The biggest French car company PSA Peugeot Citroen announced that a loss of 1.16 billion euros after tax last year. Leadership expected to come out of operating profit in the first half of 2010, although the company will face serious challenges over the next few years forward Financial Times. The largest of them will be shrinking car market in Europe, according to the French group for the production of cars will fall by around 9% this year. To overcome this, Peugeot Citroen plans to market a new model by which to increase its market share. The net loss for the French company has tripled in comparison to the negative financial result of 363 million euros for 2008, its sales decreased by 7.2% yoy in 2009, which forced the company to seek more than 3 billion . EUR rescue assistance from the French state last year. The negative financial result of the first half of last year was positive in the second half thanks to government programs worldwide, including France, to stimulate purchases of new cars. Peugeot Citroen has a positive net cash flow In 809 million euros for 2009. Leadership trusts that the successful implementation of the plan for sales management, cost reduction and better utilization of capacity will support the company’s financial performance this year, along with the launch of new models on the market. Our presentation of the financial unit Banque PSA Finance also contribute to profit in the first half.
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The German unit of U.S. car giant General Motors – Opel, will chase the expansion through an investment of 11 billion euros in the development of new cars over the next five years. The plan is part of a strategy to transform the company into a profitable within two years. This report by the leadership of GM, Air Force forward. From GM also reported that the planned reduction of 8 300 people in Europe and the closures in Antvertp. One of the main objectives of GM is to obtain approval of plans by European governments to be able to get vital loans to the company to become profitable again. At this stage the intentions of GM have been identified as “financially reasonable and realistic to achieve” an independent auditor, said the head of the company’s Europe, Nick Reilly.
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The representative of the European Commission has dismissed allegations that Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso wants to quickly start the process to resolve disputes on two types of genetically modified organisms in the European Union after his new team take over his duties next week, AFP reported. Yesterday the agency communicates information from an anonymous source from the EC, according to Barroso, who wants to renew the settlement process rather the cultivation of two genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the EU – Culture MON 810 corn and potatoes Amflora. Barroso has no intention to impose GMOs, however, said the official told AFP last night his spokeswoman Pia Hansen Arenkilde. No decision is taken on these two items, she stressed. Of the EC Representation in France also have declared that no precise date is not currently scheduled for discussion of GMOs.
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Trade in the market for bankruptcy protection under state or contracts for protection against non-performing its obligations (credit default swaps), today passed more calmly than last week, police MarketWatch. Against this background, risk premiums of almost all countries decreased due to a narrowed and the defense costs of unserved. This happens with Spain and Greece, which last week were monitored under a magnifying glass by market participants. Not such a situation, however, with Portugal as the country risk premium went up again. According to the CMA DataVision, which provides data on the cost of credit swaps, the primary risk indicator for Greece is back below the 4 per cent and 3.97 per cent. This means that to protect the position of EUR 10 million in state bonds to Greece need to pay a premium of 397 thousand euros per year. In Spain also observed shrinkage of the risk spread, and he is now 1.61 percentage points. Although the overall stabilization of the situation, however, Portugal remained under strong pressure from the market. The country risk premium is increased to 2.34 percent from 2.27 percent on Friday.
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The legendary investor George Soros called from Davos to radically reduce the size of banks that are too big to be allowed to fail transmitted BBC. At the World Economic Forum, he spoke in support of U.S. President Barack Obama in his attempts to separate commercial and investment banking. According to him, however, even after such action, most investment banks will still remain too large to fail. To control these banks, all major economies need to rally around strict rules to limit the risk – how much money banks can borrow to invest, “said billionaire. He acknowledges that it will be difficult to determine the exact ceiling on leverage, but that governments have enough time to develop a global regulatory framework. George Soros called the current economic crisis “super bubble” which was created by the system itself, and was the culmination of a series of smaller balloons in the last 25 years, and unsuccessful attempts to remove them. They add balloons were caused by facilitated credit and high financial leverage. As regulators and bankers were wrongly believed that markets are efficient, Soros continued, and were blinded by ideology that they should always be less regulated. And when the bubble burst, governments and regulators to further worsen the situation by reducing interest rates make money cheaper and thus to the mortgage crisis in the United States, which rocked the entire financial system.
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