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The number of vehicles in China would exceed 200 million in 2020, reported Monday's China Securities Journal, citing a government official.

This sharp increase in the number of cars in circulation may pose problems for the environment and energy security, said Sunday Fuchang Wang, Vice-Minister in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at an automotive conference.

The Chinese automotive market is one of the mainstays in the global automotive industry is still recovering from the slowdown experienced last year.

Sales have shown signs of slowing from the start of the second quarter but rebounded sharply in August, thanks to government subsidies for the purchase of clean vehicles.

Carrefour, which announced results in line with its forecasts in the first half, on Tuesday confirmed its guidance for full year 2010 thanks to the dynamism in emerging countries, while expressing disappointment in the sales of July .

The number two worldwide in distribution, after Wal-Mart, reported a net profit of 82 million for the first six months of the year against a loss a year earlier.

Its operating profit stood at 1.096 billion euros over the period, according to the prediction of Carrefour in mid-July.

The group at the same time reiterated that it was an ordinary profit of 3.1 billion for all 2010.

"We are on track to achieve our 2010 targets," said Lars Olofsson, Executive Director of Carrefour, at a conference presentation of results.

"We're quite pleased with the sales in July, a little disappointed by sales cons of August, for his part said Pierre Bouchut, the group finance director of distribution, during a conference call. "The trend in emerging markets remains strong."

Around 9:50, after having opened down nearly 2%, the action Carrefour did not yield more than 0.3% to 36.00 euros.She is spending time in positive territory for the sole and increasing value within the CAC 40 index.

Since the beginning of the year, the title was up over 7%.

"The first half is in line with forecasts of July 15, 2010 target is unchanged and our point of view, (Crossroads, Ed) is a title" on hold "with a value greater than in the rest of the industry "said Justin Scarborough, analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland.

NO COMMENTS ON THE ASIAN ASSETS

Over the half, Carrefour has benefited from the dynamism of emerging economies to reach a turnover up 6% to 41.3 billion euros, offsetting a contraction in sales in Europe, mainly France, Belgium, Spain and Italy, as well as in other countries of southern Europe such as Greece or Romania.

Sales fell 0.4% in France and 3.1% in the rest of Europe. At constant exchange rates, they climbed 16% in Latin America and 8.9% in Asia.

The group, which seeks to save 4.5 billion euros over three years to improve its margins, also points to have reduced its costs by 236 million euros in the first half of the year, a target of 500 million euro per 2010.

Asked about the Asian assets of the group, Pierre Bouchut has refused to comment on reports about a possible sale of assets Malaysian, Thai and Singaporean group.

"We do not comment on such rumors," said the CFO.'Our goal is to build on certain markets and, over time, probably, to take the decision to abandon certain other markets. "

"At what point will we take this decision? Will we really?" Everything remains open, "he added.

According to several sources, Carrefour tries to sell its assets in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore to focus its efforts on China and India.

This could generate some 800 million euros in the French distributor.

PTT, Thailand first group in the energy sector, has already expressed interest in taking over the assets in Thailand.

The Sanofi-Aventis Multaq must be considered one of the main options for treating atrial fibrillation, one of the most frequent disorders of cardiac rhythm, recommended on Sunday the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

This recommendation is a key support rider for a drug that has so far achieved only modest commercial start.

The Multaq (dronedarone) is intended to replace an older molecule, amiodarone, and has fewer risk factors than the latter, but it has generated to date that relatively weak sales in the U.S. and Europe because several studies have found limited effectiveness.

In its new recommendations on the management of atrial fibrillation (AF), ESC Multaq attributed to a Class 1 recommendation, which means it is a safer treatment option even though it may be less effective.

"Given the superior advantages in terms of safety and potential outcomes, the dronedarone might be preferable as a first option antiarrhythmic" explain the recommendations, published at the ESC congress in Stockholm.

The paper also highlights, for the first time the importance of reducing the duration of hospitalization of patients with atrial fibrillation, a result of Multaq found in a pivotal clinical trial.

The drug is not recommended for patients with severe heart weakness.

"Sanofi-Aventis is pleased with this recommendation Multaq first line in the FA, which constitutes a recognition of the extensive clinical development program of the drug and the innovative results achieved in terms of reduced hospitalizations from cardiovascular causes," said Marc Cluzel, executive vice president in charge of research and development in the pharmaceutical group, in a statement.

The marketing of Multaq was approved in the United States in July 2009 and last September in the European Union.He is considered one of the main growth potential of Sanofi for years to come, which will be marked by the patent expiry of several key products groups, which include cancer Taxotere or anticoagulant Plavix.

The Multaq could generate an annual turnover of 1.2 billion euros in 2014 according to consensus estimates of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

Deutsche Postbank reported a pretax profit above expectations in the second quarter, supported by higher interest income and lower losses in subprime, but the banking group has increased its reserves for potential losses on credit.

The chief executive, Stefan Jutte said in a statement it expected that the result does not reach the second half than the first, while ensuring that the full year will be positive.

The action took 0.64% to 25.30 euros at 8:05 GMT.

The first German retail bank by number of customers has also abandoned its goal of profitability in the medium term due to uncertainties still hang on the evolution of banking regulation.

Deutsche Postbank posted a pretax profit of 94 million euros in the second quarter, against a loss of 29 million a year earlier.Analysts had expected a profit of 77.9 million.

These results echo those reported by other retail banks such as Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and HSBC, which illustrate the recovery of the banking sector.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Postbank had said it expected a return on equity after tax of 13% over the medium term, a goal well below that of some of its rivals such as Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Postbank has narrowly passed the stress tests that have imposed the European authorities, showing a Tier 1 ratio by 0.6 percentage point higher than the 6% threshold required under the most brutal scenario imagined by the regulator .

RESERVES INCREASE

Postbank said Wednesday that this ratio showed late June to 7.3%, a level identical to the one she posted late March.

She reiterated that she would continue to undertake the necessary measures to achieve a ratio of 9.5% by end 2012.

The net interest emerged, up 18% to 671 million euros in the second quarter, while provisions for credit losses were recorded at 175 million euros against 120 million a year ago.

Asset write-downs related to subprime mortgages fell to 174 million euros in the second quarter against 431 million a year earlier.

In late July, the group said it had an exposure of 7.9 billion euros in sovereign debt.Postbank had an exhibition of 500 million euros in loans Portuguese, Italian loans to 4.6 billion, 300 million to the Irish debt, $ 1.3 billion to 1.2 billion debt to Greek and Spanish government bonds .

The growth of manufacturing in the euro area picked up slightly in July, thanks to the dynamism of the sector in Germany, show the final results of the monthly survey Markit.

The PMI final Markit purchasing managers stood at 56.7 against a flash estimate to 56.5 and 55.6 in June

So the tenth straight month that the index is above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction in activity.

"It seems that the improvement is reflected in the PMI in the euro area in July is almost entirely due to an acceleration of growth in Germany," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

The component output rose to 58.7 in July, up slightly from the initial estimate of 58.3 and 57.2 higher than the figure for the month of June

The employment rose to 51.1 against 50.4 in June, the highest since May 2008, again due to improved labor market in Germany.

The French consumer sentiment has stabilized at a low level in July after five months of degradation, according to the monthly survey of consumer confidence survey released Thursday by the INSEE.

The summary indicator of households' opinion on the economic situation remained unchanged at -39, its lowest level since May 2009.Seventeen economists polled by Reuters on average expected a further deterioration to -40.

The survey, conducted at the time of the announcement of the proposed pension reform and measures to reduce public deficits, shows that concerns about the future national fade a bit while still fears about the labor market.

"The impact of pension reform was probably fully integrated in the June survey," Judge Dominique Barbet, economist at BNP Paribas.

The index had dropped one point to -39 in June fell to their lowest level since May 2009, bringing to nine points to fall since the beginning of the year.

CONCERNS ON UNEMPLOYMENT

In July, households' opinion on their past personal financial situation has lost two points, with a balance cons -26 to -28 in June

Their opinion about their personal financial future (-20) remained stable, as well as their views on the advisability of making major purchases (-24).

However, the outlook for living standards in France, in decline since the beginning of the year, edged with a net increase of two points

-52.

The households' opinion on the level of past life in France remained stable at a very low level, with the balance to -71 compared to an average of -40 from the inception of the survey in January 1987.

Among the balances do not count in calculating the summary indicator, that the prospects of unemployment has stabilized at a high level (69), reflecting concerns still alive.

This balance, said Insee, was increased from eight to 89 points between January 2008 and June 2009 and then fell until October. He has since remained around 65 points, well above its long-term average is 33.

The balance measures the opportunity to spare jumped eight points to 19 in July, near its historical average (20), but opinion on the ability to save has the same time lost three points to -14.

Officers at INSEE interviewed approximately 2,000 households from June 29 to July 19.The survey did not take place in August, the next issue will be published in late September.

U.S. stocks opened lower Monday as investors remain concerned about budget problems and the situation of banks in Europe, but activity in the area of mergers and acquisitions limit their decline.

A few minutes after opening, the Dow Jones gives 31.15 points, or 0.3%, to 10,166.88 points. The S & P 500 was down 3.77 points (0.3%) to 1074.19 points while the Nasdaq went up into the green and gained 0.3% to 2203.37 points.

Wall Street took a breather after the biggest weekly increase recorded by the S & P this year and before the start of the season results will be given after the closure of Alcoa.

The questions also persist about the strength tests conducted on the European banks.The magazine Der Spiegel reported this weekend that the test included a discount on the German debt, a hypothesis that several sources had previously rejected.

"There is a risk that banks are not doing that well in these tests," said Dan McMahon of Raymond James Financial."We do not know how likely it is but there is a certain pessimism.

Aon Corp., the first global insurance broker, announced that it would buy services company Hewitt Associates human resources for about 4.9 billion dollars (3.9 billion euros) in cash and stock.

The action Hewitt burns 33% to 47.05 dollars while Aon was down 7.4% to $ 35.50.

"This new (fusion) is very positive when we start to earnings season," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer Hugh Johnson Advisors. "It's very positive when we see money flowing into this market."

Title Playboy Enterprises also jumped 34.3% to 5.29 dollars.The eponymous magazine founder Hugh Hefner has presented an agreement to leave the company of NYSE, proposing to buy all shares it does not already own for $ 5.50 in cash.

Pernod Ricard announces the distribution of an interim dividend for FY 2009-2010 far exceeds the total dividend distributed during the 2008-2009 fiscal year, a year when the group had to make savings because of the crisis.

Its board of directors decided to pay an interim dividend of 0.61 euro per share against a total dividend of 0.50 euro for the previous year.

The deposit will be posted Friday, July 2 and payable Wednesday, July 7, 2010.

A spokesman for the group declined to given any indication on the total dividend which shareholders could expect for the year 2009-2010.

The producer of Pastis has already announced to shareholders that he wanted to resume his practice before the crisis, which was to distribute a cash dividend representing one third of its net current.

Ricard Pernod has reported a significant rebound from its sales for the first three months of 2010 and will announce its annual results on September 2nd.

The Thales group has been sentenced by a tribunal in Paris to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in litigation on Taiwan frigates, said Monday the AFP Thales and a source familiar with the matter confirmed a report in Le Figaro.

By this decision, the arbitral tribunal (three judges selected by agreement by both parties) condemns Thales to repay overpaid commissions to middlemen to get the contract for sale of six frigates to Taiwan by France in 1991.

"The award was notified today (Monday, editor's note) to Thales in Paris by an international tribunal. Thales was ordered to pay damages.It is notified of a total and we will specify in the evening figures concerning Thales ", told AFP a spokesman of the group.

According to Le Figaro, Thales will pay 591 million dollars, a sum plus interest and costs of arbitration, which should be about one billion dollars.

Article 18 of the contract "Bravo", codename file frigates, explicitly prohibited from paying intermediaries under penalty of restitution payments made in Taiwan.

But an investigation by a Swiss magistrate found that substantial sums had been paid by Thomson-CSF (now Thales) to intermediaries whose principal, Andrew Wang, had been asked to persuade Taiwan to choose the French ships. The Swiss court has blocked 520 million belonging to Mr.Wang.

This discovery has led Taiwan to enter an arbitration tribunal in 2001 for the reimbursement of fees.

Although Thales has been a leader in the contract "Bravo", 70% of the contract frigates returned to the Directorate of Naval Construction (DCN), a public company and whose intervention in the contract was guaranteed by the state.

According to several sources familiar with the situation who spoke before the decision notified on Monday, if convicted of Thales, the state would have to pay 70% of the total sum claimed to Thales.