SMEs have suffered worst of the credit squeeze between 2007 and 2010 than larger firms, experts say that the OECD published the first report on "Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs" by sifting through data from 18 countries ranging from Canada to Sweden via South Korea, France, Hungary, Finland, the United States.

SMEs have been hard hit by the crisis in 2008 and 2009. Confidence indicators of SMEs in OECD countries have fallen to levels lower than those of the 1990s. Direct consequence of falling demand from mid-2008, SMEs were down to their turnover. Companies that export have suffered more than those living in their home market only because of the decline in global trade.

Risk clients unattractive

SMEs have also been handicapped by the lengthening of payment periods which continued in 2010, despite a slight improvement in the economic situation. They have experienced cash flow difficulties. Their financial situation has deteriorated. Faced with this deal, their banks have lent less in most countries in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, financial institutions continued to reduce their lending in Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the euro area, the rejection rate of applications for credit from 12% in first half 2009 to 18% in the second half of that year. A country is an exception: France, where the percentage of refusals decreased from 12% to 7% through the introduction of credit mediation and government decisions. The public financial institution specialized in SMEs OSEO has provided 12 billion euros of loans guaranteed in 2009. According Oséo, 50% of companies having benefited from the exceptional warranty cash claim to have avoided bankruptcy. In 2010, the refusal rate financing amounted to 11% in the euro area.

Considered unattractive risk clients, SMEs were asked to provide more guarantees for credit. They paid more bank financing than large groups, despite lower interest rates. According to figures released Wednesday by the Bank of France, the cost of short-term credit to businesses rose from 2.49% to 2.42% between October 2011 and January 2012. But the cost of borrowing in the medium and long term for companies rose 4.06% to 4.21%.

The policy of the banks says that the share of SME loans, which varies according to country, between 12% and 30% of total loans to businesses, has fallen when it is already well below their weight economy and their role in job creation in normal times. Not surprisingly, the number of SMEs in difficulty increased. In 2009, bankruptcies increased in the studied countries except Canada, South Korea and Portugal. They were up in 2010 in Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Switzerland. Although they have declined in France, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, they remained at a level much higher than in 2007.

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A water sports center has replaced five towers in the district of Val Fourré in Mantes-la-Jolie. Photo credits: ANRU

The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) announced tonight that it has raised its system of crisis to the nuclear Penly, Seine-Maritime. Yesterday, two fire starts in a reactor caused a leak of radioactive water on an attached cooling system. The water was then collected in tanks provided for this purpose inside the building. But following the intervention of the EDF teams and firefighters, "since 4:00 this morning, there is no leakage at the joint of the pump," EDF said in a statement this morning. "This return to normal on the cooling system has removed the internal mobilization plan at 5:15 this morning."

The reactor, cooling down, remain stationary between 4 and 10 days, time to repair the pump circuit and "understand what happened in detail," said the AFP Dominique Mining , director of EDF's nuclear fleet. "The teams were able to re-enter the reactor building" during the night, he said, adding that "there is light, there is no smoke." The repairs could be made from this weekend.

Someone slightly burnt

The ASN provides that "the incident had no impact on the environment" and listed in Level 1 ("anomaly") on account that the seven nuclear safety INES scale.

No radioactive contamination was detected on the 29 persons involved in the reactor building to extinguish the fire starts but one of them was slightly burned during surgery, said last night the Director General of ASN Jean-Christophe Niel. "This is an injury limited" according to information from EDF, he said.

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After the Millers last week, it was the turn of the manufacturers of dry dog ​​and cat to be sanctioned by the Competition Authority. In a country of 8 million dogs and 10 million cats, groups Nestle (Purina), March (Royal Canin) and Colgate-Palmolive (Hill's Pet Nutrition) were sentenced to pay 35.3 million euros for cartel with their wholesalers.

According to the sages of the Rue de l'Echelle, Nestle and Mars agreed for five years (2004-2008) with their wholesalers, who then sold their stores croquettes (BHV Jardiland, Leroy Merlin, Truffaut …).

The two market leaders have imposed their resale prices, exclusive territorial or customer, thus limiting competition between them. Royal Canin had already been convicted in 2005 by Constable competition.

As for the subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive, she has arranged with its veterinary wholesalers to ban the export of its products outside the Hexagon.

If Nestlé and Mars are the most heavily penalized (19 and 11.6 million fine), they nevertheless benefited from reductions of approximately 20% penalty for not contesting the facts. They also set up compliance programs to competition rules. Finally, they reorganized their distribution system and p

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Unions of La Poste have been heard. Rocked by three suicides in six months, the postal group, which employs 240,000 people, has taken the measure of social malaise that reigns within its walls. Its CEO, Jean-Paul Bailly announced Monday "adjustments" in the reorganization under way in the business. However, he rejected the idea of ​​a six-month pause in the restructuring of the branch post, as was mentioned the Sunday newspaper this weekend. "Adaptation of the company can not stop. It does not take a break: some projects will continue, others may see their schedules relaxed, "he said in a statement.

Jean-Paul Bailly has also stressed the importance of continuing the "cycle of listening" started last week and announced a "great dialogue to improve social cohesion" in local and national levels, until 15 September. Parallel negotiations should also lead to a "package of concrete measures by April 30." The Post decided, also, to extend by six months the deployment of employee ownership, a project which met recently to outright union opposition. Finally, Jean-Paul Bailly has appointed a "mediator of work life," a position entrusted to his chief of staff, Dominique Blanchecotte.

Calendar of crisis accelerated

The Post had already accelerated its timetable for ending the crisis last week, after the suicide, March 11, a part of the group in Britain. In a folder left behind, this forty, who had been off long illness since November and was found hanged at his place of work in Brittany, had denounced a hard three years from its hierarchy. This was the second suicide in Breton Post in ten days. February 29, Jeremy Buan, a senior of 28 years, had committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of La Poste in Rennes, in the Ille-et-Vilaine. He too had reported his "outstanding work" in a letter released by his partner. Immediately, the Post Office had opened on Tuesday for talks with the unions on "health and welfare at work", promising that "proposals" would be made "before summer" make quick cash.

The measures announced today should therefore satisfy the unions who denounced social climate "anxiety" since the suicide last September of a 52-year employee who was, also, défenestrée the fourth floor of the financial center of the 15th arrondissement in Paris. "This situation is unfortunately not unique to the post office," said Antoine Le Séguillon this week, a union representative GSC in Figaro.fr. "And it is not unique to Britain," he said hoping that the leadership would engage quickly "concrete actions".

Action plan against erosion mail

Faced with the erosion of its mail business, which it considered that the volumes would collapse by 30% over 2008-2015, the Post Office had drawn a new plan in 2009. Jean-Paul Bailly had emphasized that this branch should "reinvent themselves" by offering new services. Gradually, the schedules of post offices have been extended throughout France, robots have been installed to reduce waiting times for customers and, last September, The Post has completely redesigned its line of mail.

A strategy that has "paid off", welcomed the group during the presentation of its annual results on March 8. While lower volumes continued with a decrease of 3%, after falling 3.3% in 2010, the mail business recorded a turnover stable at EUR 11.5 billion (+ 0.3%), more than half of the total activity of La Poste. But for the unions, these good results have been costly to employees. According to the CGT, it was obtained "at a price of 10,091 job cuts" and an increase in sick leave.

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"We will put patterns Florange unemployed by taking control of the plant." Edward Martin, representative of the CFDT EWC ArcelorMittal, wants offensive. The occupation of the site, scheduled for tomorrow, is a direct consequence of the extension until 30 June of the closure of two blast furnaces Florange, the last of Lorraine. "The direction we to understand that, barring a miracle, this closure would last all year," says Edward Martin.

For several months, the largest producer of steel has many announcements to reduce its production capacity. Spain, Belgium and France but also Romania and Czech Republic were affected. Today, only the blast furnaces in Liege never reopen. Other closures are for the moment, temporary.

A temporary measure reaffirmed to the minister, Eric Besson

Bourrier Hervé, President of ArcelorMittal France, reaffirmed that "temporary" to Eric Besson, Minister of Industry, last week. Employees such as trade unionists fear yet more than this closing becomes final. The clues that point in this direction are beginning to be numerous.

"A blast furnace is designed to run continuously, says an industry expert. It degrades when it is not the case. "The first blast furnace Florange is closed since June. The second since October. Investment and maintenance are reduced. Some were made late last year but "there is nothing for a month and a half" notes François Pagano, CFE-CGC delegate. "The industrial base is deteriorating, laments Edward Martin. With the cold, some lines broken. "Worse:" The founders began to be reclassified in the group. Leaders do not take it otherwise if they had close Florange. "

The recovery of orders has not changed all that

The recovery of orders failed to revive the plant. Aditya Mittal, CFO of ArcelorMittal, said on publication of results in 2011 that "shipments are much better than the fourth quarter of 2011, but we are still far volumes 2006, 2007 and 2008." What does surprisingly, these years being excellent.

Francois Pagano explains that "the business unit North, including Dunkirk, Florange, Benelux and Germany, recorded 3.7 million tons of orders for the second quarter of 2012 while its production capacity is 3.8 million . So the plants are running at 97% capacity. At this level, it would be possible to reopen Florange to avoid a potential bottleneck. "

Finally, the closure would be consistent with the group's strategy to focus on very large production units in coastline at Dunkirk and Fos sur mer in France and Bremen in Germany. The justifications for the closure of Liege seem perfectly applicable to Florange. "ArcelorMittal is considering a gain of 56 euros per tonne, which would be credited to the closure of Liege and transfer the production of slabs (Note: raw material for the manufacture of sheet metal) to Dunkirk," says the firm Laplace Council A study commissioned by the Walloon region. The forward gain is identical to Florange: "The leaders explain that ArcelorMittal bring slabs from Dunkirk saves 50 euros per tonne," confirms Francois Pagano.

With increased action "punch", although some have put Florange in the heart of the current election campaign. "Getting a formal commitment of a private company seems complicated," admits to the entourage of Eric Besson. A conclusion which adheres Francois Pagano whose only solution is to "convince Lakshmi Mittal's economic interest Florange".

"Ulcos" or last resort

All actors in the Lorraine steel cite Ulcos project, the acronym for "steel making process at very low CO2 emissions," as salvation for Florange. Launched in 2004, this is a program to find new techniques to produce steel with less carbon dioxide (CO2). Investments for carrying out are huge: 650 million euros! The French government has already pledged 150 million euros of funding. And Brussels could bring 250 million additional. ArcelorMittal leaders have vowed to launch Ulcos, and bring the balance of funding, if EU subsidies are granted.

Except that many obstacles have arisen in recent months. First techniques. The processes developed by Ulcos involve capturing and storing carbon. But experts are beginning to question this technique both for environmental reasons and efficiency.

Then the price of CO2 allowances collapsed in recent months, making plans to reduce CO2 emissions less urgent to implement. And nothing suggests that prices will go up quickly. In difficult economic times, as is currently the case, companies may be reluctant to invest in such technologies if there is no immediate financial implications.

Finally, there is little doubt that ArcelorMittal will decide to raise, or not, Florange on the basis of the only economic criteria. "The management of ArcelorMittal has told us clearly that Florange restarted if the market justifies it, and not only if Ulcos born," stated Michel Liebgott recently, area MP Florange.

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Like European and Asian stock markets, Wall Street is not immune to the anxiety surrounding the health of the global economy. This pessimism has been going on yesterday and pessimistic of the U.S. central bank. The Fed has held that the U.S. economic recovery was "slow" and threatened by "high risk". The central bank, in this context, announced an operation to extend the maturity of the assets it holds up to 400 billion dollars by June 2012."You can interpret this decision as the Fed's will not to launch three quantitative easing (monetary easing to boost the U.S. economy, ed) immediately, says Arnaud Poutiers, executive vice president of IG Markets.

The general concern about global growth has been reinforced by concerns about the economic situation in China. Manufacturing activity in the country has deteriorated in September, reaching its lowest level in two months, according to preliminary PMI bank HSBC said on Thursday. PMI Purchasing Managers calculated by HSBC in September reached 49.4 against 49.9 in August, knowing that a figure below 50 means contraction.

In France, the growth of private sector activity in September fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the recovery in 2009, while in Germany, the composite PMI, which includes industry and services, has emerged to 50.8, its lowest level since July 2009 against 51.3 in August.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also said Thursday in Washington that the slow economic growth was a challenge "greater" than the debt and that the governments around the world should give priority to support growth .

On the issue of European debt disturbing fact, little progress.Greece has just announced yesterday it will launch new austerity measures to get the funding it needs Troika in October to avoid bankruptcy.

Bad news on employment front

The announcement of a rise in weekly jobless across the Atlantic is not reassuring. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 423,000 people registered as unemployed during the week of September 10 to 17. The consensus of analysts expected 420,000 new applications for unemployment benefits.

Other important indicators, such as managers' index index advanced sprix estate, are in the program.

In this context, oil prices plunged more than 5% Thursday to open in New York, returning to their lowest levels in a month.On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of "light sweet crude" for November delivery traded at 81.28 dollars, down 4.64 dollars (5.4%) compared to the previous day. On the currency markets, the euro continued to sink against the dollar: the euro back below the $ 1.35 dollar to 1.3462 (-0.82%).

Values ​​to follow

On the corporate side, Bank of America (-5.02% to 6.06 dollars), Wells Fargo (-2.02% to 23.23 dollars) and Citigroup (-4.47% to 24.38 dollars) should still suffer from the deterioration of their rating by Moody's. The agency that the state may fly to their rescue.

Fedex (-10.15% to 65.14 dollars) has reported an EPS according to the consensus of $ 1.46 in the first quarter, a turnover of 10.52 billion dollars.

United Technologies (-7.16% to 69.51 dollars) will buy the equipment manufacturer Goodrich Aviation (10.06% to 120.50 dollars) to $ 16.5 billion (12.2 billion euros) cash, a transaction that would be the largest acquisition of U.S. industrial giant in 10 years.

The newspaper, which lost 32 million euros in 2010, is expected to lose at least fifteen this year. Reportedly, the group does not bend under the weight of debt. It supports about 2 million in payables. In fact, the financing of the newspaper is provided by Alexander Pugachev himself, who regularly feeds the current account of the newspaper to pay the bills.Figaro in an interview last November, he declared: "France-Soir has no bank debt … We lose about 2 million a month and every month I put money on account."

This backup procedure, if accepted by the Commercial Court of Paris, will allow the appointment of an administrator. Its role would be not to negotiate with creditors, but rather to address the structural and economic reasons that make the newspaper is in permanent deficit. France-Soir and will be until the release has not reached the 150,000 to 170,000 copies by the admission of its owner.However, at present, the paid circulation of the title revolves around 74,000, despite the relaunch of the title made in January 2011.

The cost structure

Alexander Pugachev, who has already invested 50 million euros in the title, was prepared to inject 20 million euros in 2011 to run the newspaper and energize. But today, it raises the question of the cost structure of the paper. The selling price, even back 50 to 60 cents, and low advertising revenues do not find a financial balance. The equation is complicated Alexander Pugachev. To reach 150,000 copies, the newspaper needs to invest in editorial quality and a strong distribution. But this is expensive. It might therefore seek partners to share the burden.

The union claims toufefois "welcome the clear commitment to compliance with the fiscal path."

The National Association of Food Industries for its part believes that the creation of a tax on soft drinks is "unacceptable.""It is a policy identical to that which was conducted for alcohol and tobacco, and we do not want food to undergo this type of approach," said Jean-René Buisson, president of the Association National Food Industries (ANIA). "We are aware of the need to participate in collective efforts but we do not want this action is taken based on the nutritional aspects of the product."

Manufacturers of cigarettes and tobacco shops demanded government action against smuggling to protect their industry, they are threatened after the announcement Wednesday by the government of a new tax increase. "Before 2003, the parallel market was estimated at 2-3%. Today we talk about 20% in 2012, the term 25%? "Pascal Montredon concerned, the President of the Confederation of tobacconists.Several studies have smoked a cigarette in five in France comes from the parallel market, purchased abroad, online or imported through criminal networks

In the construction sector, Ridoret Didier, president of the French Building Federation denounced "a heavy blow to SMEs in the building" with "The change in the calculation of the relief on low salaries and reintegration, in this calculation, the overtime. " "The SME sector will be particularly affected as they are mostly remained at 39 hours," says he told AFP.

Liébus Patrick, president of the Confederation of Crafts and Small construction companies, is pleased to share the "message about the importance of maintaining the 5.5% VAT for maintenance and restoration [ d] been understood as the government realized that we were a growth industry. "It regrets, however, the additional movement of the plane on the "scellier" and equipment for sustainable development: "This will impact on activity and employment," he added.

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A retaliatory measure following the invalidation by the court in February of the social plan concocted by management, who wanted to relocate its production to China. Considering the economic reasons cited by Sodimedical as unjustified (because the company depends on its parent, very profitable), the high court of Troyes was the beginning of the year pushed the rules of redundancy.

Director sequestered

But since then, the situation of employees of Plancy-l'Abbaye, in the Aube near Troyes, stronghold Baroin, has not arranged.As of May, Sodimedical no longer paid the salaries of its employees guaranteed payday loans. "The employees are without work and without income illegally," said Mr. Brown, their lawyer.

Despite several convictions by the courts, forcing the company to pay wages on pain of penalty, financial difficulties accumulate. "The state is unable to enforce court decisions. We met with the Minister of Economy Baroin, who returned the ball to the prefect, "said an employee on a daily basis. Without success.

Twice in June, employees have unsuccessfully tried to succeed by sequestering their manager, later released by police.The Commercial Court of Troyes should again today to decide the fate of employees Sodimedical.

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