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Danone raised its sales growth target for 2010 after the publication of its results for the first half Tuesday. The group recorded an increase in its turnover by 7% over the period (6.9% in the second quarter) to 8.364 billion euros. Danone now expects growth in sales of "at least 6%," cons "at least 5%" previously.

Current operating margin stood at 15.30% in the first half, against 16.03% over the same period in 2009. The band announced target for the whole year stable margins on a comparable basis compared to 2009. The operating profit amounted to 1.28 billion (against 1.2 in the first half of 2009).

The current net profit climbed 10.1% to 848 million euros.

Danone also aims to increase free cash flow from operations of at least 10% compared to 2009 historical data.

"A good start to the year"

Group CEO, Franck Riboud, speaking of a "good start to the year" and that Danone announces in particular will continue "to invest in developing countries, products and brands with strong potential: Child Nutrition in Asia, the Fresh Dairy division in United States, Brazil, Russia.

"At the same time, he adds, we are continuing our efforts to improve productivity, essential to cope with the volatility of our raw materials." Third key point, Franck Riboud said that "cash generation continues to grow strongly."

The information, published Sunday in the Official Journal, surged as health minister, Roselyne Bachelot. The prices of three brands of cigarettes will fall by 20 cents from Monday. This Rothmans, Lucky Strike and packets of Drum rolling tobacco. The government has no way to prohibit it.

Reacting on RTL, the health minister, Roselyne Bachelot, said Sunday it would propose an increase in tobacco taxes to counter the move by the industry when considering the budget bill. The minister, who denounced a "blow to public health", said she was "absolutely shocked".

Recalling that tobacco was responsible for 60,000 deaths a year, more than half due to cancer of the airways, Roselyne Bachelot said she heard "get cigarettes at a price deterrent.""Do not our mobilization efforts on public health is undermined by the initiative of industry," commented the minister.

"A health scandal"

The public health associations have criticized the approach on their side of tobacco. According to Bertrand Dautzenberg, pulmonologist, president of the French Office for the Prevention of smoking, the decline in the price of tobacco is "a marketing offensive to attract new smokers, particularly youth and women."

"Variations on the price of tobacco, which are the only effective lever for reducing consumption, are now in the hands of industrialists," he laments."This is a health scandal since this will automatically translate into increased consumption," adds Yves Martinet, president of the National Committee against Smoking (NCTC), which campaigns for "a new tax policy."

There are currently 29% of daily smokers and occasional 5% among French people aged 18-75 years. According to the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), the daily smoking for 28% of girls and 30% of boys and 17 years.

"And all indicators are now red," according to Professor Albert Hirsch, vice president of the National League against Cancer.The latest results from the annual survey conducted by the association without tobacco Paris, in partnership with the rector of Paris and the Fund's primary health insurance, and have recently shown a tendency to relapse to smoking among adolescents Paris, while the latter had given up smoking massively in the wake of the cancer plan.

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Bureau Veritas announced Tuesday the acquisition of Inspectorate, specialist inspection and testing of raw materials and subsidiary of British Inspicio. The transaction amounted to 450 million pounds (nearly 540 million euros) and should be completed in the third quarter of 2010.

Inspectorate, currently held by the investment company 3i, is also present on the testing of petroleum products and petrochemicals (59% of its turnover), metals, minerals and agricultural products.The company recorded 2009 sales of 246 million pounds (280 million euros).

In a statement, Bureau Veritas claims that the acquisition allows it to position itself as "one of the world's leading inspection and testing of raw materials," a buoyant market, "according to Chairman Frank Piedelièvre group, whose potential amounts to 5 billion euros, according to the group saving account payday loan.

Inspectorate therefore give "a new dimension to the group that doubles the size of its laboratory network (330 sites) and now offers a range of services the industry's broadest assessment of compliance."

Bureau Veritas says that the transaction will be financed through existing credit lines and newly negotiated. The group expects a turnover of around 3 billion euros in 2010.It amounted in 2009 to 2,648,000,000 euros.

"Minc" keep the tax shield

The standoff between Apple and Adobe is a rotating record. In the U.S. antitrust authorities are taking a close look at Apple, and are investigating whether the refusal of Flash on the iPhone, and iPod touch iPad is a barrier to competition. According to the Anglo-Saxon, the Ministry of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study the desirability of launching a formal investigation and discuss the distribution of the proceedings.

These are a few lines slipped into the contract for the next iPhone software, which alerted the authorities of the competition. Since one month, Apple requires application developers for its mobile devices to use its own software development. This decision led to the banishment of a handful of tools unofficial iPhone development.Including the Adobe Creative Suite 5, which was designed to create Flash applications.

In an open letter published last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has explained the reasons which led to the prohibition of applications developed with other development interfaces. Apple, he said, wants the software for iPhone take advantage of all the functions of the smartphone. Requirements hardly tenable with Flash, which focuses on compatibility with a wide variety of devices (phones, computers, shelves, televisions), rather than optimizing for one of them.

"Obviously anticompetitive"

Adobe, meanwhile, accuses Apple of foreclosure applications on the App Store for its own benefit. "What it does is clearly anticompetitive," responded David Balto, a former head of the FTC. But the issue divided the experts.Another former head of the FTC, more nuanced, felt it necessary to show that Apple is dominant in this sector. Or prove that its new rules affect the consumer.

No stranger to antitrust proceedings against its rivals, including Microsoft, Apple has in any case rarely found in this position of defendant. But in Mobile, where he became the number one American, the positions have changed. Last year, the FTC had already interested in its policy of banning applications on the App Store. The acquisition of the mobile advertising AdMob for Google is also under investigation "push". A potential deadlock that would serve both the interests of Apple, which launched its own offering, DST.

After the chaos of cancellations, the entanglements of compensation and reimbursement finally exhausted the patience of passengers. Among the 200,000 French stranded abroad at the height of paralysis of the aerial system, many are hoping today support at least part of the costs occasioned by delays or cancellations. To facilitate this, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Herv? Novelli, announced Monday the appointment of a mediator. But without doubt, the obstacle course is just beginning for those who have had their travel disrupted. At what rights can they claim, however? Airlines and tour operators are legally bound to compensate their passengers injured?

As regards the reimbursement of airfare, the situation is quite simple.The European airline passengers stranded abroad can count on the Brussels regulation, which imposes a clear obligation "to rerouting passengers in conditions similar transport and as soon as possible," except to reimburse their customers full Fast Cash advance loan. The standards at the start of the European Union are even stricter: in case of postponement or cancellation before the trip, are all airlines, including those who are not European, that are required reimburse or provide their flight. A right that the European Commission intends to enforce. The spokesman for Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas Friday, April 16 and encouraged the citizens to "assert their rights, even in exceptional circumstances such as these."

Commercial gesture

Photo credits: Le Figaro

"We see the gentleman behind the great communicator." Thus did Laurence Parisot commented on Monday, the first decision of the boss of Publicis Group, the new President of the French Association of Private Enterprise (Afep, which includes hundreds of large companies including those listed on the CAC 40). Maurice Levy has proposed to his counterpart Medef code to complete their common governance, to promote parity. The text now recommends that boards of directors (or supervisory) have at least 20% of women within three years and 40% by six years, these deadlines will act over the arrival due mandates.Some recommendations that match the proposal passed earlier this year by the Assembly at the initiative of the UMP MP Marie-Jo Zimmermann, with the support group president Jean-Francois Cope, who must still pass the Senate .

But the draft law provides for sanctions, including revocation of appointments of directors who flout the rule. Nothing like it in the code AFEP-MEDEF: all the betting is that firms will not dent their image. This is the principle of "comply or explain" ("comply or explain"), which Maurice Levy thinks it will be very effective: "If the rule is not applied, it should explain why in its annual report and before his shareholders.This is the strongest thing that can be imposed on a board of directors. "This idea of self-regulation had given birth to the code AFEP-MEDEF, allowing companies to avoid legislation on executive compensation (parachutes gilded, stock options …). Similarly, Maurice Levy believes that "the law is no longer necessary" on women directors. Marie-Jo Zimmermann replied "very pleased that companies show their willingness to move forward" but hopes that his bill "continue its path. He took this sword of Damocles that things start to move, we'll see in two or three years if we can remove it.In addition, continued its elected Moselle, my text provides a resolution of the board annually on equality across the company: hiring, pay, career development … ".

Bernadette Chirac at LVMH

"We may not like quotas, but there are circumstances where a little help can ease the situation," said Laurence Parisot, who "companies are at the forefront. We never talk about discrimination suffered by women in top management. The subject is still in the agenda of the "Social Agenda 2010" of Public Service."And we talk enough about the risk of decline with future territorial advisors," says the boss of bosses, the voting could be first past the post, whereas the regional advisers are currently elected on joint lists.

According Afep, women accounted for 10.4% of the directors of the CAC 40 in late 2009, and is expected to rise to 15.7% this year. Carole Lewiner will be ushered to the board of Bouygues, Laurence Dors at Capgemini, Meglena Kuneva at BNP Paribas in Fatine Layt Imeri … Without forgetting Bernadette Chirac at LVMH.

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The third Chinese airline, China Eastern, on Friday announced a membership agreement from June 2010 with the Skyteam alliance is located in, including Air France-KLM. His entry will be effective in mid-2011. Companies Delta Airlines, Alitalia, Korean Air or another Chinese company, China Southern, are also part of Skyteam.

Air France-KLM had already signed a partnership with China Eastern on code share flights between Paris and Shanghai. For the French company and the alliance, the future membership sounds like a victory against the other alliances such as Oneworld and Star Alliance. Skyteam marks indeed a great point against Luftahnsa who was also in the running.Thus deviend Skyteam alliance, the largest in China, probably the greatest future aviation market in the world.

More chess with Japan Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines, which joined Oneworld, Skyteam revives success. Oneworld not in its ranks as Cathay Pacific to Asia as the marginalized in this market.

However, doubts remain about the relationship with China Airlines Star Alliance, which had signed a trade agreement with China Eastern.

In June 2010, SkyTeam also plans to host two additional members, Vietnam Airlines and Tarom.

From our Washington correspondent

General Motors (GM) hopes to return to profit this year. But, for the six months following its release from bankruptcy – that is to say the second half of 2009 – the American manufacturer said Wednesday losses of 4.3 billion. A deficit can be explained by the accounting impact of one-off payment of 2.6 billion dollars to fund medical expenses of its workers unionized. Losses in the second half to add 88 billion of accumulated losses reported by GM since 2005. Fallen giant, which reveals for the first time since its release its finances in bankruptcy, however, is reassuring in terms of "positive cash flow of one billion dollars."GM will release its 2010 first quarter results next month.

The largest U.S. auto also Wednesday renewed his promise to repay the U.S. Treasury $ 4.7 billion by next June. This is the outstanding amount of loans to support its radical reorganization and exit bankruptcy instant payday loan. But the bulk of 50 billion dollars of state aid to GM has been converted into shares. The Treasury, which holds 61% stake in the manufacturer, hopes that conditions will be reunited as quickly as possible to divest this anachronistic situation through a grant from the reintroduction Detroit giant."We have important work to achieve but we are building the foundations that we will be re-listed," said Chris Liddell, the new group finance director, Microsoft hired by GM's new boss, Ed Whitacre .

Moving faster than expected GM bankruptcy has eliminated most of its debts and reduce its cost of labor. If we do not consider brands that are being abandoned, like Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn, GM sales are recovering.

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* Dassault Aviation announces Wednesday it had achieved in 2009 net profit of 315 million euros, down from 15.5% in one year, before amortization related to the purchase price of Thales shares. Operating profit amounted to 393 million euros against 434 million a year earlier, showing an operating margin of 11.5%.

The turnover stood at 3.42 billion euros. This figure is down from 3.6 billion in 2008. But Dassault was penalized in 2009 by order cancellations with 65 Falcon for NetJets aircraft to be delivered beyond 2014. "They will be recommended and delivered according to market developments," the company said.

The board of directors would propose a dividend of 8.8 euros per share.

Orders of 98 Falcon and 60 Rafale

Last year, Dassault Rafale has delivered 14 and a record 77 Falcon (aircraft) against 72 the previous year bad credit payday advance . At the end of the year, the balance appears in negative controls to 1.32 billion euros. For only Falcon, its largest division, the negative balance amounted to 3.85 billion.

For more, Dassault Aviation has provided any forecast results. The manufacturer adds, however, have received orders for 98 Falcon and 60 Rafale. Charles Edelstenne, CEO of Dassault Aviation said in a press conference that sales of Dassault Aviation in 2010 should be stable and that its results should be "a little worse."On Thales, Charles Edelstenne said the reorganization projects have received approval of two major shareholders of the group, state and Dassault Aviation.

* Dassault owns Le Figaro.

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