Business & Financial News

Areva and Rhodia announced Tuesday their collaboration to form joint bids to develop and exploit deposits of uranium and mixed rare earths.

Ultimately, the agreement provides that the collaboration may take the form of technical audits and studies on joint deposits, joint venture or joint participation in mining projects led by Areva and others explain the two groups in a statement.

This collaboration is for the chemicals group Rhodia "a new stage in the policy of diversifying its commitment to secure access to land rare most popular," said Frederic Carencotte, industrial director of Rhodia Rare Earth Systems, said in the statement.

Areva, it will allow "access to new sources of uranium and to contribute to supplies of strategic metals such as Rhodia actors," explains Sebastian Montessus his part, director of mining specialist public nuclear .

China provides 97% of world supply of rare earths, a term that refers to the electromagnetic properties of 17 metals in high demand in advanced technologies such as hybrid and electric cars, renewable energy, electronics or weapons.

Beijing has cut export quotas by 40% in 2010, a move that has alarmed the buyers and business partners.

Antonio Fazio, former governor of the Bank of Italy, was sentenced Saturday to four years in prison for his illegal involvement in a takeover bid for Italian bank Banca Antonveneta in 2005.

Fazio, who led the Bank of Italy from 1993 to 2005, will also pay a fine of 1.5 million euros.

The Milan court ruled he was unlawfully intervened to support the takeover bid led by the Italian bank BPI, now a subsidiary of Banco Popolare on Antonveneta at the expense of a rival offer from Dutch bank ABN AMRO.

He was also charged with having exceeded his powers in a bid launched in 2005 also by Unipol Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL).

The dual banking scandal forced him to resign his governorship of the central bank in December 2005.

"I trust that I have always acted for the good and I am convinced that this sentence should be revised," he responded.

His lawyer, who called the sentence "unjust," said his side he would appeal, reports Italian news agency Ansa.

Gianpiero Fiorani, former CEO of BPI, has been sentenced him to twenty months imprisonment. Giovanni Consorte, former chairman of insurer Unipol, he was sentenced to a term of three years imprisonment and a fine of one million euros.

The main price index rose in April in Japan for the first time in over two years, even if the underlying prices and consumer prices have remained low in the wake of the earthquake that struck the country on March 11 .

The index "core" consumer prices was up 0.6% year last month, largely due to higher commodity prices and the abolition of allowances returned school.

This index, which includes oil prices, but excludes products with volatile prices such as fresh produce, should continue to grow because of the increase in crude prices.

Economists point out however, that Japan is not out of the deflationary spiral that began profit margins as consumers are always looking for cheaper products.

The total core-core ", which excludes prices of food and energy, which is comparable to the index of core inflation in the U.S., fell 0.1% on year in April after a 0.7% decline in March.

According to official figures, the number of jobseekers who do not work at all declined for the fourth consecutive month by 0.4%. It amounts to 2.669 million people. Total applicants including those with a reduced activity was also down 0.2% to 4.039 million.

Xavier Bertrand had already announced this morning, but official figures released this afternoon confirm the good news. The number of job seekers without work fell by 0.4% in April compared to the previous month to 2.669 million, and total applicants including those with a reduced activity was also down 0.2% to 4.039 million, announced Wednesday the Department of Employment

The Minister of Labour announced this Wednesday morning on RTL that unemployment would decline for the fourth consecutive month in April.

"The trend is downward.Unemployment will decline for the fourth consecutive month, this is good news, "asserted the minister.

"We had not known it since the beginning of 2008, that is to say, before the crisis, and if you add the trend for youth employment which is good, the use of frames which improves, overtime resume (…), we realize that we are trying to draw a crisis, "he was still glad.

Portugal and Ireland would be at risk of lowering their rating several notches sovereign default of Greece, plunging them into speculative grade, told Reuters the head of Moody's credit for the Europe-Middle East -Africa.

"A failure would be highly destabilizing and Greek would have implications for the creditworthiness of issuers across Europe," said Alastair Wilson during a telephone interview.

"This would lead to an even more polarized in terms of solvency and notes on (borrowing) in the euro zone sovereigns, the countries strongest maintaining very high marks and most fragile countries struggling to remain in investment grade ."

Alastair Wilson stressed that market attention would then turn to Lisbon and Dublin, who also sought the assistance of the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Asked if Portugal and Ireland were at risk of falling into speculative grade default of Greece, part of the rating agency said: "Potentially, yes (…) Should Greek to be lacking, it could potentially be a downgrade of several notches (transmitters) sovereigns most fragile. "

He added that Spain, Italy and Belgium would not be in the same case as Portugal and Ireland, but have to face significant pressure from the markets.

Alastair Wilson, however, refused to estimate the probability of default on debt Greek.

The Governor of the Bank of France Christian Noyer, a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank said Tuesday that restructuring the public debt of Greece would be the "horror scenario" and it was very likely that a lengthening of maturities of its loans is considered equivalent to a fault.

Mexico will formally nominate Agustin Carstens, Governor of the Mexican central bank, the branch of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Sunday the Ministry of Finance in a statement.

Aged 52, Agustin Carstens "has the capabilities and qualifications to lead an institution of the importance of the International Monetary Fund," can you read.

Governor of the Bank of Mexico since January 2010, the firm has been Deputy Managing Director of the IMF from 2003 to 2006.

The number two of the institution, John Lipsky, provides the transition to head the IMF after the resignation of Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of attempted rape by a U.S. court.

Nominations for his successor will be officially opened on Monday.

European leaders are working hard to agree on a name and a consensus candidate of the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde seems to stand out.

Some emerging countries have estimated that the custom to assign the post of IMF Managing Director to a European was no longer appropriate and that others should also have their chance.

In a joint statement, Australia and South Africa said on Sunday that only merit, not nationality, should be taken into account to choose a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said on Friday the largest annual loss ever recorded in Japan, excluding the financial sector, heavily hit by the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

In addition, the CEO of TEPCO, Masataka Shimizu, will resign, the company announced. He will be succeeded by Toshio Nishizawa. The president of TEPCO, Tsunehisa Katsuamata is kept in office.

The first group of community service in Asia posted a net loss of 1.250 billion yen for the year ended in March.The previous year had resulted in a profit of 133.8 billion yen (10.6 billion euros).

Tepco beat the record for the largest loss realized by a non-financial group in Japan, formerly owned by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 2002, with a loss of 835 billion yen.

The group has not issued a forecast for the current fiscal year ending March 2012 because of the difficulty in assessing the financial compensation he will be forced to pay victims of nuclear incidents.

Analysts estimate the amount of compensation to be between 25 and 130 billion dollars.

The results of TEPCO should suffer for several years the cost of the nuclear crisis Fukushima.

To raise funds, the group will proceed with the sale of 600 billion yen in assets.

The operator of a Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima-Daiichi, announced Friday it had decided to dismantle the first four reactors.

Since the nuclear disaster, the title TEPCO has lost more than 80% of its value. It closed up 2.51% Friday in Tokyo Stock Exchange before the publication of these results.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of sexual assault and attempted rape of a maid in a hotel in New York, resigned from his position as CEO of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"I deny with the strongest possible all the allegations against me," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn in his resignation letter, published by the IMF in a statement dated Wednesday, May 18

"I want to devote all my strength, all my time and my energy to prove my innocence," he says.

The IMF notes that it will soon be on the process of selecting a new CEO.The interim will be provided by the institution's number two, John Lipsky.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested before the poll favorite for the 2012 presidential election in France, headed the IMF since November 1, 2007.His term ran until autumn 2012.

Incarcerated in the jail since Monday's New York Rikers Island, Dominique Strauss-Kahn faced these days growing pressure to resign from office.

His estate was a key concern of many leaders who felt his position incompatible with the exercise of its function.

His lawyers will try Thursday to obtain his release on bail during a hearing in New York against the bail of one million dollars and his placement under house arrest 24 hours over 24 in Manhattan with a electronic bracelet.

At a preliminary hearing Monday, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was denied bail, the judge citing a flight risk.

According to court documents viewed by Reuters Wednesday, Strauss-Kahn has pledged to stay in New York if given a conditional release.

A popular jury will meet in closed session Friday in New York to decide on its possible referral to another jury, which this time would be appointed to try.

Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday reported a sharp reduction in its annual forecast, the manufacturer emphasizes investment to improve its services sector difficulties.

The impact of the earthquake in Japan and sluggish PC market would also affect the results of the American group for the remainder of the year.

The computer giant declined by over 9% in morning on Wall Street in a market down 1.1%.

The publication of the results has been advanced one day in order to dispel any uncertainty after an internal memo from its chief executive Leo Apotheker reporting a "challenging quarter".

The annual profit forecast was lowered to "at least five dollars per share," excluding special items, after a previous forecast of between "5.20 and 5.28 dollars."Predicting annual turnover is now between 129 and 130 billion dollars, against a range of 130 to 131.5 billion originally announced.

Leo Apotheker, CEO since September, wants to strengthen the result and dividends in developing the group's presence in some sectors such as cloud computing, which refers to the provision of services remotely without physical media and via Internet.

HP wants to expand into consulting and other services are most profitable, and less emphasis on lower-margin services, such as repairing computers, "said Leo Apotheker.

"We will manage our costs very carefully (…) including our labor costs", said Leo Apotheker."We want to create enough resources to develop our business."

However, he ruled out job cuts.

World number one computer, Hewlett-Packard has reported an increase in sales to 31.63 billion dollars for the second quarter of fiscal year began on November 1, representing an increase of 3% compared to the previous year. Analysts had forecast a turnover of 31.52 billion dollars.

Net income totaled $ 2.3 billion, or $ 1.05 per share, against 2.2 dollars, or 91 cents per share a year ago.

Excluding items, earnings per share were $ 1.24, or higher than the $ 1.21 expected by analysts.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), but also policy makers in the euro zone were assured on Sunday that the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF managing director, did not alter either the daily operation of the institution or to follow its missions.

Several hours after the indictment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn for sexual assault, attempted rape and kidnapping by prosecutors in New York, the IMF announced that John Lipsky, the number two of the institution, and acting to branch.

The spokesman said the IMF's John Lipsky, who said Thursday he would not seek renewal of his mandate ends in August, would organize a meeting with members of the IMF board to keep abreast of the latest developments.

"In accordance with the procedures of the IMF, John Lipsky, first deputy CEO becomes interim CEO while the CEO is not in Washington," said the spokesman, quoted in a statement.

Nemat Shafik, another deputy director general of the IMF, will visit the site of Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Eurogroup meeting scheduled Monday in Brussels, said the Washington-based institution.

Shortly before the release of the IMF, Wolfgang Schäuble, German Finance Minister, said that the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn would not affect the discussions on the "European Stability Programme of the meeting of finance ministers from the area euro Monday.

"The IMF is a great institution still able to function.There will be a replacement (Dominique Strauss-Kahn) at the Eurogroup meeting tomorrow, "he said before the IMF n'officialise the name of the substitute.

GREECE DETERMINED TO IMPLEMENT REFORMS

In Athens, a spokesman for the Greek government said the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has no bearing on the determination of Greece to implement austerity measures conditioning the Plan with the IMF and the European Union.

However, this charge could be due to delays in the short term because some had to attend meetings that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is rescinded, earlier said a senior Greek.

"The Greek government continues without interruption, to implement its program to overcome the crisis," said George Petalotis, spokesman for the Greek government, in a statement.

Greece will once again be under pressure from his peers in the euro zone on Monday to announce additional measures to clean up public finances, while it does not seem able to maintain track to reduce its deficits.

What is immediately at stake is the payment for Athens next month for the next tranche of 12 billion euros as part of an aid package of 110 billion developed by the IMF and the EU May 2010.

The absence of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the next days meetings dedicated to the debt crisis in the euro area would not likely affect the decision to pay or not this installment, which depends primarily on an assessment of the reforms undertaken by the Greece.

But beyond this installment, Athens is seeking an easing of 110 billion plan through a lengthening of the maturity of loans that are granted and a decrease in interest rates attached to these loans.

Such changes are always a political decision and not technical.

"This (arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn) will certainly be a source of some delays in the short term.Dominique Strauss-Kahn had a very good knowledge of the Greek situation, "said senior Greek already cited as the condition of anonymity.

"But that will not change the policy of the IMF for Greece. Greece will continue to implement its program."