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French Opposition Accuses Sarkozy Of Populist Measures - AFP |
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| Thursday February 7th, 2008 / 15h17 |
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PARIS (AFP)--Tumbling in the opinion polls, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of trying to buy back votes Thursday with crowd-pleasing measures to ward off disaster at next month's local elections.
Stung by criticism that he has neglected the country's economic woes to focus on his new bride, Carla Bruni, the 53-year-old head of state has backed away from a policy of strict budget discipline to offer inducements to interest groups.
On Wednesday, Sarkozy said a payment of EUR200 will be made from the end of March to some 634,000 old people living on the minimum pension.
The surprise bonus was explained as an advance on the pension increase that formed part of Sarkozy's election manifesto, but it left critics wondering how at a time of tight financial rigor the money had suddenly been made available.
At the same time, Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced a cave-in to protesting taxi-drivers, who feared that planned liberalization would leave them exposed to competition from newcomers.
After halting traffic in demonstrations across the country Wednesday, taxi-drivers' leaders called off the action because they said the government had promised not to enact the proposals.
According to Le Figaro newspaper, the drivers have even been promised a 4% increase in the fares they charge and a new tax rebate to take account of soaring fuel costs.
A further sign of the president's mood came Monday when he visited a loss-making steel plant in northeast France and promised that the state was "ready to pay in part or in whole for the investments necessary" to keep it afloat.
A delegate from the General Labour Confederation, or CGT, trade union said he had "spoken like a true union man" after Sarkozy drew applause from a crowd of workers at the ArcelorMittal (MT) factory at Gandrange.
Some 600 jobs are under threat there, but any attempt to bail out the factory could fall foul of European Union competition laws.
Left-wing opposition members of parliament said Sarkozy had lurched into populism after being panicked by his declining poll ratings, and hoped to claw back votes in March's town-hall elections.
"We have a president who is out campaigning again. He is talking like he is on the hustings. Now the promises are coming thick and fast," said Malek Boutih, Socialist Party spokesman.
Segolene Royal, the defeated Socialist candidate in last May's election, said there had been a "shock of mistrust which is now degenerating into a wind of revolt."
"Yesterday everything seemed possible, but now too much time has passed and too much state money has been wasted. The crisis over spending power has not been addressed, the future has not been prepared," she told Le Monde newspaper.
There were also rumblings inside Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, party, where many deputies fear an antigovernment backlash next month will cost them their second jobs as mayors of cities, towns and villages.
Privately, some deputies say that Sarkozy's much-publicised romance with model-turned-singer Bruni has been a public relations disaster because it clashed so glaringly with the darkening mood of the country.
This week, new surveys confirmed Sarkozy's plunging popularity, with Paris-Match magazine reporting a seven point fall to 46% in his approval ratings. A poll in the left-wing Liberation newspaper found 55% with a negative opinion of the president - up 13 points in a month.
A poll for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper Sunday said that for 31% of the public the president's image had deteriorated as a result of his marriage to Bruni, his third wife.
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| Thursday February 7th, 2008 / 15h17 |
Source : Dowjones Business News |
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Profil Société |
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| Activité |
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ArcelorMittal est le n ° 1 mondial de la sidérurgie. Le CA (avant éliminations intragroupe) par famille de produits se répartit comme suit :
-... |
| >> Suite |
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| Prévisions |
2008 * |
2009 |
2010 |
| BNA |
5,03 € |
0,32 € |
1,96 € |
| Dividende |
1,08 € |
0,56 € |
0,56 € |
| Rendement |
5,72% |
2,99% |
2,98% |
| PER |
3,75 |
58,15 |
9,60 |
|
| >> Suite |
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|
| Chiffres clés |
| Résultat opérationnel |
|
10 069 M€ |
| Résultat net |
8 046 M€ |
| Rentabilité financière |
19,26% |
| Effectif |
311 466 |
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| >> Suite |
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Obj. de cours (*) :
Potentiel : +29,95% |
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24, |
50 € |
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Prévisions |
|
2008 * |
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2009 |
|
2010 |
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|
BNA (*) |
|
5,03 € |
|
0,32 € |
|
1,96 € |
|
|
|
|
Dividende (*) |
|
1,08 € |
|
0,56 € |
|
0,56 € |
|
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|
|
Rendement (*) |
|
5,72% |
|
2,99% |
|
2,98% |
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|
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PER (*) |
|
3,75 |
|
58,15 |
|
9,60 |
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