, rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor's (S & P) lowered the rating of the sovereign debt of Portugal two notches because of "heightened political uncertainty" following the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates. S & P added that it could cut another notch note of Portugal, according to the result of discussions between EU leaders, meeting Thursday and Friday summit in Brussels.
Thus, Europe has the means to fly to the rescue of Lisbon. Leaders Unuion (EU) have in effect endorsed on the night of Thursday to Friday a comprehensive system of protection against debt crises. After several months of negotiations, "the various elements of the project came together today," said EU president, Herman Van Rompuy.As expected, the actual capacity of the Fund's lending support to countries in the Eurozone in trouble is brought from 250 to 440 billion euros. States had already agreed on the creation of a permanent fund with a lending capacity of 500 billion euros. To achieve this, it is expected that the euro zone countries pay from mid-2013 some 80 billion euro capital injection.
Merkel gets concessions
Also, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made Thursday night in Brussels spreading in time of national contributions of 22 billion euros in total, for the year 2013 will be her year of election and intends to relieve public finances. States pay their dues in five equal installments beginning in 2013. The remaining resources of the Facility will consist of guarantees and capital said to be eligible.Also new: the Relief Fund will directly purchase government debt states in difficulty, in exchange for a strict savings. The support mechanism is a priority for the countries of the monetary union. But it is also open to EU countries not members of the area euro.A this stage, only five of them accepted the invitation: Denmark, Romania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania.
Twenty-seven and are particularly supportive screw via Lisbon "Portugal will not be left alone by other Europeans," said Jean-Claude Juncker, a leading finance ministers of the euro area. If Lisbon on request, with 75 billion euros could be assigned. For comparison, Greece had received a loan of 110 billion and Ireland to 85 billion euros.But for now, Portugal, deprived of government, is unable to seek help from Europe.
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McDonald's has more than 32,000 restaurants in 120 countries around the world, serves over 60 million meals a day and employs 1.6 million people. According to recent estimates, McDonald's opens a new restaurant every three hours, two-thirds were born outside the United States.
In 1955 McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. The concept worked so well that he started in 1967 exported to Canada and Puerto Rico. From 1988 to today, the company opened 80 new markets, more than 5 per year. In 1994 the big "M" was installed in more countries: 9! What makes some people say that the sun never sets on the McDonald's empire.
However, throughout its history, McDonald's has failed in one country. In late October 2009, the last restaurant closed in Iceland (the first was out of the ground in 1993).Not that the Icelanders did not appreciate its menus. On the contrary, but the business was not profitable because of the collapse of the Icelandic krona, which has weighed on prices of imports of potatoes, packaging, meat, vegetables and cheese.
Among the "stories" shock of McDonald's, we can see that it is Moscow that is the restaurant – 27 cases – the busiest in the world, with 40,000 customers a day guaranteed fast personal loans. So when the first McDrive opened in Kuwait City in 1994, there was a queue of 12 kilometers.
China, El Dorado McDonalds
China and its 1.4 billion people are dreaming Mc Donald's, intending one day to match its U.S. density, namely a restaurant per 20,000 inhabitants. In China, it would make 70,000 restaurants. For now, there are 70 times less.But McDonald's is growing there at a phenomenal rate.
Demonstrate its commitment to China, McDonald's issued in August last oblilgations denominated in yuan. A first for a non-financial corporation whose headquarters is not based in Hong Kong. The amount of the issue is not very high (30 million), but the operation is highly symbolic.
By focusing on a currency destined to become a reserve currency, McDonald's hopes to raise up funds to enable it to open between 150 and 175 restaurants in China per year. Already, sales of the brand in the Middle Kingdom are rising, as evidenced by the increase of 10.1% of its turnover in the country in July year on year.
The recipe for success
McWedding in Hong Kong. Photo credits: localhost / localhost
The Courdi accounts furnish his report Friday on the Franco-German tax convergence. According to our information, this report concludes that there is some leeway in France for the VAT hike, but they should be used as part of a major tax reform. He advocated focusing instead on business taxation in order to align the two countries 100% free credit score.
The Court would consider in the future produce a joint report with the Germans focused on corporate taxation. This time it was a true co-relation. The report was issued Friday, he, been realized only by the French Cour des Comptes, which relied on the help of German authorities.
"Our French partners play a key role in the B787 Dreamliner program. They met our criteria with a quality level of 99.89%, slightly above the average of our other suppliers, and a degree of reliability in deliveries of 97%. " Stan Deal, the director responsible for "supply chain" of Boeing Commercial Aviation (BCA), proves the benefits of praise for French equipment. It plans to expand this partnership on other upcoming programs by bringing up six new partners alongside the 14 companies that form the "Glossary Boeing team."
For over thirty years, France's relationship with Boeing has focused on engines via joint venture between General Electric and Snecma (Safran group) that is, with the CFM-56, the sole supplier of engines of the B 737.The French suppliers have benefited the general strategic shift made by Boeing in the early 2000s. The manufacturer changed the industrial model, is focusing on design and assembly. He decided to outsource parts of its business by reducing the number of first-tier suppliers. "They were 200 for the 777 program in the 1990s and are 18 for 787," said Stan Deal.
23,000 direct and indirect jobs
In 2005, the Boeing team Glossary is created to provide the 787 with 7 players, Messier Dowty and Messier Bugatti, Thales, Dassault Systems, Labinal, Zodiac, and Liebherr Aerospace. Today they are 14 in total, with their own subcontractors, it is a hundred French companies with 23,000 direct and indirect jobs as part of Boeing's supply chain. An ecosystem which has 5400 factories with their 505,000 employees worldwide."The B 787 851 copies of which were ordered by airlines to date will generate annual sales of $ 4.325 billion in France or 9.6% of sales of French aeronautics," said Yves Galland France and president of Boeing Boeing initiated the French team.
Passenger doors, seats, emergency systems, software, computer design, brakes, tires, equipment cabin or flight simulators and cockpit (Thales) … the French are installed aboard the 787.
The volume of business conducted in France by Boeing is expected to grow. Already strong position on the B787 program, the French won new contracts in other programs over the past year. Of these, Messier Bugatti was selected to provide carbon brakes of the modernized version of the B737 in 2011.
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Lafarge posted mixed results. The building materials group unveiled a lower than expected decline in net income in the third quarter. Conversely, the operating income is below expectations.
The world's leading cement has made the quarter a net operating profit fell 2% to 839 million euros, where analysts expected on average 873 million. A rising cost of inputs and contract volumes have infringed the group's results.
Sales meet expectations
Net income, group share, has meanwhile declined by 8% to 372 million euros against 366 million for the professionals. As for revenues, it amounted to 4.5 billion euros, up 6% thanks to favorable currency effects. This figure is in line with consensus analyst expectations."The trends have improved in most developed countries in the third quarter, emerging markets have remained strong, despite lower volumes on some of them, and Central and Eastern Europe showed the first signs of improvement since mid-2008, "the company said in a media presentation.
In addition, Lafarge "maintains its forecast for global growth of its markets" and provides "a cement demand in its markets between -1 and +3% in 2010 compared to 2009."The group chaired by Bruno Lafont said that "given the changes in supply and demand, the outlook for the volume group may deviate from the trends in local markets in some countries" but that "prices should remain firm throughout the year, despite declines in some markets. "
In early trading, traders awarded the title that folds up nearly 2% where the CAC 40 0.3% ahead of him. It must be said that the markets were betting on the announcement of good news, reflected the recent rise in the stock by almost 10% in a week later, it is true, a decline of nearly 22% since the beginning of the year .
Deutsche Bank moves ahead of the competition. While regulators meeting in Basel (Switzerland), this Sunday, have tightened their requirements for capital, the first German bank will increase its capital by at least 9.8 billion euros. Objective? Redeem the 70% stake in Deutsche Postbank lacks. In a statement, Deutsche Bank announced it will offer between 24 and 25 euros per share.
The German bank will reduce its dependence on investment banking activity, as recommended by the Basel Committee III. For this, Deutsche Bank plans to issue 308.6 million common shares at a price of 31.8 euros.The stock closed Friday at 47.70 euros, after losing about 5%, after the information from this capital increase was filtered.
The largest capital increase, Deutsche Bank
To consolidate this year Postbank, Deutsche Bank says it will reassess its current shareholding of 29.95%, which will incur a charge of 2.4 billion euros in the third quarter guaranteed personal loan approval. The bank also will conduct a repurchase of 3.1 million shares at the September 13 to September 16.
This capital increase is the largest that ever operated Deutsche Bank, and perhaps the biggest made in Germany since the 11 billion euros from Deutsche Telekom in 1999, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Last Monday, the German bank had revealed that the ten largest German banks, including Deutsche Bank, will raise 105 billion euros to meet the requirements of the new measures of solvency.
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In Brussels
A week after the breakthrough achieved on supervision, Europe barely move on the financial tax. If the principle of a levy on banks seems established, the idea of a levy on financial transactions – or Tobin tax – continues to raise doubts.
Proponents of the idea of taxing financial transactions, Germany and France have once again found Tuesday lack of consensus on the subject with their partners. "It's technically feasible, practically difficult, politically and financially desirable random," Christine Lagarde summarized the outcome of a meeting of finance ministers of the Twenty-Seven, in Brussels.Lagarde and her German counterpart Wolfgang Schauble, had written in July to the Belgian Presidency of the European Union to put the idea on the carpet, after the collapse of talks on the subject during the last G20 Toronto in June
Relocation outside Europe
Austria Tuesday reiterated his support for this initiative. Others were less enthusiastic. "We do not want new taxes on transactions," he assured the Swede Anders Borg. "This could be detrimental to revenue," he added, while expressing concern over a possible relocation of financial activities outside Europe.Sweden speaks knowingly to have been the unfortunate experience of a tax on financial transactions in the 1980s, established unilaterally and that caused a leak of the undertakings concerned payday loans.
In more measured terms, the Spanish Finance Minister, Elena Salgado, has also expressed its doubts on the subject, because of "great practical difficulties of implementation. The Commission itself has expressed reservations on the "feasibility" of this tax, in a preparatory document for Ecofin.
Coping is common but essential if France wants to bring this matter again when it takes the head of the G20, in November, and persuade the United States, Canada and China.In August, Nicolas Sarkozy had set ambitious goals for the presidency of the G20, by announcing three major projects (regulation of the commodity market, exchange market reform and global governance).
The tax credit is a subject more consensual, Europeans are agreed on the principle in the spring. But, again, differences remain on how and disposition of proceeds from this tax. France in particular refuses he is assigned to a resolution fund and requests that the proceeds go directly to the state budget.
The Commission, meanwhile, has made proposals on modalities, by requiring that the basis used is "the liabilities of the institution of deposits and capital, and that the fee be imposed by each Member State on institutions it supervises and its subsidiaries operating abroad.
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