Financial News Headlines

The President of Finmeccanica Pier Francesco Guarguaglini resigned, while the Italian advocacy group is the center of a corruption scandal, said on Thursday a source familiar with the matter.

The information was confirmed by the group a few minutes later.

The Board has appointed the current Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Orsi Group to replace him, the source added which states that it will combine the two functions.

The group is weakened by an investigation into suspicions of corruption that affects some of its most senior officials.

The Italian government is a shareholder of the group of aerospace and defense to the tune of 32% and this scandal is the first figure of political test for the new government led by Mario Monti.

Suzuki Motors calls for international arbitration to settle its dispute with Volkswagen, the latter refused to surrender its stake by nearly 20% stake in Japanese automaker.

Suzuki, a specialist in small cars for emerging markets, announced Thursday it had seized the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, an organization based in London.

"We see no major financial impact based on the share price, given that VW has already established a reserve of 263 million euros in the third quarter of 2011 to reflect the reclassification of its stake in Suzuki in its balance sheet , "writes Michael Punzet, an analyst at DZ Bank in a note.

Suzuki accuses VW of not having provided a hybrid technology that would have promised to share.If the current leadership of Suzuki does not work with us, then maybe the next generation will, "he said.

A spokesman for the German automaker has confirmed that the company would not yield to the demands of Suzuki.

Action Suzuki closed up 0.92% to 1,533 yen in Tokyo Stock Exchange, while Volkswagen took up 2.90% to 115 euros at 9:35 GMT on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The British group Centrica Energy Thursday issued a warning on its profits in 2011, with a loss of customers and a decrease in electricity consumption due to the sluggish economy and mild weather.

The operator, whose subsidiary British Gas is the first energy supplier to UK households, lost customers after raising its rates and now provides an annual output "slightly below" market expectations.

An hour after the opening of the London Stock Exchange, the title Centrica lost 1.36%, while the European sector index Utilities 0.5% abandoned.

Toyota reported Tuesday a 32% drop in its quarterly earnings and abandoned its forecast for annual profit, the impact of floods in Thailand completing disrupt a production line that is not yet fully recovered from the earthquake March 11.

The Japanese automaker also suffers from the strong yen, beating down the profitability of some 1.5 million vehicles exported each year and makes it less competitive with neighboring South Korea's Hyundai Motor.

Despite the unfavorable foreign exchange, Toyota said it did not intend to reduce its cut production, saying instead that he wanted to increase the share of domestic sales in total sales to offset the effect of force the yen.

The builder was particularly affected by flooding in Thailand disaster that claimed more than 500 dead, like Honda, which also dropped its earnings forecasts.

The three assembly plants of Toyota in the country are at a standstill since October 10 and will remain so until at least November 12.

Values ​​to follow on Monday in the Paris Bourse, where the index was down 2% to 12.45, a victim of profit taking while waiting for details of the Europe Agreement concluded last week before the G20 in Cannes Thursday and Friday:

* GDF SUEZ losing 3.3%. Belgian political parties, who are negotiating the formation of a new government, have agreed to close Sunday on condition the two nuclear power plants still operating in the country. AREVA also lost 3.8%.

EDF indirectly affected by the decision of the holdings of rights "draw" directly on 8% of the capacity of central Belgium, and indirectly through its Belgian subsidiary SPE rights over 7%, loses 1.7% .The title had sold more than 5% Friday.

* Bank stocks weigh on the coast, especially hurt by profit taking in a climate of uncertainty about the implementation of the plan to resolve the crisis of sovereign debt in the euro area, as shown in the voltage levels Italian government bonds.

BNP Paribas lost 6.7%, 6.5% Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and Natixis 6.4% 5%. The European index yields 3.3%, one of the biggest declines sector with commodities (-3.4%).

* The CYCLIC are also victims of profit-taking, exacerbated by concerns over growth. ALSTOM lost 3.6% and 3.2% MICHELIN 53.930 euros, while Goldman Sachs cut its price target from 78 to 70 euros, while remaining "neutral" on value.

A government report concludes that the proportion of poor in the population fell by two percentage points between 2006 and 2009. Associations contest.

Poverty has declined in France in 2009, according to a government report Wednesday quoted by Liberation, but the calculation is disputed by the associations and does not match that of the INSEE. In this "Report to Parliament" from the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Cohesion that has purchased the newspaper, "the proportion of poor in the population increased from 13.1% in 2006 to 11.8% in 2009" .

This report on "monitoring the goal of reduction of one third of poverty in five years," must be made public every year since 2009. The Ministry was not immediately able to provide this document. According to Liberation, he cites specific figures: there were 7.5 million poor in 2007 and 7.1 million in 2009.

But the report is based primarily on an indicator, "income poverty rooted in time" that keeps the poverty past, simply adjusted for inflation. It is not the same as published annually by INSEE, namely the indicator of "relative poverty", which takes into account the evolution of the median. It is criticized by many associations aid the poor, as ATD Fourth World, which believes that its method of calculation is mechanically lower the poverty rate.

The latest study by the INSEE published in late August, the proportion of people living below the poverty line or less than 954 euros per month, increased in 2009 to 13.5% of the population living in metropolitan France. In 2009, 8.2 million people were considered poor, against 7.84 million in 2008, detailed the Statistical Institute.

In an interview Wednesday Liberation Solidarity Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, said the report was "in some way a reflection" of the financial crisis. "Poverty is a complex phenomenon that can not be measured through a single indicator," she also said.

French deputies adopted Monday by 49 votes to 25 against the bill authorizing the state to provide guarantees to the restructuring of the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia to facilitate its dismantling.

The UMP, which holds an absolute majority in the Assembly, and the group of the New Centre (NC) voted this draft supplementary budget ("collective") for 2011, reviewed by expedited review in the Senate turn Wednesday night.

The leftist opposition voted against. "We vote against it because what we present is completely blurred. The minister did not believe," said Christian Eckert (PS).

The left is now a majority in the upper house, the text may be released Wednesday.It will then be made a new reading in the Assembly who constitutionally has the final say.

"The adoption of this supplementary budget is an issue of responsibility. Dexia's customers like the creditors must have confidence that states have kept their word.Our communities in turn can rely on this feature to continue to invest for the benefit of the economy, "said Baroin, the Minister of Economy.

This restructuring plan, arrested Oct. 10 by the board of directors of the group and approved by the Belgian, French and Luxembourg, Dexia provides for the dismantling.

The bank, founded in 1996 with the merger of Crédit local de France and Crédit Communal de Belgique, had already received a bailout in 2008.

The decommissioning plan provides that Dexia France, Belgium and Luxembourg will provide 90 billion euros in guarantees for its financing needs with 60.5% for Belgium, 36.5% for France and 3% Luxembourg.

The new supplementary budget offers a double guarantee.First, the funding will enable Dexia to borrow on the markets with the guarantee of France, Belgium and Luxembourg, the maximum total outstanding amount of 90 billion euros for a period of ten years maximum.

The second guarantee, up to 10 billion euros, is for a fraction of the portfolio of loans to local authorities of Dexia that the new structure controlled by the Deposit (CDSC) and the Post Bank will acquire.

The Belgian part of the rescue of Dexia was temporarily authorized Monday by the European Commission, however, that announces the opening of an investigation to ensure that the operation does not violate the rules on state aid and application Belgium to submit within six months a new restructuring plan of the bank.

Oil prices have rebounded sharply Wednesday, closing up more than 5% in New York in favor of a sharp drop in crude reserves in the United States and the feeling that the European authorities are acting to strengthen the banking sector the region.

On the Nymex, the November contract on U.S. crude (WTI) finished with a gain of 4.01 dollars, or 5.3%, to 79.68 dollars a barrel.Meanwhile, Brent advanced 2.81% or 2.8 dollar to 102.59 dollars.

Black gold and breaks downward a series of three sessions, benefiting too, as European stock markets, movement of purchases with it.

The European finance ministers gathered in Luxembourg reached an agreement Tuesday aimed at protecting the banks in the region, while calls for a recapitalization of European banks have increased the margins of the meeting.

U.S. inventories of crude oil fell last week, said Wednesday the U.S. Agency for Energy Information (EIA). Crude oil inventories fell 4.68 million barrels to 336.28 million.Economists on average had expected a rise of 1.9 million barrels.

Denmark became the first Saturday in the world to introduce a tax on fat. It is 2.15 euros per kilogram of saturated fats. Denmark became the first Saturday in October the first country to introduce a tax on fat.

Denmark became the first country to introduce a tax on fats, the first Saturday in October, after a week in which to save money consumers have supplies of butter, pizza, meat or milk. The new tax, intended as a measure to fight against the consumption of fat, provides 16 kroner (2.15 euros) per kilogram of saturated fats.It will apply to all products containing saturated fats, including pre-cooked dishes.

"I doubt this will have a positive impact on health, it's just a tax" Extra, told AFP a spokesman for the Confederation of Danish Industries (DI), Gitte Hestehave. "As far as we know, Denmark is the first country to introduce a tax on fat," she said. In the week before the entry into force of this tax, the Danes have robbed the stores.

The Danes were full of fats

"We had to stock tons of butter and margarine to be able to serve our customers," he told AFP an official with the group Arla Dairy Distribution, Soeren Joergensen. "The week was rather chaotic, with lots of empty shelves.People filled their freezers, "confirmed an official of an independent supermarket in Copenhagen, Christian Jensen." Actually, I do not think this will change anything: people who want to buy a cake will buy it. Simply by doing now they are saving, "he added.

For DI, the new tax is an "administrative nightmare". The products are imported or Danish manufacturing, it will ask for statements to producers on the amount of saturated fat in the product but also used in its preparation. Updating of computer systems has also required many hours of overtime for producers and retailers. All this has a cost that will be passed on to consumers, warned Ms. Hestehave.

Moreover, lawyers point out that the tax induces a risk to the competitiveness of Danish products.The imported products subject to tax only the fat they contain are actually cheaper than the Danish products also taxed at the producer level of fat used in making "such as for frying," said the lawyer in Jeppe Rosenmejer Jyllands-Posten.

Wall Street opened sharply higher Tuesday in the wake of European stock exchanges, investors wanting to believe the adoption of new measures to deal with the debt crisis in the eurozone.

In early trade, the Dow Jones advanced 2.08% (225.95 points) to 11,271.48 points. The Standard & Poor's, wider, taking 1.78% (20.71 points) to 1183.33 points while the Nasdaq composite clinching 1.68% (41.34 points) to 2557.74 points.

"The market is starting to finally say that European leaders emerged from their torpor," Judge Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

"The values ​​of all commodities are generally on the rise.People hope that a global recession can be avoided. "

Like their European counterparts, U.S. bank stocks are up, the S & P financials up 2.6% and the KBW bank index of 2.71%. JPMorgan, the largest increase Dow gained 3.8%.

The publication of an S & P Case / Shiller house prices unchanged in July has only little impact on index contracts before the opening, and investors are now looking to the index of consumer confidence The Conference Board in September, due at 14:00 GMT.