Hot Economic News Releases

Coface, which announced Monday a further improvement in results due to the recovery of its performance in the insurance authorized by a decrease in claims and believes that its results any credibility to public offerings.

The credit insurer, 100% subsidiary of Natixis, the subject of strategic thinking since last February in BPCE, parent company of Natixis on his future within the banking group.

Commenting on the results of Coface published on Monday its chief executive, Jerome Cazes, said at a press conference that discussions had not been completed and that there was "no urgency".

However, he said "feel that the scenario of a public offerings in 2011 is gaining credibility with the results" the first half.

The credit insurer is considered unlikely scenario of recurrent growth under the policy followed by recovery in the United States and China and the dynamism of world trade, and expects a further improvement in claims in the second half.

"This situation (macroeconomic) can anticipate the second half a further improvement in claims, continued cost control and growth turned positive in its turnover," notes Jerome Cazes.

The company saw its second quarter results continued the recovery started in the last quarter of 2009, with operating income of 31 million euros after a loss of 76 million a year earlier and a positive result of 24 million in the first quarter of year.

PERFORMANCE ASSURANCE

Driven mainly by the insurance, which rebounded thanks to a decline in claims, despite a turnover fell 2% at constant rates to 303 million euros while the ratio claims fell to 59% in the second quarter, against 63% in the first.

Coface's objective is a loss ratio between 45% and 50% in the next 18 months as well as productivity gains three points per year.

Operating income from insurance activities has reached 31 million euros, against a loss of 126 million a year earlier and a positive result of 24 million in the first quarter of 2010.

In services, where sales fell 8% to 65 million euros, operating profit was halved to six million euros while in factoring it increased to 10 million EUR cons has a two million earlier, on sales up sharply (+21% to 29 million euros)

Net profit stood at 20 million euros, against a loss of 37 million a year earlier and a profit of 15 million in the first quarter.

Shareholders' equity improved to 1.311 million euros, signing up 21% from the end of 2009 and 11% from the end of 2007, before the outbreak of the financial crisis, mainly driven by the capital increase occurred at Natixis first quarter.

As part of its strategic plan 2010-2012, after which Coface is a net profit of 250 million euros, the group also wants to become a rating agency that specializes in financial firms.

In response to criticisms of credit insurance during the crisis, the company has introduced a free access to its insured ratings to their clients.

We knew the salaries of civil servants threatened by pension reform. But the government also plans to "freeze outright index point" of wages in the public service, which sets about 80% of salary for civil servants, understands the newspaper Les Echos. And until 2013.Wage negotiations, which open Friday could even jeopardize the 0.5% long planned for July 1.

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Secretary of State for Public Service, George Tron, has nevertheless delivered Tuesday, as pesonnel in favor of maintaining the increase July 1, which had been recorded during the last negotiations three years. "J 'I like Eric Woerth (Labour Minister), tend to think that when a commitment is made, it is good policy to keep it, "he said before adding that while" it is all not adjudicated "and that" several scenarios are considered.

In contrast, the gel appears to be non-negotiable for the period 2011-2013. "You can not ask a staff effort, just as all the French, and automatically catch the fly.The question of the contribution rate is not mentioned in salary discussions, this has nothing to do, "said the Secretary of State for Public Service for Echoes.

The pension reform provides for a gradual alignment of contributions from the public over the private, the rate should increase from 7.85% currently to 10.55% in 2020. An increase of 0.27% per year. Rising wages would be a way to limit or even maintenair purchasing power of public servants.Meanwhile, these leaks could fuel the action on Thursday against government plans, whose intensity could influence the final decision.

According to Les Echos, it could attempt to sweeten the pill by putting forward measures and targeted wage clause "good fortune" that would revert to freeze possible if growth better than expected.

Tuesday afternoon, the Labour Minister Eric Woerth has sought reassurance by stating that the state "will not decrease the salary of civil servants". He added: "The remuneration of an employee, not only point to the index, because they always say, X%. This is the point index," but " there is a second part of the remuneration that is the evolution of employee remuneration in a grid. It is about 2% per year, average increase of purchasing power, "he said.

If freezing point index, "the purchasing power of employees fall by nearly 7% in three years" because of the risks of higher inflation, responded Jean-Marc Canon, Secretary General CGT officials.

American International Group (AIG) publishes quarterly results better than expected and announced that he had initiated discussions to be free from state control.

The U.S. insurer, owned nearly 80% by the state since his emergency rescue in September 2008, published for the second quarter a net loss of 2.7 billion dollars (2.05 billion euros) or $ 3.96 per share, against a profit of $ 1.8 billion ($ 2.3 per share) over the corresponding period last year.

The loss resulted primarily from an impairment charge of $ 3.3 billion.

Adjusted data, AIG reports a profit of 1.3 billion dollars ($ 1.99 per share), against 1.1 billion dollar ($ 1.71 per share) a year earlier.

"The situation is quite stable," said Bill Bergman, an analyst at Morningstar. "Stabilization does not mean growth or strong growth, but it seems to take this path."

The panel also said he began talking with the New York Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and directors of AIG Credit Facility Trust on a strategy to "enable the State to break its relationship with AIG owner" .

BOND EXCHANGE OF TITLE

On Wall Street, AIG earned under 5.2%, to 41.98 dollars around 1400 GMT, while the Dow Jones index yielded 0.2%.Since the beginning of the action took 33% while the S & P's insurance sector grew by only 7%.

The general insurance business of AIG, Chartis, posted an operating profit of $ 955 million before taking into account net realized capital gains, cons generated one billion dollars a year earlier.

Chartis had to record $ 287 million of losses from catastrophes in the quarter, including that relating to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"There are a result of major operational and stable in general insurance business," said Bill Bergman.

SunAmerica Financial Group, a division of AIG specializes in retirement services and life insurance, for its part, recorded an operating income excluding net realized capital gains of $ 1.1 billion, against 254 million generated a year earlier.

"The results of operations of the insurance company remains strong and continues to implement its restructuring plans and to prepare its separation from the U.S. government," said AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche .

The latter looks to the future with AIG SunAmerica and Chartis the heart of its business.

The Life business group have generated earnings before taxes of $ 604 million while $ 314 million a year earlier.

American International Assurance (AIA), which should be introduced on the stock exchange after its failed sale to Prudential, has made the most of this result, through its investments.

AIG Financial Products, a subsidiary of derivative origin of the troubles the group in 2008, reduced the notional amount of derivatives in its portfolio of approximately 602.4 billion dollars at June 30, down 36% compared the end of 2009.

Boeing released a quarterly earnings above expectations but down from last year due to lower deliveries of aircraft.

The U.S. group, world number two sector behind Airbus (EADS) has achieved in second quarter net earnings of $ 787 million, or $ 1.06 per share, against 998 million ($ 1.41 per share) a year earlier.

Financial analysts had expected a profit of $ 1.01 per share according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

The quarterly revenue fell 9% year on year to 15.6 billion dollars.

Sales of the division of civil aviation has dropped 12% to $ 7.4 billion aircraft deliveries declined by 9%.Boeing Commercial Airplaines recorded 88 orders for the quarter and 20 cancellations.

The backlog stood at 3,304 civil aircraft late June, for a value of 252 billion dollars.

The turnover of the defense business has declined in parallel from 8% to $ 8 billion, mainly due to lower volumes in the Network & Space Systems branch.

Net sales of Boeing Capital has dropped 3% to 162 million.

Weak retail sales in France since the beginning of the year raises concerns for household consumption, but without calling into question the prospect of a mild acceleration of growth in the second quarter.

INSEE said on Friday down 1.4% of household spending on manufactured goods in June after an increase (revised) 0.6% in May, which was only the second of the year.

Throughout the second quarter, they fell 0.9% after falling 1.9% in January-March.

Purchases of manufactured goods only represent about a fifth of consumer spending on goods and services, including food, a statistic that is much less volatile and released only on a quarterly basis.

Household consumption has stagnated in the first quarter and is still waiting INSEE stalled in second quarter net sales to be known on August 13 during the initial results of the national accounts.

Some economists, like Dominique Barbet from BNP Paribas, now does not preclude a decline in household consumption, which would be a first since the second quarter of 2008.

But, he says, the strength of industrial production and exports expected to "save" the growth in the second quarter, it expects to 0.4% or 0.5% after the meager 0.1% the first three months of the year.

"That said, the outlook is still quite weak and not with this level of consumption we can expect 1.5 to 2.0% growth per year," he adds.

Bercy, it remains serene by estimating it would take a 0.3% or more of household consumption to speak stall."Nothing like on the radar", make sure there in the entourage of the Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde.

CONCERN FOR THE FUTURE

Regarding industrial production, it was not until August 10 to hear the numbers of the second quarter, but May's increase (+1.7% and +0.5% for the only manufacturing) was a good omen.

Already, the quarterly business survey released Friday by INSEE showed that the request to industry has made significant progress on these three months, but prospects are less favorable then.

"We had a sort of dichotomy between demand indicators that are not extraordinary, except perhaps for export, and offer those who are supported, as shown by surveys from INSEE" observes Dominique Barbet

He added: "The concern is more for the future."

Nick Kojucharov, Europe economist at Goldman Sachs, the link between low spending on manufactured goods and consumer confidence, which has faltered significantly since the beginning of the year.

"That does not mean that the recovery derailed in France – surveys and industrial production are trending up – but that French consumers, who strongly supported the request at the beginning of the recovery, now is the key" says he.

Down nine points since January, the consumer confidence indicator calculated by INSEE has stabilized at -39 in July, its lowest level since May 2009.

The decline in household spending in June is in large part to the launch late summer sales, June 30 instead of June 25 in 2009.

This contemplates an upward correction in July, but only temporarily according to economists.And anyway, "the fact that consumers have stopped buying clothes from three months to wait for the summer sales is not really what we might call a positive signal to private consumption, observes Olivier Gasnier of Societe Generale.

The high level of unemployment, worries about tax and the evolution of the purchasing power of households should continue to curb consumption, he adds.

If the support of replenishment orders and exports fades at the same time, the prospect of slower growth in the third quarter will be inevitable, confirming the slow recovery.

In its last forecast in June, Insee expecting 0.4% growth in the third and fourth quarter, after +0.5% in April-June, a pace sufficient to meet the government target of 1.4% on year.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) intends to increase its lending capacity of 750-1000 billion dollars to prevent future financial crises, the Financial Times.

The organization wishes to enter into agreements to advance on a case by case basis with member states, rather than offering loans under certain conditions, the newspaper said without citing sources.

"Even during periods of crisis, a large fund that can take massive can help prevent crises," explained Dominique Strauss Kahn, IMF managing director, in the columns of the Sunday edition of the FT.

"The fact that the decreasing financial role does not mean we can do without a big fire power (…) A fund of 1.000 billion is a wise prediction," he says.

South Korea, which currently chairs the G20 group, hopes to convince its partners to approve the draft at the next summit of the organization, to be held in November in Seoul, says the author of the article.

Industrial production increased in the U.S. in June, against all expectations, above-normal seasonal temperatures have boosted the use of air conditioning and therefore the production of electricity, official statistics show the Federal Reserve.

Production was up 0.1% in June while economists and analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average decline of 0.1%.

The May figure was confirmed at 1.3%.

For the second quarter as a whole, industrial production has emerged up 6.6% yoy, lower than the 7.0% increase recorded during the first three months of the year.

The production sector of utilities rose 2.7%, higher than the Fed said the sharp rise in the use of air conditioning.

Manufacturing output fell for its 0.4%.

The utilization of production capacity has remained stable at 74.1%, but remains below 6.5 points to its average over the period 1972-2009.

The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring these statistics to assess the possible inflationary pressures, which could affect its monetary policy.

U.S. stocks finished higher on Thursday for the third consecutive session after the publication of employment data found reassuring.

The Dow Jones gained 1.2% or 120.71 points to 10,138.99 points, while the Standard & Poor's 500 took 9.98 or 0.94% points to 1070.25 points.

The Nasdaq Composite Index has advanced by 0.74% or 15.93 points to 2175.40 points.

The weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell 21,000 last week to the United States, more than expected, which has momentarily quieted concerns about a possible slowdown in U.S. economy.

Prices were also supported by the major U.S. retail chains that have posted good sales in the month of June JC Penney Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch were awarded 6.7% to 23.24% and 7.75 dollars to 35.45 dollars.

Costco Wholesale has gained 2.62% to 55.71 dollars. The number one warehouse stores reported an increase of 4% of its turnover store, which has been slightly below market expectations.

Side decreases, the values of semiconductors have been some profit taking.

"It is a context of nervousness.The investors are not eager to jump feet first into the market, "said Scott Marcouiller specialist at Wells Fargo shares Advisors in St. Louis.

Micron Technology has come a decline of 2.3% to $ 8.69. Index PHLX Semiconductor sold 0.1% after gaining over 5% Wednesday.

Apple has sold 0.2% to $ 258.09 and Intel 0.2% to 258.09 dollars also.

The European aerospace group EADS expects its sales in 2010 could be higher than expected due to the decline of the euro on foreign exchange markets, as its chief financial officer.

In an interview published in the Financial Times Deutschland, Hans Peter Ring said that the coverage measures taken by the exchange company will have an impact on revenue projections from 2012.

"But it seems that this will be different about our income because we have more volatility. Therefore, our revenues could be better than what was previously expected," he said.

In its projections for 2010, EADS expects stable results over the previous year based on an exchange rate of $ 1.40 per euro.The single European currency fell back to about $ 1.20.

In the long term, said Sunday the chairman of the board of EADS Bodo Übber in the Welt am Sonntag, a weak euro is favorable to the company as it produces in the euro area (and therefore pays a large portion of its costs euro) and its sales are mainly denominated in dollars.