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Less than a year after coming out of bankruptcy, the American General Motors seems on the road to recovery. The Detroit group has returned a net profit in the first quarter for the first time in nearly three years to 865 million. "This is an incredibly important step. We are very far from where we were last year, "said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of manufacturer on CNBC. GM had continued to accumulate losses in 2009 and had received nearly 50 billion dollars of government support in total.

The improvement in the first quarter, according to the group, mainly due to higher sales (turnover is up 40%), combined with cost control. GM was robbed of four brands including eight in the United States, leaving only Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and Buick. The group emerged from bankruptcy in July, eased some of its debts.He completed repaying $ 6.7 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canada in April. The U.S. Treasury still holds 61% of capital.

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Tough week ahead for Air France. On Wednesday, the group should announce operating losses of around EUR 1.3 billion for its fiscal year ended March 2010. They will be close, historical, 1993. Since then, Air France has tripled its turnover.

If the amount of such losses is already known (the company has prepared the public mind when it announced its latest quarterly results), their decomposition is less.

For more than 600 million euros, the losses are related to the impact of fuel hedges, the advance purchase of oil at a given price from banks.

According to our information, the management of Air France declined to comment, cargo activity has on his side lost 499 million euros, of which 50 million are attributable to the subsidiary Martinair.These figures indicate that if the passenger activity has been shaken by the crisis, especially the cargo, which penalized the company.

Cargo activity came first in the crisis with volume declines in mid-2008. "They have suffered from the downturn in April 2008, six months before the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, said a government source. At the group's executive committee, it was decided not to increase capacity by cargo aircraft for the winter. "

Air France-KLM Cargo has gone through severe turbulence, with a decline in volumes of 22% from last year. The Asian market, driven by imports of consumer goods, has experienced the biggest drop.The United States, more towards capital goods, have them ground earlier but in lower proportions.

Reduced capacity

At the same time, the company has drastically reduced the wing. 700 departures in two years have not been replaced at Air France-KLM Cargo. The adjustment of staff accompanied a decline in cargo capacity. In September, the company launched the adjustment freighter (CAP). Objective: To reduce capacity, concentrating freight traffic on the bunkers at the expense of cargo planes dedicated to freight alone, and be beneficial to the end of the year 2011-2012. In this context, Air France has got rid of two brand new Boeing 777s it has sold to FedEx before they are delivered at Paris this winter.

These aircraft, offered 250 million euros each at list prices and traded 150 million euros, were sold at the same price.The transaction still cost 30 to 50 million euros in Air France, which had to pay storage costs for the aircraft at Boeing and significant financial costs.

The company also leases two Boeing 747 Russian Air Bridge. "They were bought at a time when the dollar was high, said an analyst. It was more interesting for Air France to rent and sell them in five years. "Since then the two aircraft were flying under the colors of Air Bridge. They just make the transport of missiles between Russia and Chateauroux.

This decrease of 16.2% of capacity has led to a dramatic reduction in costs of 19%. Florence Parly, the owner of the cargo, has managed to reduce the unit costs of 2.4% per tonne km (RTK).The rigor of the former Secretary of State Budget worries the unions of Air France, who believe it will prevent the rebound in activity after the crisis.

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Catastrophe! The verdict of the experts gathered yesterday on behalf of the Health Authority (FDA) on Naproxcinod NicOx is clear: sixteen votes to one against, they voted against the authorization for the U.S. market for treatment cons osteoarthritis.

If the FDA ultimately decides the approval of a drug in the United States, the Advisory Committee constitutes a notice of weight, especially when it is so decided. The agency should make its decision before July 24 next.

But already, the hopes were so meager that the actions d?grindolent Stock Exchange Thursday, while trading in securities listed in NicOx 9:00, after being suspended Wednesday from 2:00 p.m. at the request of the company. At the close of the Paris Bourse during the uncoupling of 44.53% to 2.9 euros.On Tuesday, the day the group announced this biotechnology application to stay the course, the shares had already fallen from 28.37%.

Total, in three sessions, NicOx has lost more than half its value.

The continuation of the project Naproxcinod compromised

The President's Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday, Dr. Kathleen O'Neil, summarizing the conclusions of the Advisory Committee meeting, said extant 'enthusiasm about the potential of naproxcinod but that additional data from additional studies on job security would be needed, "reports the group in a statement.

This single sentence has made it clear to investors that the case is wrong party.According to analysts at Natixis, the American drug agency should provide to NicOx a "Complete Response Letter" means not permitted, requiring further study to clarify the gray areas of the record, particularly in terms of job security product.

Now "option to initiate studies on the long term is virtually impossible for NicOx," according to them. This would require large patient populations over periods of several years of testing, an expensive option that NicOx should not continue, they said. Natixis is passed directly on Thursday morning of the recommendation to "buy" to "ease".

A big blow for NicOx, which had very high expectations of this product across the Atlantic.Analysts said the potential of the drug could reach 1.3 billion euros of sales at the peak of sales, in 2017.

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Greece will not wait long for the counter. Two days after the formal adoption of the aid plan of 110 billion euros in its favor, Athens seeks payment of an initial tranche of 20 billion euros, according to a government source quoted by AFP. The IMF should participate in this first installment to the tune of 5.5 billion euros, the rest from member states of the European Union.

Time is short. The Greek state has to repay a maturity of 8.5 billion euros on May 19 or next week. This is not all. "We must add all refunds coupon (interest on debt, Ed) of bonds issued in May in previous years, and there have been many," said Patrick Jacq, a strategist at BNP Paribas rate. To which must be added interest on the debt issued in foreign currencies.In total, it is not ? 8.5 billion that Greece should pay by the end of May, but between 11 and 12 billion euros, according to the calculations of the strategist.

Also remains an unknown: the short-term funding of deficit cash quick. Fortunately for the Greek government, after sending his letter to the European Commission, the Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund, Athens would receive 20 billion almost immediately, or "maybe in the day" according to a government source.

Because Greece has no choice now. She can no longer fund normally markets because of high interest "prohibitive," explained April Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou.

European aid comes not without consideration.The government has defied the unions and established an austerity plan of unprecedented severity, with the aim of reducing the deficit by almost 14% in 2009 to 8.7% in 2010. Events are also scheduled for tomorrow late Wednesday afternoon in Athens to protest against the severity.

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SeaFrance to court to denounce "numerous errors, deviations, differences in the accounts established in late 2009 by the auditor, appointed to audit the accounts of the company." The ferry company suspected fraud, particularly related to sales on board ships between Calais and Dover, for two years.

The prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, has opened a criminal investigation for "breach of trust", while the direction of the Company filed a complaint against X in March.

According to the spokesman SeaFrance differences accounts were "significant". According to Le Parisien, they concern "hundreds of thousands of euros".A significant shortfall for a company that has placed the supervision of the Commercial Court of Paris in mid-April to avoid bankruptcy.

This backup procedure had been launched a few days after a strike that lasted throughout the Easter weekend, and who literally "poured" the company: Blocking boats will "cost 1.25 million euros SeaFrance and can cause death of the company and all its jobs, "then had warned management of this 100% subsidiary of SNCF flexcheck cash advance.

Items returned at any cost

According to information from Parisian-Today in France, the auditor was particularly interested in returning items sold in 2008, "whose amount was 610,000 pounds, or 720,000 euros."

"It seems surprising that cigarettes, perfume or whiskey are subject to systematic customer feedback, and especially for these volumes," Le Parisien reported the briefing note written by the expert. Another oddity: there is no inventory of returned products, so it is impossible to know what these products have become.

In addition, differences in body are disturbing: the first four months of 2009, differences between the turnover and amounts in cases concerned 60% of trading volume.

Finally, discovering one of the ships of the fleet has the equivalent of a stock of thirty months of a brand of champagne, it is clear that there is something fishy.

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Meeting in Brussels, the Heads of States of the euro area have finally approved the activation of the financial assistance plan 110 billion euros to Greece three years. According to several government sources, the leaders have also discussed the establishment of a fund to help countries threatened to defend the euro. The European Commission could contribute in the form of loans to the tune of 70 billion euros. The European Central Bank (ECB) will also participate.

"Attack of the market is now against the euro and individualized assistance to any country may give an insufficient response of Europe, the priority is a unified response, firm and fast," said one in particular these sources on condition of anonymity.

If agreement seems to have been found on Friday on the need to establish a sustainable mechanism for defending the single currency, the heads of states still fail to agree on every detail. "The discussion focuses particularly on the role of the ECB," said a source close to the talks

Pressure on ECB

All eyes are turned to the ECB effect. The other track would be mentioned that the latter buys bonds issued by states of the euro area, to provide them in exchange for cash. According to these same diplomatic sources, the European Commission would currently pressuring the ECB to make sense in a concrete proposal to support the euro area.

On Monday, the ECB announced it would accept the Greek debt as collateral for its loans, regardless of their credit ratings.Extending this unprecedented step for all countries in the euro area "would be a strong signal to markets" would have said the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso. But on Thursday, the ECB said it had not considered.

Tighten fiscal discipline

The euro zone leaders agree at least on the need to tighten fiscal discipline. A commitment to ensure that "Greece is not only to reduce its deficits, but that we work so that all the Stability and Growth speedy again respected," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brussels.

Leaders also stressed the need for better coordination of economic policies in the euro area.Finally the sixteen Heads of State and Government reiterated their determination to "move quickly on the regulation and supervision of financial markets. They also insist on the creation of "a European rating agency.

Barack Obama supports the EU

Moreover, since the White House is that Barack Obama supported the European heads of state on Friday. "I made it clear that the United States supports these efforts and will continue to cooperate with EU authorities and the IMF during this critical period," he said, after talks with Angela Merkel.

American concerns grew at the same time as the market stress.Wednesday, Charles Plosser, a leader of the U.S. central bank (Fed) has assured that "the economic recovery of the U.S. could be delayed by a further turmoil in financial markets. Recent events in Greece are one of the factors likely to influence the evolution of the U.S. economy. "

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At a time when travel is no longer the preserve of a few explorers, the Expo is no longer just visitors to travel around the world but rather to give them vacation ideas. The Chinese are now just under 55 million to go outside their borders on vacation. By 2020, they will be 100 million. This will be the tourist population of the world's largest. And some countries are willing to settle for a small portion of these new visitors. "We want to capture a share of this growth. That's why we joined the program joined the Nordic sells northern Europe as one destination for Chinese tourists, "says Palsson Hrein, Consul General of Iceland in Shanghai and commissioner of the Icelandic flag Expo 2010, which has made tourism one of the three themes of the exhibition.The Icelandic Minister of Tourism will make even the Expo June 17 This day is an opportunity for Reykjavik to invite Chinese travel agencies and journalists specialized in tourism.

The correlation between tourist attraction and intention to visit the pavilions of the exhibition is obvious. The United States, Australia, Japan, Thailand, France, Italy and Spain were the most popular pavilions during the test days of the Expo last two weeks. They are also the countries most popular with Chinese travelers.

The smaller nations or absent from the traditional tourist tours competing ideas to attract maximum visitors to their pavilions electronic check payday advance. They hope to offer a promotion that no travel agency can never offer them."This is a unique platform to build the brand image of a country," said Debby Cheung, director of Ogilvy Public Relations in China.

Denmark did not hesitate to move her Little Mermaid bronze for the first time outside of Copenhagen. The exhibit coming to the center of the Danish flag to the end of October. Operation successful communication since the advent of the statue has become a major "buzz" of Chinese Painting Expo. The calculation is simple, with three million visitors a year, the Nordic country can hope to show one of its landmarks twice more tourists in half the time. Luxembourg followed suit by bringing his G?lle Fra (Golden Male), moved the Monument of Remembrance to the entrance of the Luxembourg flag Shanghai.

Others offer a real experience.In front of a screen that broadcasts images of snowcapped mountains, visitors can smell the Swiss chalet mountain air, spread by machinery, just before getting on a chairlift athentique rooftop while green building. "This is an opportunity to do direct marketing that does not stand in the next decade," says Frank Serrano, head of the France Pavilion at Shanghai.