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European societies inspection and certification expect to benefit from tighter rules in sectors such as oil drilling or toys after a series of incidents and product recalls that have prompted authorities to show more stringent.

The spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the recent recalls of toxic toys and defective car had the effect of encouraging the authorities to create new rules, opening up lucrative opportunities for inspection companies.

This development could result in two or three percentage points of growth in turnover in testing, inspection and certification (ICT) sector by the end of 2010, said Laurent Brunelle, an analyst of Exane BNP Paribas.

The relatively high valuations of listed companies in the sector highlight investor optimism about their potential. The Swiss group SGS, the market leader, is trading at 17.7 times estimated earnings for 2011, the French Bureau Veritas at 15.8 times and 16.6 times Intertek English, is above average 12.2 of the European sector index.

The share price rose by SGS 17% since the beginning of the year and those of Intertek and Bureau Veritas have won over 30% while the sector index took 13%.And analysts believe this upward trend will continue.

In response to the disaster that struck the Gulf of Mexico, a new U.S. law may force oil companies to work with security firms will soon be on the agenda of Congress.

"Currently, there are some great players on the market for offshore oil drilling, such as Bureau Veritas, which holds about 10%," said Laurent Brunelle, noting that the French would be the winner if small rivals were not able to match the requirements of a market much more regulated.

A fragmented market

The market inspection and testing is in fact highly fragmented and composed a large part of small companies specialized in niches as diverse as testing raw materials, consumer products, agriculture, environment automobiles, all areas where government offices are also present.

The trend to increased regulation, globalization and therefore to the outsourcing of testing specialists to ensure the relay three market leaders, whose combined sales totaled about 7.8 billion euros 2009.

"Areas affected by oil spills from BP are the inspection and verification platforms so that companies that should benefit companies are active in the classification of ships.This is the case of Bureau Veritas, American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Germanischer Lloyd, "said Laurent Brunelle.

SMS is also well placed to benefit from U.S. laws more stringent because of its expertise in testing materials.

"SMS is strong in oil, gas and services to chemistry with almost one billion Swiss francs in sales (in 2009) and is very active in North America," says Jean-Philippe Bertschy, Vontobel analyst.

Bureau Veritas has recently strengthened its position in the testing of raw materials by buying the British Inspectorate for 450 million pounds while the SGS search acquisitions.

"SGS would like to enter the marine services," said Laurent Brunelle, adding that Bureau Veritas was best placed to buy the German Germanischer Lloyd if it became a target.

NEW SEGMENTS INVOLVED

In consumer products, the turnover of companies in the sector rose last year after the adoption of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), in reaction to recalls of toys produced by Mattel in China that contained lead paint and tiny magnets that could be swallowed by children.

'The CPSIA could be extended to all consumer products ", said Chris Burger, an analyst at Helvea."But it's a very political issue and the government does not burden companies with new constraints. This could jeopardize the return to growth."

The new EU directive on toy safety, which comes into force in July 2011, will have a positive but less significant on the testing of major consumer product that CPSIA because it applies only to new toys.

Furthermore, new EU rules that require tires to be tagged for fuel efficiency, the wet grip and noise will be effective as of November 2012. They may require certification companies to strengthen their motor units.

American International Group (AIG) reported a quarterly loss as its results were recipients a year earlier, due to the recognition of a significant impairment charge.

The American group, owned about 80% by the state, issued under a second quarter net loss of $ 2.7 billion (2.05 billion euros), or $ 3.96 per share, against a profit of $ 1.8 billion ($ 2.3 per share) over the corresponding period last year.

The deficit is mainly due to the insurer an impairment charge of $ 3.3 billion.

In data adjusted, AIG reports a profit of 1.3 billion dollars (1.99 dollars per share), against 1.1 billion dollar ($ 1.71 per share) a year earlier.

In pre-market, the title earned 5.3%, after closing at 39.90 dollars Thursday in New York.

Since the early action took 33% against 7% growth posted by the S & P's insurance industry.

The organizer of resistance testing, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), will try to find out why six German banks, including Deutsche Bank, were not released Friday details of their holdings of sovereign debt, announced his secretary General to the Financial Times on Monday.

CEBS, said Arnoud Vossen financial daily, had reached agreement with banks on the publication of their holdings of sovereign debt at the time of release of results of resistance tests on Friday.

Now, six German banks have not released the amount and distribution of their deposits in government bonds: Deutsche, Deutsche Postbank, Hypo Real Estate, one German bank to have failed the tests of strength, the cooperative DZ Bank and WGZ Bank and Landesbank Berlin.

Arnoud Vossen said he will call to the tax authorities, the BaFin and the Bundesbank, to ask them the reasons for this silence.

Postbank, which narrowly passed the tests, said Monday it had refused to reveal its exposure because it would have been the publication of old figures dating back to late March.

According to a spokesman for Postbank, the bank's exposure to sovereign risk Portuguese accounted for 50 million euros on July 20. The Italian paper assets totaled 4.6 billion the same day. For Ireland, the figure was 300 million euros, 1.3 billion of Greece and Spain 1.2 billion.

Deutsche Bank declined to give the reason for his silence.It could say more when publishing its second quarter results Tuesday.

Sell Picard Frozen wants to seduce his prospective buyers by promising a steady pace of store openings in France, increased its "share of stomach" by the customer and the "seeds of growth" that could include plant in Sweden .

Estimated at around half a billion euros, the French leader in frozen, advised by Rothschild, must convince the private equity funds that focus on the record already with over 850 stores under his belt and a number Business of 1.15 billion euros in 2009, the best in terms of growth is still to come.

Among potential buyers, the names of investment companies as HVAC, Lion Capital, Bain, Eurazeo or Clayton Dubilier & Rice are cited.

The current majority shareholder, the fund BC Partners, has entered the capital in 2004 when the group had almost 600 stores.Some analysts doubt that the expansion of the group, whose range of products ranging from frozen vegetables for basic dishes upscale, can continue indefinitely.

The CEO of the group receives for his part no signs of market saturation frozen.

"There is still potential for more than 300 stores in France", or growth for seven or eight years at the current pace of opening, said in an interview with Reuters Philip Pauze.

The former executive director of Carrefour said they did not fear the "cannibalization" of sales from its stores – unlike what happened for example to the Starbucks cafe – thanks to extensive studies of "geo-marketing.

If the sign to flake advantage in France of a comeback of local shops, it also faces competition from large retail groups such as Carrefour's former owner, who reinvest the inner city through small surfaces.

SHARE OF STOMACH

"We want your food to make purchases at more than Picard in a supermarket at the fish that the local baker or your neighborhood because our competitors were also artisans," says Philip Pauze who should win the "shares stomach "for its customers and ensure the growth of existing stores.

Philip Pauze is currently facing many funds to mount the third LBO (leveraged buyout) in the history of Picard, but already the arguments he rode will expand to fit the fourth in a few years.

"The strategy in the next three years is to continue to develop in France while planting seeds abroad that will generate buzz for the fourth LBO (leveraged buyout)," said he, Assuming that Picard could eventually attract a large distribution group or a multinational agribusiness.

The key to this new step would be to prove that the group can export its model abroad and in several countries.

For if the mark has become essential in urban France, some professionals are questioning his ability to conquer rural areas and especially the rest of Europe.

The company wants to continue its development in Italy where it has 30 stores and aims Turin, Milan and also Rome, "a city that consumes a lot of frozen.

The refrigeration specialist has chosen the North of Europe as a new stage of its expansion and more specifically Sweden, because of the palace "refined" its consumers.

"It is a good market to take more, even if there are not many people, there are 50-60% higher than consumption in France in the frozen," enthuses CEO evoking consumption "huge" country's ice.

Belgium is also seen as a natural market, especially in Wallonia and Brussels, but the market size is limited to the group that there could still open a few stores.

Picard could also try to find their way into North America, with priority given to Canada, because of existing cultural links with the six million French-speaking countries.

Societe Generale announced Thursday that entered into exclusive negotiations to sell its Belgian subsidiary ECS group Econocom.

The offer values the shares ECS 210 million (including dividend for 2009 due to the seller), of which 30 million would be financed by a share issue underwritten by Econocom SocGen.

After the transaction, Societe Generale would become a shareholder of Econocom by 9%.

ECS specializes in the management and piloting information systems.Present in 17 countries including Western Europe and East, Morocco, the United States and China, employing over 1,500 people in 2009 and achieved a turnover of 840 million Euro.

"This will allow the new entity to make a breakthrough in the IT services market concentration, where size is a strategic issue," said the SocGen said in a statement.

Econocom, specializing in the management of IT infrastructure and telecom companies, employs 2,300 people and achieved a turnover of 759 million euros in 2009.

Completion of the transaction will be subject to approvals from competition authorities.

The euro has hit a low of 18 months against sterling as the market feels that the debt problems of the euro area may put the currency at a disadvantage compared to the British currency.

Euro briefly touched 81.75 pence, its lowest since November 2008, before recovering.

The U.S. economy grew 2.7% annualized first quarter, according to final estimates released Friday, an increase below the expectations of economists and projection previously announced.

The estimate published last month by the Commerce Department reported a rise of 3.0% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a confirmation of this estimate.

The fourth quarter of 2009, the American economy grew by 5.6% annualized.

This revision mainly reflects a lower estimated expenditure of households and businesses, which grew by 3.0% and 2.2% in the first quarter against 3.5% and 3.1% in previous estimate.

Although final figures for the GDP are lower than previous estimates, they mark's third straight quarter of expansion of economic activity in the U.S. after its worst recession since the 1930s.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan, revealed Wednesday that it earned 890 million yen (approximately 8 million euros) paid by the Japanese in the fiscal year ending in March.

At these wages, which makes it one of the highest paid executives at the head of a Japanese company, added 1.24 million euros paid in 2009 by Renault, he also chairs.Is half that in 2008, Crisis and variable force.

The total remuneration for the boss of Renault-Nissan was especially expected: the new rules in force in Japan Nippon forcing companies to publish individual salaries of their leaders if their earnings exceed the annual 100 million yen.

Ghosn has consistently defended the pay scale in force at Nissan, than those of its Japanese competitors. He justified the need to compete in the global marketplace and attract talent.

Carlos Ghosn is also a director of the aluminum giant Alcoa and carmaker AvtoVAZ, Russia.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a final decision Tuesday in connection with a complaint against U.S. support provided by the EU for Airbus (EAD.PA: Quote), reported a journalist Reuters Tuesday.

The final confidential report, which will be released in several weeks or months, was handed over to representatives of U.S. trade missions in Geneva and Europe, said the journalist.

The general view, the WTO should give reason to Boeing, which should not necessarily end the transatlantic dispute between the EU and the United States. Grants are at the heart of the battle between the two aircraft manufacturers in the market of civil aviation, as estimated by the aerospace companies to 3.000 billion dollars (2.200 billion euros) over the next 20 years.The United States accuses Airbus of getting a total of 205 billion dollars of soft loans and other aid from the France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom over two decades.

Britain and Germany in their sights the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month to advance the case of a tax for international banking to avoid recourse to public funds if bailout .

A few months after Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched a whole series of ideas intended to pay for their own rescue banks, Finance Minister Alistair Darling said Tuesday that "there are now more countries that agree on the need for an international tax on systemic banks.

"We must put it out quickly and I urge as meaning the international finance ministers next month in Washington," said Alistair Darling in Parliament.

"I agree with those who say that such a tax must be coordinated at international level to go solo would cost thousands of jobs, not just in London but across the country, has he added.

If the tax credit follows the British model provided the United States or 0.15% annually on total assets, it would raise 3.6 billion pounds (4.0 billion euros) annually, according Reuters estimates.

The conservative opposition, which could win the May elections, said she would put forward its own proposal for a tax credit even if there was no agreement among the Group of Twenty (G20) .

The project of the Ministry of Finance shows that German banks will all contribute to a fund of any rescues in the future, contributions are based on the size and risks to the financial system.

The German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on Wednesday that such a tax could help to raise one billion euros.

The German government hopes that a proposal be agreed next week at the Council of Ministers in order to convert the bill by the end of the first half.

"The resources collected in this fund will be available to finance future restructuring and divestiture measures for systemic banks," reads the German project."All banks in Germany will be obliged to contribute to this fund.

The document says nothing specific about the duration of levying the tax, but he noted that the Ministry of Finance will monitor continuously the application to see if it is "tolerable".

Legal experts say it's the depositor who ultimately pay the tax."The only real solution to this is to ensure that banks are not subject to this tax can not legally be put into competition in the territory covered, in other words, is protectionism National, "said Simon Gleeson of Clifford Chance.

NOT FOR TOBIN TAX

This idea of a tax that affects the balance sheets of banks began to take hold and is another approach to the problem of "too big to fail", a term designating the banks that have a position such that their bankruptcy would destabilize the financial system, as was the case of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

States want to put in place arrangements so that these banks can not now rely on public money if they find themselves in difficulty.

Finance ministers of the G20 last November asked the International Monetary Fund in April to submit proposals for funding bank bailouts.

The IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said last week that a Tobin tax on financial transactions, that Great Britain and Germany wanted initially, was inapplicable.

Another obstacle to the implementation of such a tax is the opposition of the United States and Canada but it is generally thought that Dominique Strauss-Kahn will propose some sort of tax on bank balance sheets.

Banks do not like.They argue that the tax burden will be a new addition to the fact that they will meet the future capital requirements and tighter liquidity.

The Tobin tax, named after the Nobel Prize in economics James Tobin, was to apply the principle of transaction exchange spot market.