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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.

American International Group (AIG) is expected to decide by early next week if he enters into formal negotiations with strategic investors for AIA, its Asian subsidiary life insurance, it was learned Wednesday from sources near process.

The establishment of a deadline for submission of bids by U.S. insurer AIG could finally shows consider introducing its Asian subsidiary of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in the fourth quarter of the year, but that an outside investor is entering the capital AIA ago.

Some Chinese investors have nevertheless expressed their interest in acquiring a stake in AIA before its IPO, which would allow it to recover about U.S. $ 15 billion (12 billion euros).

Given the short time remaining, it is unlikely that a significant agreement is reached before the start of the procedure prior to an IPO.

"The train ahead of the IPO rather quickly.This means that the possibility to stop it is limited to a strategic investor wishing to report to the Board, examine accounts and negotiate the price, "said one source familiar with the matter.

SEVERAL CHINESE GROUPS INTERESTED

AIG was not immediately available for comment.

Three to four consortia consisting of Chinese investors have approached AIG offering to take stakes in AIA before its IPO, said one source.

Some consortia have expressed interest to take between 10% and 30% stake in AIA, said the sources interviewed.

These have however said AIG is focused solely on an IPO while strategic investors do not constitute a decisive element of the process.

The press had previously cited the names of China Life Insurance, Ping An, Cinda Asset Management Fosun Group, Hony Capital and Alibaba.com among potential suitors for a strategic stake in AIA.

AIG should be mandated Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as international coordinators of the IPO of its subsidiary, had previously been learned from several sources.

Generally the interests sold before the IPO are priced downgraded which is then used to refer to that of the IPO.

Such a transaction could facilitate the sale of the remaining capital from traditional institutions and funds.

If the proposed IPO of AIA is realized, it could be the largest ever conducted on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and would allow AIG to repay a portion of public funds injected into the U.S. insurer in 2008.

The group of consumer products Reckitt Benckiser has published a net increase of 23% for the second quarter, above expectations and maintained its objectives.

The British, who announced last week its intention to purchase for 2.54 billion pounds his compatriot SSL, the makers of Scholl sandals and Durex condoms, had a net profit of 380 million pounds (455 million euros ).

Analysts surveyed by I / B / E / S expected the 363.4 million.Reckitt had said 365 million anticipated.

Reckitt said that if its takeover offer for SSL to succeed, he thought he could close the deal in the fourth quarter.

The proposed interim dividend up 16% to 50 pence.

The group said its performance was led by strong growth in developing markets and the success of new products

For the year, Reckitt, known for its detergent brands Cillit Bang and analgesic Nurofen, still expects revenues up 5% and operating profit up 10% on a comparable basis, c that is to say, at constant exchange rates and without regard to its subsidiary, Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals.

The main drug of this subsidiary is the Suboxone treatment against addiction to heroin, which has lost its exclusive license last October. Reckitt had said at the time that the profit of this product in the United States could decline by 80% with the introduction of generic competitors.

Wells Fargo, the fourth U.S. bank, on Wednesday posted a profit decline in the second quarter, but losses on commercial loans and consumer loans recede from the first quarter.

The bank reports a profit of 3.06 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros), earnings per share (EPS) of 55 cents, against $ 3.17 billion, or 57 cents a year bpa prev.

Analysts on average forecast EPS of 48 cents by Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S. It was not immediately clear whether this compares to 55 cents bpa announced by Wells Fargo.

The European Commission approves acquisition of Volvo by Ford Motor by Chinese carmaker Geely Holding Group and the group of public investment Daqing.

The European Commission said in a statement that after investigation the transaction does not have significant problems of competition.

Registrations of new cars in France fell 1.2% in June on a year to $ 240,587, announced the Committee of French Automobile (CCFA).

The month of June were 22 working days, against 21 last year.A comparable number of working days, the decline in sales stood at 5.7%.

Of the first six months of 2010, registrations in France stand up 5.4% on a reported basis, to 1,212,492 units, and 3.7% in comparable number of working days from the same period of 2009.

Sales of French brands fell 7.9% in June, while those of foreign brands rose 7.8%.

Sales of passenger cars by PSA Peugeot Citroen fell 5.6% in June, while those of Renault were down 1.0%.

Registrations only Dacia (Logan, Sandero and Duster) almost doubled (95.8%), while those of Renault fell 11.1%.

Sales of the Citroën show a decline of 7.3% and Peugeot were down 4.1%.

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.

GDF Suez has asked the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) for permission to increase gas prices by 5% from 1 July, reported Le Parisien, Aujourd'hui en France.

If the CRE provides a favorable opinion, the bill of 10.8 million gas users in France have risen a total of 15% next winter by counting up 10% already taken place in April, the newspaper .

No comment could be obtained immediately from GDF Suez.

The World Group announced Monday it had received two takeover bids and a mark of interest.

The first offer comes from the CEO of the Nouvel Observateur allied to the Spanish group Prisa and France Telecom, the company said in a news release.

The second offer from a consortium of philanthropist Pierre Berge, the banker Matthew and businessman Xavier Niel.

The "expression of interest" from the Multimedia Group income.

The Le Monde group added that its supervisory board would nominate a candidate June 28

General meetings of company personnel who have a veto are scheduled for 24 and 25 June

The German car market shrank in April for the fifth consecutive month, falling 32% on a year which remains linked to the ruling of the scrappage scheme in the country.

Adjusted data the number of working days, the new car registrations fell by 10.2% compared to April 2008 before the entry into force of the support plan for the sector.

In the first four months of this year, new car sales in Germany fell 25%, show figures released Tuesday by the federation VDIK foreign carmakers.

"Initial estimates show that new orders for our members are at the same level as in April 2008, what I consider to be the first sign of spring in the car in Germany," said Volker Lange, President the VDIK, in a statement.

The budget of five billion euros allocated by Berlin to scrap bonus was exhausted from last September, causing a drop in orders weighing gradually on registrations in the months that followed.

Germany, Europe's biggest car market, is not the only country affected by this phenomenon: in France, registrations have slowed significantly in April, displaying only a 1.9% increase over one year , against 17.9% in March.

In the U.S., sales of new cars rose by about 20% last month compared to April 2009.