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Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia Environnement, on Wednesday defended his project of "transformation" of the group to its shareholders by ensuring that they should be measurable results within two years.

During the general assembly of giant utilities, Antoine Frérot, who escaped in February in an attempt to destabilize linked to ; its restructuring plan, acknowledged that it would be "demanding" but he promised it would allow Veolia to adapt to the "new deal" world. 

Forced to deleverage, Veolia plans to disengage from some forty countries on 77 in which he was present last year, and sell for five billion euros assets, starting with its transport activities, which met in the center Transdev cellmate with the Deposit and Consignment Office (CDC), and considered too "greedy capital ".

"Within two years, we will benefit fully from all the positive effects that should give us the size of our group," said Antoine Frérot, adding that Veolia would then have found "the weight of an athlete ; you who followed a diet and is ready for competition ". 

Antoine Frérot was destabilized in February by news reports suggesting its replacement by the former Minister of Ecology Jean-Louis Borloo, but he managed to keep the trust board and has since initiated a reform of the management team.

He said Wednesday that the redesign of the executive committee was to "create a new dynamic management team with a tight and solid." 

The group's shareholders also approved Wednesday the change in the composition of the Board: Esther Koplowitz and Jean-Francois Dehecq, former head of Sanofi lose their seats while Jacques Aschenbroich, the Director General ; General of Valeo, Maryse Aulagnon, CEO of Affine land or Nathalie Rachou, founding partner of Topiary Finance, are entering the CA.

These amendments were approved by an overwhelming majority at the AGM.

On the eve of it, Jean-Francois Dehecq had criticized the strategy of Mr. Frérot in an interview with Le Monde, accusing it of "abdicating global ambition" of the group to focus "a vision of their accounting." 

As Esther Kolplowitz, Jean-Francois Dehecq is deemed close to the positions of the former CEO of Veolia Proglio, now head of EDF.

The Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker took aim Monday citing officials increasingly openly output of Greece in the euro area, considering that the event fell within "propaganda" and "nonsense".

After a meeting of finance ministers from the eurozone, Jean-Claude Juncker said he was strongly opposed to this idea, recalling its commitments to Athens.

If Greece adopts a government and this government confirms the implementation of the austerity program demanded by its international creditors, some objectives of this program could be softened, said the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. 

Greece was plunged into political crisis since the legislation on May 6, which did not give an absolute majority of the two main parties signed the Memorandum of austerity, the Conservatives New Democracy and PASOK socialists. The radical left Syriza, arrival of the second vote, refuses to join a coalition supporting the austerity, while claiming a desire to maintain Athens in the eurozone.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias on Monday proposed the formation of a government of technocrats, but rejected by Syriza speculates and many observers are betting on new elections next month .

"I do not even consider a one second out of Greece in the euro area. This is nonsense, this is propaganda, "said Jean-Claude Juncker during a press conference, lambasting those who threaten the expulsion of Greece ..

……. Over the weekend, two officials of the European Central Bank, Patrick Honohan and Luc Coene, have openly discussed the possibility of that Greece abandon the single currency and they concluded that this assumption would not be fatal for the euro area

. But Europé ens also good reason to keep afloat Athens, starting with the fact that the ECB and the member countries of the euro area are the main holders of Greek debt, which would be lost if bankruptcy. 

A DESIRE "UNWAVERING"

"Our unwavering desire most is to keep Greece in the euro area," said Jean-Claude Juncker. "We will do everything possible to achieve this end."

"The output of Greece to the euro has not been the subject of our debate today. Nobody, absolutely nobody, has echoed this view," he assured.

"The Europeans are well aware of efforts already made by Greek citizens. This is not the time to slacken efforts at reform. On the contrary, the continuation of fiscal and structural reforms are the best guarantees for Greece a more prosperous future in the euro area. "

… ….. "But public opinion in Greece, the Greek citizens, must understand that we have agreed on a program and that program should be implemented," he said

The

. Eurogroup President left dangling some concessions if the political situation would be explained in Greece

. Even though

European officials stress that the margin of renegotiation of the aid plan-the second since 2010 – 130 billion euros is very reduced, Jean-Claude Juncker said there could be debate on the extension of the period given in Athens to achieve its objectives. 

"I did not say there was any intention to extend this period, we must do things in order," he said, recalling the conditions imposed by the EU:

"We need a Greek government. The Greek government must clearly commit to the program. Then, in exceptional circumstances, we would not rule out the possibility of discussing this issue."

"We have not discussed today because the other two conditions are not met: there is no Greek government and there is no special circumstance. In any case, this would not imply a significant change. "

BNP Paribas, which posted first quarter net profit boosted by a gain on the sale of a block of Klépierre, said Friday be able to complete its plan to reduce the size of its balance sheet this summer.

The French bank said it had to end in March made 80% of its plan, launched at the beginning of last fall at the higher of the debt crisis in the euro area, after be reduced by 63 billion euros of its risk-weighted risk, including 16 billion over the first three months of the year.

"We can lock him in the summer," said Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, the CEO of BNP Paribas, in an interview with Reuters. 

At the Paris Stock Exchange, BNP Paribas, which had opened lower, was up slightly from 0.43% to 29.22 euros at 9:29, outperforming the bank Europé in (0.29%).

Some managers pointed out that despite good results on bills in the first quarter, the French banking stocks suffering from uncertainty about the macroeconomic environment and concerns over the euro area . In France, banks are also under threat of a major reform of the sector if the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande wins the presidential election Sunday.

"I found good results, in almost all divisions. Solvency is still a very important point," said Yohan Salleron, manager at Mandarine Gestion. "Nevertheless, we see some negative reaction, linked to the problem of the banking room, especially on the French market where investors expect a little clarification side of politics. "

NO NEW DISCONTINUED POSTS

Are feared while new waves of industrial restructuring after the presidential election, particularly in the banking sector, BNP Paribas ensures not to provide new measures of job cuts after presidential election.

Nearly 1,400 positions are already about to be deleted in the banking and investment banking. The voluntary separation plan should be completed by end June

In the first quarter, net earnings from BNP Paribas was up by nearly 10%, to 2.86 billion euros, after integrating in its accounts a gain 1.8 billion on the sale of an interest in the property group Klépierre.

The French bank said that excluding special items, net income for the period spring down 22% to two billion euros.

According to the Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S, analysts on average expected a net profit of 2.344 million euros. 

For comparison, Societe Generale reported Thursday a net profit of 732 million euros for the first three months of the year, down 20%, supported by the results of its operations on interest rates, currencies and commodities.

"TOO SOON" FOR A TARGET ROE

Hired as many European banks in a program to reduce the size of its balance sheet and strengthen its financial strength, BNP Paribas is to end on March 1 capital ratio 'hard' to 10.4%.

The bank said the coup had "substantially" exceeded the goal of equity of 9% required by the EBA to late June. 

Due to lack of visibility on the new regulatory environment, it refuses to give a target return on equity (ROE) for the future. This amounts to 11.5% at end March.

"It is too early to give this kind of goal," said Jean-Laurent Bonnafé. "We still need clarification on the new regulation on liquidity ratios on capital requirements."

If he refused to make any comment on the election issue for banks, the CEO of BNP Paribas notes, however, that Francois Hollande and the president-candidate Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to fight the deficit and to support growth.

The U.S. stock markets have closed lower Monday, with the Dow Jones falling below 13,000 points, the fears aroused by the European debt and doubts about the capabilities of the Old Continent overcome this challenge prompting investors to take the least risk.

Distrust of operators has also been fueled by the resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte after the failure of budget negotiations with the Freedom Party (PPV).

The announcement of a contraction in the services sector in the euro area has further accentuated the volatility of investors. 

Declining order books and continued downsizing has affected both manufacturing and services, showed the first results of monthly surveys from Markit purchasing managers (PMI), published Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average American 30 lost 0.78%, 102.09 points to 12,927.17, the Standard & Poor's 500 benchmark index fund managers, has yielded 0.84%, 11.59 points to 1,366.94 and the Nasdaq, heavily weighted technology has abandoned 1.0%, 30.00 points, to 2,970.45.

"We are in a period during which the market seems to want to consolidate the gains of the last two quarters and we go from top to bottom and from bottom to top," said Hank Smith of Haverford Trust. 

"It becomes obvious that the eurozone is in recession and it drains a lot of concerns. To end the debt problem, it is necessary for growth, and we did not yet arrived. "

Values, note-against the performance of Wal-Mart, which ended down 4.65% after the publication of media reports that the distributor has stifled an investigation into suspicions of corruption against its subsidiary.

Much lower, also, there are Kellogg (-6.1%), sanctioned after saying it could lower its profit forecast.

Japanese stocks have ended down Friday in the wake of Wall Street, investors wondering about the growth prospects in the U.S. and the status of sovereign debt in the euro area.

The Nikkei has given 0.28% or 27.02 points to 9561.36 points, while the Topix broader, fell by 0.27% or 2.19 points to 811.94 points.

Values, Toshiba ended down 2.37% to 330 yen. The U.S. said the SanDisk memory prices continue to suffer from market saturation.

Olympus has instead awarded 6.37% to 1,286 yen. The shareholders of specialist optical voted to appoint a new board to replace the 11 directors discredited by the accounting scandal that has weakened the group.

Back to the recession in the euro area, concerns over Spain, stopping fear of monetary easing in the U.S. … A series of bad news the markets into Wednesday. Paris lost nearly 3%. A screen broadcasts stock information in Shenyang, China, Aug. 10, 2011.

The bulk of the crisis is behind us? Investors are not so sure. The Paris Bourse fell nearly 3% Wednesday, penalized, as all European markets, the failure of a bond issue and Spanish fears of a return to recession in the euro area.

The CAC 40 has only widen its losses throughout the session to close on a decline of 2.74% to 3313.47 points in a given volume of trade, a sign of the nervousness of investors, from 4.074 billion euros. On other European financial centers, Frankfurt has given 2.84%, 2.30% London. For its part, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 2.54%.

"While the United States, the Federal Reserve considers the economic recovery strong enough to prevent a new program of monetary easing, the situation in Europe is much more difficult as argued by the European Central Bank," said Baradez Alexander, an analyst at Saxo Bank.

Mario Draghi, the chairman of the Mint, said it was "premature" stop the anti-crisis measures in place to cope with the financial crisis. Neither the level of inflation, whose prospects are "anchored" or economic status or the high rate of unemployment in the eurozone, do begin this withdrawal, he said.

In this context, the ECB decided, not surprisingly, to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 1%, its lowest level ever. But "it has dampened hopes of investors who expected any new support measures given the weak economy," lamented Mr. Baradez.

But distrust was also put on the other side of the Atlantic. In New York, the Dow Jones yielded 1.17% and the Nasdaq 1.42% at mid-afternoon. U.S. investors are disappointed by showing the likely absence of a third wave of monetary easing in the United States. And even more worried that Europe too.

The private activity has continued to contract in March in the euro area, reflecting a return to recession in the first quarter, according to a second estimate of Wednesday's PMI purchasing managers. However, large disparities remain national: Italy and Spain are firmly entrenched in a recession in March. In Germany, growth slows and displays its lowest level in three months and in France, business retreats for the first time in four months.

The Spanish case also weighed on trade after the failure of a bond issue that has made borrowing rates soaring. Given the very difficult economic situation of the country, "investors are skeptical that Madrid can meet its deficit target to 5.3% of GDP this year," said Duarte Caldas IG Markets.

Overseas, the slowdown in hiring in the private sector in March was just played on the trend, stakeholders still waiting with some optimism the official report on employment on Friday. The increased activity in services in the U.S. slowed in March, but it is still the 27th consecutive month of expansion in the sector, given that the threshold of 50 points marks the boundary between growth and contraction activity.

All values ​​of the CAC 40 finished in the red. The cyclical industry, the most susceptible to cyclical, has paid a heavy price to concerns about growth in Europe. Peugeot has lost 5.82% to 10.77 euros, Lafarge 4.97% to 33.73 euros and Renault 4.46% to 37.26 euros.

The main European stock markets opened on a note undecided Tuesday after a sharp rise, investors showing a wait before important deadlines, including the policy meeting currency of the European Central Bank Wednesday and the monthly report on employment in the United States Friday.

In early trade, the CAC 40 was down 0.1%, the DAX 30 is stable (0.04%) and the FTSE 100 gained 0.1%.

Values, gaining 2.62% Accor to 27.79 euros. Barclays raised its advice to overweight from equal weight with a target price of 31 euros.

Sodexo was down over 3%. Morgan Stanley said Tuesday it has reduced its board of equal weight to underweight.

0.38% total wins. The tanker has said it wants to maintain its goals of investment and dividend after the gas leak on one of its platforms in the North Sea, which he declined to ; quantify the future impact on its accounts.

Frédéric Oudéa, CEO of Societe Generale, will collect under a fiscal 2011 bonus of 682,770 euros gross, down 43% compared to 2010, indicates French bank on its website.

SocGen added that in 2012 Frederick Oudéa receive a fixed gross one million euros, an amount unchanged from that of 2011.

"In a context of major economic crisis affecting the banking sector and the results of Societe General, the board (of directors, Ed) has decided to enroll in the wage restraint policy implemented by the Directorate General for all Group employees, "said SocGen in a paper posted online. 

The three deputy managing directors of the bank, Severin Cabannes, Jean-Francois Sammarcelli and Bernardo Sanchez Incera, receive variable remuneration crude were down 28% to , 53% for 2011.

Societe Generale last year saw its net profit fall by 39%, accounts that have been sealed by the debt crisis in the euro area and costly ts related to the restructuring of its activities in corporate banking and investment.

BNP Paribas has in turn reported in mid-March pay cuts ranging from 8% to 19% for its three most senior executives for 2011. 

At Credit Suisse, the remuneration of the CEO Brady Dougan for 2011 was reduced by more than half, which was reduced to 5, 82 million Swiss francs (4.8 million) against 12.76 million the previous year.

The consumer prices in France rose 0.4% on month in February as a result of higher energy prices, services and fresh produce, statistics show released Tuesday by the INSEE.

Over one year, inflation in February stood at 2.3%.

In January, the index of consumer prices declined by 0.4% over the month and rose 2.3% yoy.

The harmonized price index HICP, which allows comparisons with other members of the euro area, increasing its share to 0.5% on a month for February. It rose 2.5% year on year.

Twenty economists polled by Reuters on average expected a rise in the HICP of 0.5% a month to month and 22 acceleration of 2.6% on a year.

Standard Chartered reported Wednesday a 10.7% jump in pretax profit in 2011, in line with expectations, signing a record result for the ninth consecutive year favor of the Asian economic growth remains strong.

The bank displays a taxable profit of 6.78 billion dollars against 6.12 billion in 2010. Economists anticipated $ 6.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

"The pace of growth should accelerate in 2012," said Dominic Chan, an analyst at BNP Paribas in Hong Kong. "The major markets such as India, are showing signs of improvement and the bank is well positioned to gain market share in areas such as finance international trade or wholesale banking. "

The results were supported by the strong performance of StanChart in China and Singapore. The city-state, where the group posted a profit of one billion dollars, has become its third largest market.

"We started well in 2012, after a very strong year-end 2011," said Chief Executive Peter Sands said in a statement. "For 2012, we are on track for a double-digit income, EPS (earnings per share) in double figures (…) but it is still early to tell. "