Feb 10




Legrand Thursday posted results for 2010 up sharply and said target for 2011 adjusted operating margin of at least 20%, including acquisitions.

The infrastructure specialist electrical and building digital said in a statement it was also for the current year organic growth in sales of 5%, which will be supplemented by acquisitions.

A "medium term", Legrand wants to achieve "a total average annual increase in turnover of 10%, supported by a growing exposure to emerging economies, which account for half of group sales in five years against third today ' hui.

It has also supported the development of new market segments that represent already nearly 20% of its turnover and "a strategy of targeted external growth, self-financing."

Always in the medium term the company aims an adjusted operating margin averaged 20% after taking into account acquisitions.

Over the whole of 2010, Legrand has recorded a net income of 418.3 million euros (44.3%), adjusted operating profit of 784.1 million (+35.5%) and turnover of 3,890.5 million (+8.7%).

According to the Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S, analysts on average expected a net profit of 456 million euros and sales of 3.856 million.

The group proposed a dividend of 0.88 euro per share, up 26%.

Emerging markets have largely contributed to the acceleration of the activity of Legrand in 2010 as the group's turnover has increased by 10.6%.

In 2010, free cash flow reached 645.5 million euros, down 1.4% yoy, and net debt fell from 10.6% to 1.2 billion euros.

The stock closed Wednesday at 30.15 euros. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has lost nearly 1% after a gain of more than 56% throughout 2010.

Feb 8




The Paris Bourse has erased its initial gains to close higher Tuesday and finish above 4,100 points for the first time since September 26, 2008, bolstered by the auto values.

The CAC 40 index ended with a gain of 0.43% to 4108.27 points, after opening down 0.2% in the wake of a crossing threshold of resistance to important 4,090 points.

As for values, Peugeot took 4.28% to 31.20 euros, buoyed by its subsidiary Faurecia (9.41% to 28.075 euros), which posted the highest increase of DTH after announcing a return to profit in 2010.

In its wake, Renault rose 2.98% to 49.39 euros.

Other major European markets also ended on a positive note, London and Frankfurt clinching respectively 0.67% and 0.54%.Of the European indices, the EuroStoxx 50 gained 0.23% and Eurofirst 300 has however lost 0.17%.

The euro rose 0.74% to 1.3677 dollar per barrel and U.S. light crude was up 0.3%, to 87.74 dollars.

Feb 7




Spanish bank Santander said on Monday an offer of 16.6 billion zlotys (4.3 billion euros), or 226.89 zlotys per share to buy the entire Polish Bank Zachodni WBK.

Allied Irish Bank had agreed last year to sell its stake to Santander from 70.4% in the Polish bank but the deal is still awaiting the green light by financial authorities in Poland.

Around 8:35 GMT, BZ WBK action advanced by 2.26% to 221.90 zlotys, while the title Santander advanced 0.77% to 8.98 euros.

Feb 4




George Osborne said Friday the opening of a web portal for collecting good ideas from citizens for the next budget to be presented March 23. George Osborne

After making available the details of public spending on the web, the British government coalition innovates again. Osbrone George, British finance minister, announced Friday the opening of a web portal where citizens are asked to make proposals for the next budget to be presented March 23. "I want to listen to your best and brightest ideas" he detailed during a factory tour Ultra Electronics in Cheltenham.

Osbrone George, who last month announced budget cuts of extreme severity, has promised to make March 23 a "budget increase" for fiscal year 2011-2012. "I want to know what business, small or large, are waiting for me.Because they are British companies like the one I visited today, which will lead us to recovery. So go online and tell me what you think, "he added in Cheltenham.

In recent weeks, many critics have been issued, including the voice of Richard Lambert, the president of the Confederation of British Industry. Main criticism: a strategy that lacks coherence and fails to get the country back on track since the banking crisis. Not sure the "crowdsourcing" is sufficient to redress the balance. Especially to everyone's surprise, the UK GDP shrank 0.5% in the last quarter of 2010, which again raises the specter of recession.

Feb 3




Sony reported Thursday a 5.9% drop in operating profit during its third fiscal quarter, October to December, hit by the price war raging on the front of the TV sales and the strong yen.

Operating profit stood at 137.52 billion yen (1.22 billion), higher than analysts' expectations which projected 127 billion.

The Japanese consumer electronics has left unchanged its forecast of annual results for 2010-2011 to 200 billion yen against an estimate to 217 billion yen by 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

The action Sony closed up 0.7% to 2,867 yen before the announcement.

Feb 1




Caisse National Health Insurance will file within 15 days of a complaint against laboratories for fraud and deception worse. The Mediator, anti-diabetes drug manufactured by Servier Laboratories, have killed 1,000 to 2,000 people in France.

Caisse National Health Insurance (CNAM) will file within 15 days of a complaint against Servier for "fraud and deception worse" in the case of the Pick, "she told AFP Tuesday.

"The CNAM and primary health insurance fund will file a complaint within 15 days for aggravated fraud and deception," said a spokesman for the CNAM. In late December, the Director General of the CNAM, Frederick Van Roekeghem had already indicated that Medicare "would assert its rights" in legal proceedings that would be brought by victims of cons Mediator Servier.

The Health Minister Xavier Bertrand had previously announced that all victims of the Mediator would benefit from a "comprehensive care by health insurance." The Picks, drug for diabetics who are overweight and widely misused as an appetite suppressant, was sold in France from 1976 to November 2009, the date of its withdrawal from the market. Used by five million people, could be responsible for at least 500 to 2,000 deaths, according to estimates.

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