The U.S. utility Constellation Energy has reported a quarterly loss Friday in largely attributable to the depreciation of assets caused by the agreement reached with EDF.
Under the terms of an agreement announced by both companies on Tuesday night, EDF will acquire 50% stake in their joint venture of Constellation UniStar for 140 million dollars (101 million).
In part-cons, the American group has declined to exercise an option dating from 2008 which would have allowed him to sell to EDF power plants for a price of up to two billion dollars, while their value has declined since.
Constellation, which owns the group of utilities Baltimore Gas & Electric, reported a loss of $ 1.4 billion, $ 6.99 per share, against a profit of $ 138 million, 69 cents share, a year earlier.
Excluding the charge related to settlement of the dispute that pitted the French group, Constellation said it earned 48 cents per share, less than the 64 expected by the Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S.
France and Kazakhstan signed on Wednesday to two billion euros in contracts during a Paris visit of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, announced the French presidency.
The main door on the assembly and delivery to the railways of this country of 295 electric freight locomotives and passenger Alstom, through its joint venture with Russia's TMH, for 1.6 billion euros, says the Elysee.
Alstom's share is 800 million euros, according to Philippe Mellier, President of Alstom Transport.
Two other contracts signed at the Elysee carry on building an assembly plant nuclear fuel in Kazakhstan by Areva and the acquisition by the Ministry of Defense of this country, for 300 million euros, 45 helicopters EC145 manufactured by Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, the Elysee said.
A fourth contract, of 100 million euros, was signed earlier by Astrium, another subsidiary of EADS, for the construction in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, a center of integration and testing of satellites.
The signing of these contracts materialize the strategic partnership treaty signed by France and Kazakhstan during a visit of Nicolas Sarkozy in Astana in October 2009 and came into force on 1 July 2010, stressed the French president's entourage.
"It's really a breakthrough," Nursultan Nazarbayev said after a working lunch with Nicolas Sarkozy.
In a joint statement, France and the former Soviet republic said they found "a convergence of views on the priorities of French presidency of the G20, which take effect from 12 November.
This convergence is especially the need to regulate the prices of raw materials and reform the international monetary system, "says the document.
Both countries are in favor of engagement, "as soon as possible," a negotiation on a future enhanced partnership agreement between the EU and Kazakhstan, to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation.
Astana will host the 1st and 2nd December summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in which Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to participate.
LVMH said Monday that it had complied strictly with the regulations in force when he entered the capital of Hermes, a transaction for which the rules of transparency in the financial markets authority has been circumvented, believes his side the Association of Minority Shareholders (ADAM).
LVMH announced Saturday it had acquired the participation of Hermes at an average price of 80.5 euros per share, a level below which the title did not come down since March 2009.
The difference with the current course, which is over 200 euros per share, according to many observers, that LVMH has launched this operation for several years in advance masked.
"There really is a circumvention of transparency that must be addressed at the regulator to try to plug the holes of regulation," he told Reuters on Monday the president of ADAM, Colette Neuville.
"It is useless to have a regulation on crossings (threshold) where you can easily switch to side," she added.
In a statement released in the afternoon, the group LVMH has indicated "that he has complied strictly with the French securities regulation in particular as regards the rules relating to disclosure thresholds.
He added that he would transmit to the AMF within the statutory information required by law.
FIRST TWO LINES TO 5% AND 10%
A spokeswoman for the AMF said on his part that the MFA would work to ensure that regulation has been well respected on purchases of Hermes by LVMH.
The French securities regulation requires investors to inform the market once they have crossed the threshold of 5% of the capital or voting rights in a listed company and each new important threshold.
It also obliges them to clarify their intentions from a second threshold, set at 10%.
Several technical exchanges, however, can allow an investor to purchase options or to shift holdings by intermediaries for failing to declare the crossing point at the MFA.
The Deputy Director General of Hermes told Reuters on Monday that his group had been warned by LVMH of its entry into the capital an hour before the publication of his statement.
The internal regulations of Hermes asks investors to take informed the group at each crossing a threshold of 0.5% of its capital.
The automaker Honda announced Friday it would carry out preventive recall of 528,000 vehicles worldwide due to a problem with the braking system.
Most vehicles are concerned Odyssey minivans sold in the United States. But the recall also covers Acura RL sedans sold worldwide.
The reasons for this decision are identical to the recall, announced Thursday by Toyota, 1.5 million vehicles. Both builders use the same supplier for the manufacture of items in their braking systems.
Honda says that a defect in the master cylinder could cause brake fluid leakage.No accidents have been reported yet.
The automaker said its buyers will be informed in the coming months. It is recommended to visit their dealer immediately if the LED brake lights on the dashboard of their car.
Michelin announced Thursday it had completed its capital increase of EUR 1.2 billion which was oversubscribed by 98% by investors.
The French group, world leader in the tire with the Japanese Bridgestone said in a statement that the final gross of his appeal to the market totaled 1.222 billion euros, corresponding to the creation of just over 27 million new shares.
Michelin also says that the settlement of the new shares will take place October 25.
On 28 September the group had launched a capital increase to fund major investments to meet demand from emerging countries in coming years.
Indeed, it intends to raise its annual 1.6 billion euros on average in 2011 against 1.2 billion previously.
At the Paris Bourse, the Michelin share closed on Thursday before the announcement of its capital increase, to 59.47 euros, up 1.75%, giving a market capitalization of 8.88 billion euros.
Mazda Motor has no plans other partnerships forged with the exception of Ford, said Wednesday the Japanese automaker's chief executive when news reports have mentioned the willingness of the American group to sell its stake.
"We have an agreement on the continuation of our strategic partnership with Ford.For this reason, we do not form alliances with other companies as Ford, "said Takashi Yamanouchi, at a press conference.
"Anyway, we think it is important to maintain the Mazda brand," he said.
Sources told Reuters this weekend that Ford was considering reducing its stake in Mazda strongly, reducing it from 11% to 3% at least, the American manufacturer trying to distance himself with his Japanese counterpart.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added that the house Sumitomo Corp. and other business partners Mazda had begun discussions to buy the shares offered for sale by Ford.
A final decision on the sale is expected by the end of the year, "said the source.
Mazda and Ford both had denied an impending sale of the essential participation in the first second.
France began to dip into its oil stocks to compensate for disruptions in fuel supplies caused by strikes at refineries and oil terminals, on Monday said an official of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The 12 French refineries have renewed the strike on Monday, while hundreds of gas stations were already affected to varying degrees by these disturbances.
The government, which promised to prevent any blockage of the country, began to make requisitions of employees at some sites, like Grandpuits (Seine-et-Marne).
Measures reported by the CGT group Total, in a statement that stigmatizes the use of "hard way".
From last week, the police intervened to clear access to several oil depots. On Monday, an attempt to block filing of Dunkirk (Nord) failed.
The oil terminal at Fos-Lavera Bouches-du-Rhone remains one of the main sticking points of the country, for their twenty-second consecutive day of strike.
On these sites, in fact, movements related to the protest against the proposed pension reforms have been grafted to those held against the port reform.
Sixty-five ships, four more than on Sunday, were stranded or delayed Monday because Fos-Lavera strike, said the port of Marseilles.They include 47 tankers.
Exxon Mobil's refinery in Fos-sur-Mer continues to produce fuels but at minimum flow and can continue to operate at this pace until Thursday or Friday, said a local official told Reuters the union CFDT.
OVER 90 DAYS OF STOCK
Aad van Bohemen, head of emergency policies of the IEA, said that French stocks were higher than the floor set by the organization, which coordinates energy policies of major industrialized countries.
The IEA requires each member country to hold permanently in reserve at least 90 days of average consumption of crude oil and / or finished products.In France, these stocks are divided evenly between crude and refined products.
At last count, the French stocks represented 98 days of consumption, "said Aad van Bohemen.
For now, the use of stocks affects only those held by manufacturers, which represent 30 days of consumption. The 60 remaining days of required reserves are held by Wisdom (limited company management of security stocks), a body controlled by the state.
The use of these stocks do not require prior authorization by the IEA since the disturbances in France result of a problem "local," said Aad van Bohemen.
The industry minister, Christian Estrosi, sought reassurance and firm."The government is responsible, there will be no blocking, and I say to those listening: there will be no obstacle for companies, there will be no lock for transport, and There will be no blockage for road users, "he said on RTL.
"We respect the right to strike, no right to block, simply," he added.
U.S. bank stocks suffer again on Friday in exchange for their possible impact on results of an extensive survey on foreclosures.
Around 1500 GMT, the index values of U.S. bank KBW yielded 2.44%, driven lower by Bank of America, which fell nearly 5% to the level that was hers in July 2009, Wells Fargo & Co ( -3.7%) and JPMorgan (-4.1%).
The 50 states have opened on Wednesday a joint investigation into the practices of the mortgage industry, an initiative that could, according to some experts, threaten the recovery in home sales.
Diageo, the world of spirits, reported Thursday of a 5% increase in its quarterly sales on a comparable basis, thanks to the good performance of emerging markets.
Analysts on average expected a rise of similar magnitude for the quarter from July to September, the first of the year.Last year at the same time, sales had grown by only 2%.
The British group has confirmed its forecast of an improvement in the growth of its operating profit for the current year to 30 June 2011 the strength of sales in Russia, Latin America, Africa and Asia offsetting difficulties in North America and in Western Europe.
For the year ended last June, growth in operating profit was only 2%.
In exchange, Diageo was down 1.84% to 834 pence in a stable market.
The proposed repowering of the A320 medium-haul Airbus flagship, is justified from a strategic point of view but we must ensure that resources are sufficient for engineers that do not threaten other major programs, said Airbus President Thomas Enders Executive.
Remotorisée a new version of the A320, flying since 1988, would extend the life of this program by carrying out significant fuel savings.
"If we ultimately decide not to make the A320 Neo, not to jeopardize ongoing programs, the sky did not fall on the head," he said in an interview published Wednesday in the weekly L'Express.
Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, is facing simultaneous production of its A380 superjumbo, to that of its future A350 XWB medium-lift and development of its A400M military transport aircraft, many programs that mobilize many engineers .
"We need to assess very carefully whether we are able, in parallel, working on a re-engined A320," he says."From a strategic standpoint, this is justified, but as head of Airbus, I must ensure that we have the means to do so."
On the A400M program, which has experienced vicissitudes in the past, Enders believes that signing the new contract with client countries of the unit is expected by the end of the year.
An agreement in principle was reached on the sharing of cost overruns on the A400M with seven NATO countries behind its launch, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, but this agreement has yet be ratified.
If he feels that the air transport crisis "seems well and truly over," Thomas Enders estimates that the austerity measures agreed by European countries like France, Germany or Great Britain will have an impact on all orders military equipment.
In civil matters, Airbus has recently revised upwards its forecast for 2010 orders to 400 aircraft against 300 before.
Around 11:30, the EADS progressed from 0.74% to 18.445 euros, bringing its gains to 31% since the beginning of the year.