European Stocks Pare Earlier Gains; Suez, Vodafone Lead Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks erased gains. Suez
SA, the French energy and water group, and Vodafone Group Plc,
the world's biggest mobile-phone company, paced the decline.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 added 0.1 percent to 372.9 at 9:57
a.m. in London after climbing as much as 0.5 percent earlier. The
Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations
sharing the euro, both declined 0.1 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Fujitsu Q1 oper profit down 80 pct, lifts outlook

(Reuters) - The company nudged up its forecast for full-year operating
profit to 195 billion yen from 190 billion, slightly exceeding a
consensus estimate of 194.6 billion yen by 15 analysts polled by
Reuters.




Fujitsu, the world's fifth-biggest maker of servers in a
market dominated by Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM, is
seeking inroads abroad. It recently made a 395 million euro hostile bid for French computer services firm GFI
Informatique to tap information technology demand in
France and Spain.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

France's CAC 40 Slides; Carmakers Peugeot, Renault Pace the Drop

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks fell, paced by PSA
Peugeot Citroen SA and Renault SA.

The CAC 40 Index slid 40.22, or 0.7 percent, to 5867.25 at
4:22 p.m. in Paris. The SBF 120 Index also fell 0.7 percent.


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Sarkozy Struggle Is Deja Vu for Trichet, With Europe's Economy at Stake

(Bloomberg) -- Interest rates are ``far too high,
and there is room to cut them significantly,'' the French
president said.

Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007? No, Jacques Chirac in 1996.


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Vallourec Shares Jump on Speculation Arcelor Mittal to Make a Takeover Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Vallourec SA, a French
maker of steel tubes used to carry oil and gas, jumped as much
as 6.2 percent on speculation the company may get a takeover
offer from Arcelor Mittal.

The stock rose 7.9 euros, or 3.6 percent as of 4:42 p.m. in
Paris and had earlier gained as much as 13.67 euros.


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UPDATE 1-Air Liquide shares rise on KKR bid talk - traders

(Reuters) - LONDON, July 10 - Shares in French industrial
gases group Air Liquide rose sharply on Tuesday on
market talk of bid interest from private equity group KKR
[KKR.UL], traders said.




At 0814 GMT, Air Liquide stock was up 4.5 percent, topping
gainers on France's CAC 40 index , which was up 0.05
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Platinum Falls in London on Car Demand Speculation; Palladium Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum fell for the first time this
week on speculation slowing car demand in Europe may add to a
surplus of the metal used mostly in catalysts to reduce vehicle
pollution. Palladium dropped for a second consecutive day.

New car registrations in Germany, Europe's biggest economy,
fell 7 percent in June compared with a year earlier, the Federal
Motor Vehicle Office in Flensburg said on July 4. French car and
light-truck sales dropped 3 percent in June.


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EU Says Stronger Euro Isn't Obstacle to Growth in Trade, Rebuffing France

(Bloomberg) -- The European Commission said the
euro's appreciation can't be blamed for poor export performance,
rejecting complaints by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that
the currency shared by 13 countries is too strong.

``The fact that some euro-area countries have performed
much better than others sharing the same currency is evidence
that the exchange rate plays only a limited role in the export
performance of the individual countries,'' the commission, the
European Union's executive arm in Brussels, said today in a
quarterly report on the economy.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

BNP Paribas leads French M&A league table -survey

(Reuters) - In second place was U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley
which advised on deals worth 45.7 billion euros while
Goldman Sachs took third place.




So far this year, BNP Paribas has advised French reinsurer
Scor on its takeover of Swiss rival Converium
and also advised French insurer AGF over its buyout by
parent company Allianz .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Publicis, Dassault Systemes in 3D online venture

(Reuters) - PARIS, June 28 - French advertising group Publicis
and software group Dassault Systemes will
create a joint venture in 3D online marketing in a bid to boost
advertising sales, the two companies said on Thursday.




The Paris-based venture named 3dswym -- an acronym for 3DSee
What You Mean -- will be 51 percent owned by Publicis and 49
percent by Dassault Systemes and will allow marketers to reach
consumers directly and to create and adapt new consumer goods
together, the joint statement said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

French Stocks Decline, Led by France Telecom, Alcatel-Lucent and Unibail

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks declined, led by
France Telecom SA, Alcatel-Lucent and Unibail Holding SA.

The CAC 40 Index lost 47.43, or 0.8 percent, to 5975.82 at
9:06 a.m. in Paris. The SBF 120 Index dropped 0.2 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-French state says sells 5 pct of France Telecom

(Reuters) - After completion of the deal, the French state will own
between 25.5 percent and 27.4 percent of France Telecom, the
Finance Ministry said in a statement.




"The state plans to remain a significant shareholder of
France Telecom in the medium term," it added.


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Renault CEO: No hint of French move to sell stake

(Reuters) - "Renault shares have been booming lately," he told reporters after partner Nissan Motor Co.'s annual shareholders meeting in Japan. He attributed the historic highs reached this month to investor confidence in Renault's financial performance.



"Obviously, the more the shares go up, the more people start to speculate that maybe the French state is moving to sell ," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Pearson says may sell French paper les Echos

(Reuters) - They were protesting over the potential sale of the French
business newspaper to Bernard Arnault, head of luxury group LVMH
and owner of rival La Tribune.




Pearson , which also owns the Financial Times and
the Penguin publishing house, said it was considering selling
the paper but would not confirm it was in exclusive talks with
Arnault.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Safran says strong euro hurting European aerospace

(Reuters) - PARIS, June 19 - The euro's strength against the dollar is hurting the European aerospace industry, the chief executive of French aerospace and electronics group Safran said on Tuesday.



The weakening of the dollar is "a real problem ... a serious problem", Jean-Francois Bechat told French radio BFM from the Paris air show.


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Yacef Is Unrepentant on `Battle of Algiers' Role in Popularizing Terrorism

(Bloomberg) -- Fifty years ago, when Saadi Yacef was
blowing up French men, women and children in the name of Algerian
independence, he never imagined Algerians would do the same to
each other some day.

Yacef's ultimately successful fight against colonial France
was immortalized in the 1965 film ``The Battle of Algiers.'' He
played a character based on himself in the movie, which has
become a celluloid primer for revolutionaries.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

European shares mixed in early trade; ICI sparkles

(Reuters) - European shares were mixed early on Monday as acquisition talk spurred gains in British chemicals group ICI but French stocks underperformed after President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to win a forecast landslide in parliamentary polls.

At 0718 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.03 percent at 1,626.38 points, after rising 3.7 percent last week.


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U.S. panel rejects Sanofi obesity drug

(Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA sells the medicine in 18 countries under the name Acomplia. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration said there were too many questions about potential side effects to support U.S. approval.




"I think this is a drug that needs further understanding with respect to what it does to people's psyche," said Dr. Sid Gilman, a panel member and a University of Michigan neurologist.


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German, French Power Prices to Rise on Higher Costs, Merrill Lynch Says

(Bloomberg) -- German and French electricity prices
for 2008 may extend gains on higher carbon emission permits and
oil and coal costs, according to Merrill Lynch & Co., the
world's third-largest security firm.

Power for delivery next year in Germany, Europe's biggest
electricity market, is trading at an 11-month high while its
French counterpart is near the highest in seven months. There's
scope for further gains because input costs have outpaced power
prices, said London-based Merrill strategists including
Francisco Blanch and Sabine Schels.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

World Bank nominee Zoellick says WTO deal possible

(Reuters) - "I believe that a deal can be done. I believe a deal should be done. I believe it would make a great step for development and growth so I would like to try and help," he told reporters after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.




The comments by Zoellick, a former U.S. Trade Representative, came the week after World Trade Organisation head Pascal Lamy said a successful completion of the Doha round of trade talks was within reach.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News