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BNP Paribas CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé comments on results for Q1 2012

briq — 2012-05-04T05:11:37Z

Paris, May 4, 2012 — BNP Paribas, one of Europe's largest banks, reports results for Q1 2012. CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé comments on results and outlook.
Company website: http://invest.bnpparibas.com

EuroBusiness Media (EBM): BNP Paribas, one of Europe's largest banks reports results for the first quarter of 2012. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé welcome.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé: Thank you.

EBM:What are your comments on the results of BNP Paribas in the first quarter?

BNP Paribas confirmed a strong profit generating capacity in the first quarter of the year while continuing to successfully implement its deleveraging plan which is proceeding well ahead of schedule. Activity in Domestic Markets remained positive despite a slowing demand, with deposits increasing by 3.6% and loans by nearly 3%. In CIB, Capital Markets showed a significant pick up compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 and were only 4% below the high level of the first quarter 2011. Overall, revenues showed a good resilience amounting to close to 9.9 billion euros while costs remained under control at 6.8 billion euros. Cost of risk was also relatively stable compared to Q1 2011 at a level of 55 basis points as a percentage of customer loans. The first quarter results had two main exceptional items: one positive related to the 1.8 billion euro capital gain on the sale of 28.7% of Klepierre; the other negative, related to the own debt revaluation which impacted the accounts by just over 840 million euros. Hence, BNP Paribas closed the quarter with a net profit of close to 2.9 billion euros which effectively becomes 2 billion if we take out the main one-off elements. Once more BNP Paribas assured value creation for all its stakeholders as confirmed by the increase in book value per share to over 60 euros and in the tangible book value per share to 49 euros.

EBM: Could you comment on the cost of risk evolution by business in the first quarter? How do you see it evolving over the coming quarters?

As I mentioned, cost of risk remained stable at a relatively low level in the first quarter of 2012 in line with the quarterly average of 2011 excluding Greece. In the Domestic Markets both France and Belgium showed moderate levels of cost of risk while in Italy the recessionary environment caused a contained increase. BancWest continued to benefit from the improving economic situation in the US and also Personal Finance confirmed the improving trend seen in recent quarters. CIB's cost of risk was confirmed at a low level. Going forward, the weakening economic situation in the Euro zone could put some pressure on cost of risk especially in Italy but other business areas such as BancWest and Personal Finance should continue to see some improvement compared to last year. Hence, all in all for this year, and provided the economic environment doesn't worsen further in a significant way, we expect cost of risk to remain around this level or slightly increase.

EBM: Did you take advantage the recovery in the spreads of sovereign debt since the beginning of the year to further reduce your sovereign exposure?

As we have already said, we are managing our sovereign debt portfolio on an opportunistic basis in order to minimise the volatility of our solvency ratios under the new regulations. We therefore seized some opportunities to continue to reduce exposures mainly in the Euro area. As a result, at the end of April, our sovereign portfolio stood at 66 billion euros. If we just look at Group share, meaning the actual shareholders' economic risk, the sovereign portfolio stands at 58 billion euros, of which 42 billion euros is to Euro zone countries. The exposure to countries under aid, Greece, Portugal and Ireland, was also reduced and now stands at only just about 1 billion euros.

EBM: How did Q1 go in terms of deposits, and what is the outlook for deposits this year in a context of slower economic growth?

Deposit gathering was quite sustained in the Domestic Markets with growth in each single domestic network. In France deposits were up 3.5% with a positive contribution from current accounts and especially savings accounts. The situation in Belgium was similar with a growth rate of 3.3% driven essentially by retail current accounts and term deposits from corporates. In Italy the efforts put in place to strengthen local funding resulted in a 1.6% increase mostly driven by the considerable increase of deposits from corporates and local authorities. The economic slowdown is obviously putting some pressure on volumes but we think that deposit gathering especially in our Domestic Markets can continue at a reasonable pace this year.

EBM: Loan growth in your Domestic Markets seems to be slowing down, adding downward pressure on revenues. How do you manage this situation in order to preserve profitability?

Effectively loan growth is slowing down compared to previous quarters, essentially due to lower demand from clients. In Italy the recessionary environment is affecting household demand while small businesses, corporates and local authorities continue to show good levels of activity. In France and Belgium the slowdown is less pronounced due to a more favourable economic backdrop. Despite this, Domestic Markets managed to increase its revenues by 0.8% at constant scope this quarter thanks to the commercial efforts of all the networks. It also showed good cost control in all its four markets which led to a 1.5 basis point positive jaws effect and an improvement of the cost income ratio. This successful approach combined with a strong product innovation capacity should ensure that our Domestic Markets remain significant contributors to the Group's profitability going forward.

EBM: We hear that European banks are not lending for mortgages with maturities beyond 15 years. Is this a consequence of the new NSFR rules forcing banks to match asset and liability durations? As a result, should we expect slower mortgage loan growth from BNP Paribas going forward?

As far as BNP Paribas is concerned, residential mortgages are part of our commercial approach as they represent a key step in the relationship with clients. However, the bank has always adopted cautious criteria in terms of maturity, loan to value and repayment capacity and as such intends to continue financing its clients. The current economic environment may have an impact on the evolution of mortgage demand but BNP Paribas remains strongly dedicated to financing its clients for their housing projects.

EBM: In Investment Solutions, what were the main highlights of Q1, and what is your update on net inflows? Where do things stand regarding your plans to adapt Investment Solutions to the new environment by streamlining operations?

Investment Solutions performed well following a challenging end to 2011 especially in Asset Management. The rise in equity markets coupled with positive inflows led to a 4.6% increase in assets under management in the first quarter. We actually registered net inflows in all our business lines. In Asset Management inflows were mainly related to money market funds from institutional counterparties. Private Banking saw a good level of inflows both in the domestic networks and in Asia. Insurance was also positive due to positive flows in France, in Luxembourg and in Asia. Let's mention also the very good development of the activity of Securities Services. We are adapting the businesses especially in Asset Management where we are proceeding as planned. We are already seeing in this business line some of the benefits as shown by the 8.9% decrease in operating costs compared to Q1 2011. We are at the same time adapting and streamlining costs in all other business units to reflect the changing operating environment while continuing to invest especially in Asia.

EBM: In CIB, following your deleveraging actions, did you witness market share erosion or were you still able to preserve market share or even develop some businesses despite your deleveraging efforts?

In Q1 we have not lost market share in our core business areas. CIB showed a resilient performance in the quarter despite the impact of the ongoing deleveraging. Capital Markets revenues picked up significantly from the lows of the second half of 2011 and were only marginally lower than in the first quarter. In Fixed Income in particular we saw significant levels of primary bond activity and a good performance in rates and forex. We confirmed our number 1 ranking in terms of All Bonds in Euros whilst we entered the top 10 ranking in terms of All International Bonds in US dollars. Corporate Banking revenues were lower as a result of the significant reduction in lending activity in line with our deleveraging plan. Despite this, thanks to the strength and depth of our global client franchise, we successfully protected our positions in our targeted areas. As an example, we ranked first for number of syndicated financing in Europe and third for overall volumes. At the same time we are launching an ambitious deposit gathering plan.This plan will leverage in particular on the development of our global Cash Management platform, where we already rank number 5 worldwide, through a combined offering from CIB and Retail Banking. To conclude on CIB, let me also thank all the CIB staff who have shown this quarter again a great mobilization in order to adapt the businesses and achieve this good performance.

EBM: What is your update today of your stated target of reaching a Basel 3 fully-loaded Core Tier One ratio of 9% by January 1st 2013? Should we expect more disposals like that of Klepierre in order to reach the target on schedule?

I confirm that we are fully committed to achieve our objective and in fact we are proceeding faster than anticipated. As of the end of March, our Basel 2.5 common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 10.4%, which means an increase of 80 basis points in one quarter. That is to say that if you remove the prudential buffer on sovereign debt, we have an EBA compliant ratio of 10%, far beyond the required level of 9% at the end of June. We have already completed 80% of our deleveraging plan and only have 20% left to do in the remaining three quarters, which gives us time and flexibility to optimize its achievement. We are still awaiting the final text on the CRD4 directive which shall be implemented in Europe but at the same time we have 9 months of organic income generation to add to the equation. In conclusion, we are well placed to achieve our target which shall position us as one of the best capitalised banking groups in the world.

EBM: Since you have recently been appointed CEO of BNP Paribas, what should the market expect the primary focus of your strategy to be: increasing your Retail and CIB activities, or continuing to deleverage the bank?

The primary focus of BNP Paribas remains supporting our clients in all their needs. Due to the new regulatory constraints and as I have just mentioned, we are currently fully committed to our adaptation plan which is already largely achieved. Solvency has been strengthened, the balance sheet is being reduced and we are well on track to achieve our target of being at 9% in terms of fully-loaded Basel 3 Tier 1 on 1st January 2013. We shall hence be one of the best positioned European banks to develop our activities and exploit market opportunities going forward.

EBM: Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, CEO of BNP Paribas, thank you very much.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé: You're welcome.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Administrateur Directeur Général de BNP Paribas, commente les résultats du T1 2012

briq — 2012-05-04T05:08:53Z

Paris, le 4 mai 2012 — Le Groupe BNP Paribas, une des plus grandes banques d'Europe, publie ses résultats du premier trimestre 2012. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Administrateur Directeur Général, commente les résultats et les perspectives du Groupe.
Site web : http://invest.bnpparibas.com

EuroBusiness Media (EBM) : Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, bonjour et bienvenue.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Bonjour.

EBM : Pouvez-vous commenter les résultats de BNP Paribas pour le T1 2012 ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Au 1er trimestre, BNP Paribas confirme sa forte capacité bénéficiaire, tout en réalisant, plus vite que prévu, son programme de réduction du bilan. Sur nos marchés domestiques, l'activité reste bonne malgré une demande qui ralentit. Nos dépôts progressent de 3,6% et les prêts, de presque 3%. Dans CIB, Conseil et Marché des Capitaux rebondit significativement par rapport au 4e trimestre 2011 et son activité se situe seulement 4% en dessous de l'excellent niveau du premier trimestre 2011. Au total, la bonne résistance de nos revenus, à presque 9,9 milliards d'euros, se combine à une bonne maîtrise des coûts, à 6,8 milliards d'euros. Le coût du risque reste relativement stable par rapport au T1 2011 à 55 points de base en pourcentage des crédits à la clientèle. Le résultat du premier trimestre présente deux éléments exceptionnels : l'un, positif, la plus-value de 1,8 milliard d'euros sur la vente de 28,7 % de Klepierre ; l'autre, négatif, relatif à la réévaluation de la dette propre, à hauteur d'un peu plus de 840 millions d'euros. BNP Paribas clôture donc le trimestre avec un bénéfice net proche de 2,9 milliards d'euros, bénéfice qui devient 2 milliards d'euros hors éléments exceptionnels. Une fois de plus, BNP Paribas a créé de la valeur, comme le confirment l'augmentation de l'actif net par action à plus de 60 euros et celle de l'actif net tangible par action, à 49 euros.

EBM : Comment évolue le coût du risque au premier trimestre dans les divers pôles d'activités ? Quelle évolution prévoyez-vous pour les prochains trimestres ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Au 1er trimestre 2012, le coût du risque est resté pratiquement stable, à un niveau relativement faible, comparable, en excluant la Grèce, à la moyenne trimestrielle de 2011. Dans ses réseaux domestiques, le niveau du coût du risque est resté modéré, tant en France qu'en Belgique, alors qu'en Italie l'environnement de récession conduit à une hausse limitée. L'amélioration de la conjoncture américaine a continué à bénéficier à BancWest, tandis que le pôle Personal Finance confirmait la tendance positive des derniers trimestres. Le coût du risque de CIB est resté faible. La dégradation de la conjoncture dans la zone euro pourrait peser sur le coût du risque notamment en Italie, mais d'autres entités devraient comme BancWest et Personal Finance continuer à s'améliorer par rapport à l'an dernier. Ainsi, sauf nouvelle dégradation sensible de la conjoncture générale, nous prévoyons plutôt pour l'exercice, une stabilité du coût du risque, ou une légère augmentation.

EBM : Avez-vous exploité le redressement des spreads sur obligations souveraines en début d'année pour réduire encore votre exposition souveraine ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Rappelons à nouveau que, la gestion de notre portefeuille obligataire souverain a pour objectif de minimiser la volatilité des ratios de solvabilité dans le cadre du nouveau contexte réglementaire et qu'elle est conduite de manière opportuniste.ss Nous avons donc saisi plusieurs occasions de réduire notre exposition, principalement en zone euro. Fin avril, notre portefeuille souverain s'élève donc à 66 milliards d'euros. En ne considérant que la part du Groupe, c'est à dire le risque économique réel couru par les actionnaires, l'encours souverain s'élève à 58 milliards d'euros, dont 42 milliards d'euros sur les pays de la zone euro. Notre exposition sur les pays bénéficiaires d'aides, à savoir la Grèce, le Portugal et l'Irlande, a été réduite à environ 1 milliard d'euros.

EBM : Quelle a été l'évolution des dépôts au T1, et quelles sont les perspectives pour l'année compte tenu du ralentissement de la croissance ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : La collecte de dépôts de Domestic Markets a été assez soutenue avec une croissance dans chacun de nos réseaux domestiques. En France, les dépôts progressent de 3,5 %, avec une croissance des comptes à vue et des comptes d'épargne. La situation est la même en Belgique, où la progression de 3,3 % est essentiellement le fait des comptes courants de particuliers et des dépôts à terme d'entreprises. En Italie, les efforts pour développer la collecte locale ont permis d'accroître les dépôts de 1,6 %, notamment par une augmentation très sensible des dépôts des entreprises et des collectivités territoriales. Le ralentissement économique pèse bien évidemment sur les volumes, mais on peut penser que notre collecte de dépôts devrait, cette année, se poursuivre à un rythme raisonnable, en particulier sur nos marchés domestiques.

EBM : Sur vos marchés domestiques, la croissance des volumes de prêts semble ralentir, peut mettre une certaine pression sur vos revenus sous pression. Comment gérez-vous la situation pour préserver votre rentabilité ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Compte tenu d'une demande plus faible des clients, la progression des crédits ralentit en effet par rapport aux trimestres précédents. En Italie, l'environnement économique affecte la demande des ménages, alors que les entrepreneurs, les entreprises et les collectivités locales affichent un bon niveau d'activité. En France et en Belgique, ce ralentissement est moins prononcé, grâce à un environnement économique plus favorable. Au 1er trimestre, grâce aux efforts commerciaux de l'ensemble des réseaux, les revenus du pôle Domestic Markets ont malgré tout progressé de 0,8 % à périmètre constant. La bonne maîtrise des coûts sur chacun de ses quatre marchés a en outre permis de dégager un effet de ciseau positif de 1,5 point de base, et d'améliorer le coefficient d'exploitation. Les succès combinés avec sa forte capacité d'innovation « produits », doivent permettre au pôle Domestic markets de rester l'un des grands contributeurs à la rentabilité future du Groupe.

EBM : On entend que les banques européennes n'octroient pas de prêts hypothécaires à plus de 15 ans. S'agit-il d'une conséquence des nouvelles règles structurelles de liquidité à long terme qui obligent les banques à faire coïncider la durée de leurs actifs et de leurs passifs ? Devons-nous craindre à l'avenir une croissance plus lente des volumes hypothécaires chez BNP Paribas ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Chez BNP Paribas, les crédits immobiliers font partie intégrante de notre approche commerciale ; ils s'inscrivent au cœur de la relation avec nos clients. La banque s'est toujours montrée prudente dans ses critères de durée, d'apport personnel et de capacité de remboursement ; et elle entend bien continuer à financer ses clients. la conjoncture économique actuelle pourrait bien avoir un impact sur la demande de crédit immobilier, mais BNP Paribas reste déterminé à financer ses clients pour les accompagner dans leur projets de logement.

EBM : Quels ont été les faits marquants du T1 pour le pôle Investment Solutions, et comment évolue la collecte de fonds ? Où en êtes-vous de vos plans d'adaptation de ce pôle au nouvel environnement en termes de rationalisation de vos organisations ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Investment Solutions réalise une bonne performance après une fin 2011 difficile. Le rebond boursier, couplé à une collecte nette positive, entraîne une progression de 4,6 % des actifs sous gestion au 1er trimestre. Cette collecte nette positive concerne d'ailleurs tous nos métiers. En gestion d'actifs, elle provient essentiellement de la collecte sur les fonds monétaires auprès d'institutionnels. La Banque Privée a enregistré un bon niveau de collecte dans les réseaux domestiques ainsi qu'en Asie. Bonne évolution également en Assurance, grâce à des flux de collecte positifs en France, au Luxembourg et en Asie. Enfin, notons la très bonne évolution de l'activité du Métier Titres. Nous adaptons nos activités, notamment en gestion d'actifs, où nos plans se déroulent comme prévu. Nous observons déjà des résultats positifs dans ce métier, où les frais de gestion reculent de 8,9 % par rapport au T1 2011. Simultanément, nous adaptons et nous restructurons nos coûts dans toutes les autres activités tout en poursuivant nos investissements, particulièrement en Asie.

EBM : Pour le pôle CIB, votre programme de désendettement a-t-il eu un impact sur vos parts de marché ? Ou avez-vous au contraire su les préserver, voire en développer certaines ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Au 1er trimestre, nous n'avons perdu aucune part de marché dans nos cœurs de métier. Le pôle CIB a enregistré une bonne performance au cours du trimestre, malgré l'impact du plan d'adaptation. Conseil et Marchés de capitaux, a connu un rebond significatif de ses revenus après le creux du deuxième semestre 2011, pour se situer juste en dessous du premier semestre 2011. Dans Fixed Income en particulier nous avons eu une activité obligataire primaire soutenue, et enregistré une bonne performance pour les opérations de taux et de change. Notre position de N°1 des émissions obligataires en euros est confirmée, et nous faisons notre entrée dans le top 10 des émissions « All International Bonds ». Les revenus de Corporate Banking reculent du fait de la réduction importante de notre activité de prêt, conformément à notre plan d'adaptation. Néanmoins, nous avons préservé nos positions sur nos marchés cibles, grâce à la profondeur et à la qualité de la relation avec nos clients. A titre d'exemple, nous sommes classés premier par le nombre de financements syndiqués en Europe, et troisième en volume. Simultanément, nous lançons un plan ambitieux pour augmenter nos dépôts. Ce plan va s'appuyer notamment sur le développement de notre plateforme de cash-management, activité où nous sommes déjà le 5ème mondial, en combinant d'avantage l'offre de CIB et de Retail Banking. Pour finir, je tiens tout particulièrement à remercier les collaborateurs de CIB, qui se sont une fois de plus fortement mobilisés pour adapter leurs métiers et réaliser cette excellente performance.

EBM : Vous vous êtes fixé pour objectif, d'atteindre d'ici le 1er janvier 2013 un ratio de solvabilité Core Tier One à 9 % « full Bâle III ». Où en êtes-vous ? De nouvelles cessions de type Klepierre seront-elles nécessaires pour atteindre cet objectif à temps ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Je vous confirme notre engagement total pour la réalisation de cet objectif, et nous avançons d'ailleurs plus vite que prévu. Fin mars, notre ratio de solvabilité common equity Tier 1 en Bâle 2.5 était de 10,4 %, soit une augmentation de 80 points de base en un trimestre. Ainsi, notre ratio hors filtre prudentiel des dettes souveraines, conforme aux règles de l'Autorité Bancaire Européenne, est à 10% et nettement supérieur au niveau requis de 9 % à fin juin. Nous avons déjà réalisé 80 % de notre plan de réduction du bilan, et disposons de trois trimestres pour réaliser les 20 % restants, ce qui nous donne le temps et la flexibilité requises pour optimiser sa réalisation. Le texte définitif de la directive européenne CRD4 est toujours en attente, mais nous avons encore 9 mois de génération organique de résultat permettant de compléter le solde nécessaire. Nous sommes donc très bien placés pour réaliser notre objectif, qui nous positionnera parmi les groupes bancaires les mieux capitalisés au monde.

EBM : Vous venez d'être nommé Directeur général de BNP Paribas. Quelles seront les objectifs principaux de votre stratégie : comptez-vous renforcer les activités Retail et CIB, ou réduire d'avantage la taille du bilan ?

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : L'objectif principal de la stratégie de BNP Paribas est d'accompagner ses clients dans leurs projets. Compte tenue des nouvelles contraintes réglementaires et comme je l'ai mentionné précédemment, nous sommes actuellement totalement engagés dans notre plan d'adaptation, qui est déjà très largement réalisé. Notre solvabilité est renforcée, le bilan est en cours de réduction et la réalisation de notre objectif d'atteindre un ratio de solvabilité core Tier 1 « full Bâle III » de 9 % dès le 1er janvier 2013 est en très bonne voie. Nous serons alors l'une des banques européennes les mieux positionnées pour développer nos activités et exploiter les opportunités futures.

EBM : Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Administrateur Directeur général de BNP Paribas, merci beaucoup.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé : Merci à vous.

Sanofi CFO Jérôme Contamine comments on Q1 2012 results

briq — 2012-04-27T05:36:04Z

Paris, April 27, 2012 — Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, reports earnings for the first-quarter of 2012. Jérôme Contamine, Chief Financial Officer of Sanofi, comments on results and outlook.

Investor Relations: IR@sanofi.com
Media Relations: MR@sanofi.com
Company website: www.sanofi.com

EuroBusinessMedia (EBM): Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, reports earnings for the first quarter of 2012. Jerome Contamine welcome.

Jérôme Contamine: Thank you for having me.

EBM: You are the CFO of Sanofi. What are your comments on the Group's performance in Q1? Are you satisfied with the way the year has started for Sanofi?

Jérôme Contamine: Well, clearly I think the first quarter has been a good start for the Group for this year. Our sales reached €8.511 billion. This includes the consolidation of Genzyme sales and this is an increase of 7% versus last year. Our business EPS grows as well by 7.2% at €1.85 and this growth is driven by Genzyme definitely, but also the growth platforms as well as good cost control. Overall, our growth platforms which now include what we call ‘New Genzyme' i.e. the rare disease sales from Genzyme, now represent 63% of our overall sales. Also importantly over the quarter, we started to ship Fabrazyme® products from our new Framingham facility, which got approved by EMA (European Medicines Agency) and FDA last January. While clearly, over the year, we will face the loss of exclusivity of Plavix®, which will hit our P&L in May, but the good news is that the underlying growth and the underlying performance of our business is definitely consistent with our medium-term growth outlook.

EBM: Can you give your comments on the status of Genzyme performance? Are the latest manufacturing milestones already translating into increased sales of Rare Diseases products this quarter and is the Multiple Sclerosis pipeline with products such as Lemtrada™ and Aubagio™ progressing as anticipated?

Jérôme Contamine: Yes we are now grouping into what we call ‘New Genzyme' both the Rare Disease franchise on sales and the new Multiple Sclerosis products. So I would say that Genzyme is really on track and the recovery is on track. The sales for just Rare Diseases have been €400 million, which is an increase by 13.7% versus last year. As from March we started to ship Fabrazyme® products from the new Framingham facility. The US patients have returned back to full dosing, and full supply of Fabrazyme® will really be reached over Q2. When it comes to Cerezyme®, things are improving, and when it comes to Myozyme® or Lumizyme® - depending on where you sell it - which is the drug for Pompe disease, this one is continuing to post strong double-digit growth. On the Multiple Sclerosis side, over the quarter Genzyme has filed the Aubagio™ dossier for the EU and is just now preparing and completing the dossier to file Lemtrada™ following the impressive phase III results which were released recently.

EBM: Diabetes sales reached a new record in Q1 2012. What are the key growth drivers of Lantus® going forward? When do you expect Lyxumia® to reach the market?

Jérôme Contamine: You're right that diabetes posted again double-digit growth over the quarter, 14% versus last year. Clearly this is driven by Lantus® sales. Lantus® has grown 17% versus Q1 2011. In the US, growth has been more than 16% and importantly, Lantus® SoloSTAR® now represents more than 50 - precisely 51% - of overall Lantus® sales in the US. The growth in emerging markets is quite impressive; more than 32%, driven by China up 64%, as well as Brazil, Russia or Mexico. When it comes to Lyxumia®, as you know we filed Lyxumia® last year with the European Authorities and the dossier is presently being reviewed, and when it comes to the US we plan to file in Q4 2012.

EBM: Some of your flagship brands such as Plavix® and Lovenox® continue to show resilience in key geographies outside of the US Can you explain why this is the case?

Jérôme Contamine: When you think about these flagship brands, there is always a tendency to firstly look at the US and the end of patent exclusivity. But as a matter of fact, these brands continue to grow in other areas in the world. When it comes to Plavix®, just over Q1, we have grown by more than 5% in emerging markets, driven by China which has grown 23%, and in Japan we continue to grow double-digit, precisely 11.9%, and we expect to propose two new indications during the second half of the year. Lovenox® is also performing extremely well outside the US, both in Europe and in the rest of the world. All in all, Lovenox® outside the US sales for the first quarter have been €404 million, which is in overall growth of 11.9%

EBM: What is your update on your R&D pipeline and future growth catalysts coming down the pipeline?

Jérôme Contamine: Since our last R&D update on the 8th of February, two important elements came up which reinforce the outlook of our R&D pipeline. The first one is the presentation of the phase II results of our anti-PCSK9 compound which looked quite impressive, and also the presentation recently to the American Association of Neurology of data on the phase III trials for Lemtrada™. Over the quarter as well, Genzyme has filed mipomersen for homozygous hypercholestoremia in the US, Zaltrap™ has been filed as well in the US and Aubagio™ has been filed in the EU. So at the end of April, our R&D portfolio under development comprises 61 new molecular entities, out of which 18 are either in Phase III or just being submitted with the possibility to be approved and launched before the end of 2015.

EBM: Sanofi acquired Genzyme a year ago. Where do you now stand in terms of net debt?

Jérôme Contamine: As a matter of fact, we are reimbursing pretty fast the debt we raised to acquire Genzyme. Just over the quarter, the net debt was reduced from €10.8 billion to €8.6 billion. This is clearly the result of the strong free cash flows that we generated over the quarter, which raised €2.8 billion and which allowed us to both invest in our capital expenditures, but also to continue some opportunistic share buy-backs, which represented €400 million over the quarter. So now, if I take into account the dividend, which is going to be paid in May, we are heading into the target we have for the year, which is to have net debt in the range of €10 billion at the end of the year.

EBM: Does the Group's performance in Q1 allow you to reach the high end of your guidance range for 2012? Can you remind us of the impact of the loss of exclusivity from Plavix® and Avapro® in the US in 2012?

Jérôme Contamine: As we disclosed at the beginning of the year and already last year, the impact of the loss of exclusivity of Plavix® and Avapro® in the US on our P&L in 2012 will represent around €1.4 billion. So clearly, the results for the first quarter, the solid results, make us comfortable that we are going to reach the overall guidance we gave for the full year. However, it is clear that we have to take into consideration the impact of this lost exclusivity, in particular on Plavix® which will occur on the 17th of May. So I can just confirm today the guidance we gave at the beginning of the year, that taking this into account as well as the contribution of the growth platforms, of Genzyme and the continuous cost control, the business EPS should decline by 12 to 15% versus last year, barring unforeseen events.

EBM: Thank you very much.

Jérôme Contamine: Thank you.

European Funds Trophy 2012 - Interview with Matthias Born

briq — 2012-04-24T10:06:46Z

Paris, April 11, 2012 - Matthias Born, Co-Head of European Equity Growth Strategies at Allianz Global Investors, comments on Allianz RCM Euroland / Europe Funds strategies.

Company website: www.fundclass.com

No transcript available for this interview

Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy comments on revenue for Q1 2012

briq — 2012-04-19T05:36:58Z

Paris, April 19, 2012 - Publicis Groupe, the world's third largest communications group, reports revenue for the first quarter of 2012. Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy comments on Q1 revenue and outlook.
Company website: www.publicisgroupe.com

EuroBusiness Media (EBM): Publicis Groupe, the world's third largest advertising and communications company, reports revenue growth for the first quarter of this year. Maurice Lévy welcome, you are the CEO of Publicis Groupe. What are your comments on the Group's revenue growth in the first quarter?

Maurice Lévy: We are very pleased with the numbers that we are releasing today. We have an organic growth of 4.1%, which is slightly, slightly ahead of our old forecast, and we have an increase in our revenue of 12.9%. So in total, when we look at the numbers, not only we are on the consensus but we are slightly ahead of what we expected to do.

EBM: What are the most noteworthy trends that you observed by geographical region in the first quarter?

Maurice Lévy: What is interesting is to see that the mature markets have reacted quite positively: we have growth of 3.6% in Europe, despite the fact that the Latin countries are all in negative trends. France has posted growth of 4.6%, the UK above 8%, Germany above 10%. So all in all we feel quite good about Europe, despite the fact that there is still this cloud of uncertainty regarding the sovereign debt. The US and North America have been quite good, particularly when you compare to the comparison base, which last year was very strong – we posted growth of above 8%, and we have a growth of 3.3%. When you take into account a few other aspects of the operation in the US, which have been widely publicised, I think it's a very good performance. What's good is to look at what we are doing in the BRIC and the MISSAT (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey) market. BRICs, the combination of the Emerging Markets, are above 10%: BRICs are delivering 10%, MISSAT are delivering 11.8%, Brazil is delivering slightly above 15% and Chinese mainland also above 15%. All this is showing that the strategies that we have put in place are working extremely well. By the way, we see also a very nice increase in the Digital operation. The last quarter of 2011 was at slightly above 15%, we are close to 16%, so we have this sequential story, which is quite nice, as we have a good sequential growth when you compare Q1 2012 to Q4 2011. So all this is giving us a good level of confidence, despite the fact that there are some clouds in the economy.

EBM: Are you seeing any distinguishing patterns of ad spending behaviour by sector in the first quarter?

Maurice Lévy: When we look at all the sectors, they are all with a nice growth. Some are with incredible growth of above 30%, but this is a very small segment of luxury goods, or you have 24% for Financials or TMT, but these are relatively small segments. The vast majority of our segments are between 8% and 13%. So we feel quite good.

EBM: Looking at the rest of 2012, are you worried about the muted economic growth outlook in the US, Europe and Emerging Markets, and the potential implications for the advertising sector as a whole, and for Publicis Groupe in particular?

Maurice Lévy: We are receiving contradictory signals when you look at the information which is coming to us. The first thing that we received yesterday or the day before, the information of the new forecast of IMF: IMF is moving its forecast from 3.25% to 3.50%, and next year they are moving to above 4%. So when you look at this, you consider that everything is good and that we should see the market growing. At the same time, there are still a lot of uncertainties regarding the sovereign debt in Europe. And due to some elections, including in our country, there is some level of, if not questions, then at least uncertainties on what will be happening. So therefore, when you look at all these aspects, there is a big question mark regarding what, at the end of the day, will be the market. The latest forecast which has been issued by ZenithOptimedia is showing a small improvement compared to that of December, 2011. It's not a big deal, but it's a nice improvement. And when you look at the improvement, it's interesting to see that some European markets are improving a little bit (Germany), some of the markets are deteriorating a little bit (UK, France). I will not cover Italy and Spain because it's still the same story. And then at the same time you have some interesting growth stories, which are coming back from markets like China, or Brazil, or Mexico, or some other markets. So we have a situation which has a lot of contradictions and, obviously, what is interesting when you look at this picture is to see where we have put our bets. And we have put our bets in two areas: one is Emerging Markets, the other one is Digital. So normally, we should have a good year, and probably better than the market. And when you look at the trend, at the pattern, for 2012, what we think will happen – and what we think will happen to Publicis – is after a 4.1% for Q1, we will see a deceleration of growth in Q2. And with the Euro 2012 plus the Olympic Games, we will see Q3 and Q4 going up. So our bet and our predictions are that the second half will be stronger than the first half and Q1 will be stronger than Q2.

EBM: Since you just mentioned Emerging Markets, what is the outlook for your Emerging Markets business this year in a context of slower than expected growth in China?

Maurice Lévy: I'm always laughing when people are mentioning slower growth in China. I think that we would all dream about the growth that we are witnessing in China (8-9% growth). I think that the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the Prime Minister of the UK, would dance on the table if they had such growth. So putting this aside, we are having a growth in mainland China which is already above that, at 15%. We believe that, due to the strong new business momentum that we are having currently in China, or in Brazil, we should continue to grow much better than the market. So we feel confident on those markets. We still have some acquisitions to be made – mainly in China and India, a little bit in Russia – and we believe that this will not require a lot of investment and we think that the growth that we are witnessing in those markets will continue strongly in the next two to three years. So we have a solid pattern, which is giving us a good level of confidence.

EBM: What is your outlook for Publicis's operational lever to preserve or increase margins this year against a backdrop of slower growth than last year?

Maurice Lévy: Our objective this year is consolidating our margins. We don't have the ambition of increasing our margins because we want to protect the future and we want to continue to invest in three areas: one is talent, the second one is technology, and the third one is what we call “productization”. In order to do that, while at the same time delivering a very good level of margin, we need to generate some good growth and we need also to contain our costs. And we have a very strong program of cost containment, which is working quite well. So I feel comfortable and confident that we will fulfil all our objectives in this area.

EBM: What is the outlook for the operational lever in Digital in particular, now that your portfolio of sizeable acquisitions seems near complete?

Maurice Lévy: The good news is that we have been able to gain control of Pixelpark, for which we have made a public tender. Pixelpark is the largest independent operation in Germany and, clearly, that's a huge market. With Pixelpark, with Razorfish, and with a few other operations that we have in the Group (Ignition and some others), we are the largest player in the market. So we feel quite good in this market. And when we look at the other acquisitions that we need to make, there is nothing of large magnitude. So you're right, we have our program, which is, if not complete, then almost complete, and we don't have to make any large acquisitions today. Regarding the operational lever, we have currently very nice margins, and some of the margins that we are delivering in the Digital operation are above average of the Group margins. So we feel good about this. However, and that's very important, we have to work towards the next level. And what we have decided on Digital is to do exactly what we have done with the VivaKi Nerve Center and with AOD. AOD is Audience On Demand, and as you have probably noticed, we see that there are a few competitors who are discovering Audience On Demand, which we created three years ago… Slightly more than three years, in fact, it will be four years in June. And this is working extremely well and we want to make a leap forward. We want to take new initiatives and we have a whole group of great people working together in order to identify the areas where we should be investing and where we should be taking a leading position. The first information I got from the team and the first meeting I had with them are very encouraging. And I believe that we will be in a position, probably in the fall, to share some of this news with the market.

EBM: Now that you have repurchased the Dentsu stake in Publicis and now that Aegis is primarily focused on media buying, wouldn't a buyout of Aegis by Publicis Groupe make strategic sense today?

Maurice Lévy: We have been very pleased to come to this final agreement with Dentsu, which by the way will remain a very good shareholder of Publicis Groupe. We have a very good relationship and everything has been done in an amicable way. The repurchase of the shares and the cancellation of some of them (slightly more than 10 million shares) will increase our EPS by 7% on a full-year basis compared to 2011. So it's a good operation for our stockholders and we are very pleased with this. Acquiring Aegis would not be the same kind of operation for our shareholders and we don't believe that it will be a good operation for them, nor for the company. We have already such a position in media that this will make a very slight difference for a very big price. So we don't believe it is the good choice for us.

EBM: Maurice Lévy, CEO of Publicis Groupe, thank you very much.

Maurice Lévy: Thank you.

Frédéric Lemoine, Président du Directoire de Wendel, commente les résultats de l'année 2011

briq — 2012-03-26T06:05:00Z

Paris, le 26 mars 2012 — Wendel, l'une des toutes premières sociétés d'investissement cotées en Europe, publie ses résultats pour l'année 2011. Frédéric Lemoine, Président du Directoire de Wendel, commente les résultats et les perspectives.
Site web : www.wendelgroup.com

Transcription indisponible pour cette interview

Wendel Chairman of the Executive Board Frédéric Lemoine comments on 2011 results

briq — 2012-03-26T06:00:00Z

Paris, March 26, 2012 — Wendel, one of Europe's leading investment firms, reports 2011 results. Frédéric Lemoine, Chairman of the Executive Board of Wendel, comments on results and outlook.
Company website: www.wendelgroup.com

EuroBusiness Media (EBM): Wendel, one of Europe's leading investment companies, reports results for 2011. Frédéric Lemoine, welcome, you are the Chairman of the Executive Board of Wendel. How did it go in 2011 overall for your portfolio companies, after financial markets took a downturn beginning in the summer of last year?

Frédéric Lemoine: Actually, the year 2011 has been a good year for all our companies. But it was not something we were sure about during the summer. It's clear that in the first part of the year, the trust developed pretty well in all markets, including the financial markets, and that suddenly, in the summer, the market dropped and it raised some doubts about the sustainability of economic growth. But in all our markets we could see 5-8% organic growth in all our major companies. It's true for Bureau Veritas, for Legrand, for Saint Gobain, and also for Materis. And it was supported by some very high growth in emerging countries, but also by significant growth in the more mature markets. It was a good year. However, it ends with some doubts about the economic conditions throughout 2012, which leads us to be quite cautious in our investment plans and to have worked since the summer with our companies on plans if and when the market and the economic conditions get worse.

EBM: Wendel remained active in its portfolio. What are the highlights of some of your more recent deals?

Frédéric Lemoine: It's true that we did a lot of things in 2011. We sold some of our shares in Legrand – twice, by the way, in March and in October – reducing our stake in Legrand down to 5.8%. It enabled us to reimburse a lot of debt. We reduced our debt by €1.6 billion during the year. But we also made some more creative deals. For instance, we de-SPAC'ed our German structure, called Helikos, meaning that we invested it in a private German company, called xceet, which is developing very fast – 40% growth in 2011 – and it's a big success that we achieved in July. We also sold all our puts on Saint Gobain, which is something we have behind us now, and we prepared the future with the sale of Deutsch.

EBM: Pursuant to the planned disposal of Deutsch, which should yield you a net proceed of €960 million, you will be able to reduce your debt to below €3 billion. Does that mean that the issue of deleveraging Wendel is now behind you?

Frédéric Lemoine: It's true that the project we announced last November to sell Deutsch is a major step in our development and it really ends a three-year period that we started in the beginning of 2009. Deutsch, I remind you, is a leading company in connectors, notably connectors in harsh environments. It's a company that we acquired in California in 2006, which has been developed globally and that we are about to sell to TE Connectivity, which is the world's global leader in connectivity and which is an American company. The price and the industrial conditions that we obtained from TE Connectivity are unanimously found extremely good. And it's true that we will take nearly €1 billion out of this company; that is more than 2.4 times the amount invested or reinvested. So it will enable us to have a lot of means, a lot of financial means, to contemplate new projects.

EBM: What are your comments on Wendel's 2011 full-year results?

Frédéric Lemoine: These results were good. For the reasons I mentioned, but also because we have grown our net result from business sectors, which is the key metrics that I think is significant in our accounts because it shows the contribution of our companies. And all of our companies contributed to the growth of 26% of these results, at €321 million. It also shows the efforts we performed to reduce the costs of Wendel, which have declined by 8.5% last year, both for financial costs and also the costs of our structure.

EBM: In a few words, what are your medium- to long-term goals?

Frédéric Lemoine: After the sale of Deutsch, we will have in our accounts €1.5 billion of cash. So the question you ask is, “How will we use that?” Of course, we will keep our existing assets. We have made a lot of disposals over the last three years; we don't plan to make so many in the future. We have our assets, we will develop them. And we have this amount of cash which we will use for two other objectives, which are to maintain a strong financial structure, having a lasting access to financial markets, and also to have a lot of means to invest in bigger projects than the ones we bought last year, bigger companies – I would say €200-€500 million equity per deal – which will enable us to create value for the future. But I don't forget the first objective, which is the strength of our existing assets, because when you look at Bureau Veritas, Saint Gobain, Legrand or Materis's plans in five years' time, there is a lot of value to create in these companies.

EBM: Regarding future turnover of your portfolio, could you detail for us the types of companies that you would like to acquire, whether by geographical zone or by sector, for example?

Frédéric Lemoine: We want to invest in sectors and geographies that we understand, we know well, like Benelux, Germany, France and some others. Clearly in non listed assets, because it's what our shareholders want from us and that's where we can have a lot of hidden value, like we show clearly with Deutsch. We want to invest in sectors that are diversified. Diversification is a key word. So we don't want to invest anymore in the building materials sector. We believe in it a lot, I'm very convinced as an investor that this sector of construction will go up tremendously in the future. However, we are strongly involved in that sector through at least four companies, so we will invest in other sectors, maybe manufacturing. We have a lot of experience in that, but also services – Bureau Veritas or Parcours are good examples.

EBM: Today Wendel is very exposed to the construction sector. What are your views on the outlook for a rebound of this sector in the short term?

Frédéric Lemoine: In the short term, I can't say. It's very dependent on the economic conditions. But I'm a long-term investor and in the medium- to long-term I'm pretty convinced that for many reasons, both in Europe, the US, and in emerging countries, the building sector will be very dynamic. It will be very dynamic because of demographic reasons, population growth, notably in urban environment in Brazil, in India, in China, in South East Asia, etc. But also because of the evolution of the techniques used to build or to renovate the housing. We need more techniques adapted to energy efficiency. We have to save energy because of the rising cost of energy, be it oil or other sources. And this will be more and more regulated in the future and people will want more added value products to save energy costs. And that's what our companies produce. So I'm very bullish about that in the medium- to long-term.

EBM: You propose to increase your dividend by 4% to €1.30 per share, combined with an exceptional pay-out of 1 Legrand share for every 50 Wendel shares owned. Why this exceptional dividend?

Frédéric Lemoine: We have a lot of trust in the future. We know we have achieved a lot over the last three years. The dividend has been increased, by the way, by 25% last year. So we wanted to show something confident, but at the same time cautious. So our ordinary dividend increases by 4% and we expect this to be replicated more or less every year. But this year, because we are confident in the future – because we are confident in the future of Legrand, which has been a strong contributor to our results last year, for the different block sales that we made – we have decided to link directly our shareholders with Legrand and to enable them to benefit from the growth of this company which has recently joined the CAC 40.

EBM: Frédéric Lemoine, Chairman of the Executive Board of Wendel, thank you.

Frédéric Lemoine: Thanks to you.

European Funds Trophy 2012 - Interview with Jean-Paul Betbèze

briq — 2012-03-07T18:08:00Z

Paris, March 7, 2012 - Jean-Paul Betbèze, Chief Economist at Crédit Agricole and participant of the round table at European Funds Trophy 2012, shares his outlook on the European economy in 2012.
Company website : www.fundclass.com

No transcript available for this interview

European Funds Trophy 2012 - Interview with Luc Frieden

briq — 2012-03-07T18:01:00Z

Paris, March 7, 2012 — Luc Frieden, Minister of Finance of Grand-Dutchy of Luxembourg and President of the European Funds Trophy 2012, shares his outlook on the fund management industry in Europe.
Company website : www.fundclass.com

No transcript available for this interview

Groupama AM reçoit le prix Fundclass de la meilleure société de gestion européenne dans sa catégorie

briq — 2012-03-07T17:41:00Z

Paris, 3 mars 2012 — Antoine de Salins, Directeur des Gestions de Groupama Asset Management, commente les caractéristiques de la gestion Groupama AM.
Site web : www.groupama-am.fr

Transcription indisponible pour cette interview