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PARIS (Archyde.com) – The succession to the post of chief executive of Soitec is the result of “a rigorous decision-making process” conducted with “the full support” of the main shareholders, the group said on Friday as dissension emerged between the committee. executive and chairman of the board.

Thursday, the title Soitec fell by 18.2% following the announcement of the appointment of Pierre Barnabé to the general management of the manufacturer of semiconductor materials, where he will replace Paul Boudre, very appreciated by investors who attribute to him the recovery of the group.

The market was also concerned following the publication in the media of a letter, which Archyde.com was able to consult, from the executive committee of Soitec addressed to the board of directors. In this letter, the executive committee considers the appointment of a new general manager “incomprehensible”, suggesting significant dissension.

“By his behavior, the chairman of the board of directors bears a serious responsibility for the possible destabilization of a growing company and its governance”, is it written in the letter signed by all the members of the executive committee. .

Denouncing the “growing hand” of the chairman of the board of directors Eric Meurice, the executive committee says it is in “total disagreement” with its strategy and considers it “very difficult” to continue with him.

“BEST STANDARDS”

Friday, Soitec assures in a press release that the process of succession to the general management, started in March 2021, “was carried out in accordance with the best standards of governance and with the full support of the main shareholders of Soitec”.

According to group data as of November 1, 2021, Soitec is 10.35% owned by bpifrance, 8.6% by Blackrock and 7.32% by CEA Investissement.

Contacted, a spokesperson for bpifrance did not wish to comment on Friday and referred to remarks the day before by general manager Nicolas Dufourcq.

In an interview Thursday on BFM Business, Nicolas Dufourcq indicated that “things were done absolutely normally” and said he was surprised by the reaction of the executive committee.

“Following the rumors published in the press regarding the Executive Committee, Eric Meurice, Chairman of the Board of Directors, will do what is necessary to ensure that governance issues, if any, are addressed to ensure the transition of the leadership,” said Soitec once more on Friday.

The group says Eric Meurice and Paul Boudre are committed to working together “to ensure a smooth transition, thereby enabling the successful execution of Soitec’s 2026 strategic plan”.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, the Soitec share fell once more by 0.83% on Friday in the first exchanges.

(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Bertrand Boucey)

(Archyde.com) – Netflix picked up fewer new subscribers than expected in the last three months of 2021 and its forecast for the current quarter is below Wall Street consensus, a sign that the U.S. online video giant is suffering from competition.

The world number one in the sector reported Thursday 8.3 million additional subscribers over the October-December period while financial analysts expected 8.4 million according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Netflix stock fell 10% in following-hours trading following Wall Street closed.

In total, the group had 221.8 million subscribers worldwide at the end of December.

Netflix raised its prices last week in the United States and Canada, two countries which constitute its main market but in which its growth is slowing down.

After taking advantage of confinements and the closure of cinemas at the start of 2020, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group saw its development slow down in 2021 with only 18.2 million new subscribers, compared to 36 million the previous year.

Its growth should stabilize in 2022 and return to its pre-pandemic level, analysts say.

Netflix can count on the release of new seasons of hit series such as “Ozark” or “Stranger Things” for the next few months, but the competition is increasingly tough, its rivals Walt Disney and HBO Max, a subsidiary of AT&T, investing billions of dollars.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Netflix achieved a turnover of 7.71 billion dollars (billion euros), in line with market consensus. He expects a turnover of 7.90 billion for January-March while the market expects 8.11 billion.

(Report Eva Mathews and Tiyashi Datta in Bangalore, French version Marc Angrand)

The context of low rates experienced by borrowers in 2021 might well continue in 2022. In any case, this is what the first figures for the year suggest.

By MoneyVox,

In 2021, mortgage interest rates still marked the spirits, with loans sometimes granted at less than 1%. But in 2022, the banks will have to be more selective on the files and apply to the letter the decisions of the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF). With rare exceptions, borrowers will no longer be able to exceed a term of 25 years and a debt ratio of 35%. News that raised fears of an interest rate hike… but the first data for January 2022 are intended to be reassuring.

An exceptional context for borrowing in 2021…

It is now usual for all real estate buyers: interest rates on loans have been extremely low for several years. But the year 2021 still managed to make an impression with interest rates that fell below 1%. A privilege reserved for households with the best profile: those with a high level of income, a low debt ratio, a substantial contribution, a significant amount of residual savings (following the purchase of real estate), and/or prospects professional development in the more or less long term.

In addition, the year 2021 also benefited from a wide distribution of mortgages, in particular to first-time buyers. The recommendations of the High Council for Financial Stability in terms of loan duration and debt ratio were still only recommendations. But from January 1, 2022, these have been transformed into bonds, raising fears of a tightening of the granting conditions this year.

… which should continue in 2022, with some nuances

Only a handful of files will be able to escape the new rules of the HCSF. The others will have to comply, both on the maximum borrowing period of 25 years and on the debt ratio of 35%, insurance included, not to be exceeded. This context might disadvantage the most modest households, those buying their main residence for the first time, or even small investors in rental real estate. If the banks retain a little leeway, it is likely that they will use it above all for the best profiles, raising fears of more difficult access to mortgages.

On the other hand, the year 2022 should continue on the same dynamic as 2021 concerning interest rates. Indeed, the first scales were published by brokers and banks at the start of 2022. Over 15 years, average rates range from 0.75 to 1% according to data collected by Pretto, Vousfinancer, Le -Partner, Borrowing-direct and Borrowing. Over 20 years, we can expect conditions varying between 0.91 and 1.15%, and over 25 years between 1.10 and 1.40%.

Read also: Real estate credit: teleworking and borrowing, a difficult balance to find

Banks snap up the best profiles

The figures given above do not concern the best profiles: the luckiest households will be able to claim interest rates of less than 1%, regardless of the duration of the loan. According to Vousfinancer, it is possible to obtain 0.55% over 15 years, 0.75% over 20 years and 0.95% over 25 years. What significantly reduce the overall cost of its mortgage and its monthly payments, or borrow more.

If the banks are so aggressive in terms of rates, it is above all because of the unbridled competition that exists between the different establishments. To capture new customers, the mortgage is an essential product. Very often, the granting of the best borrowing conditions is also conditional on the domiciliation of household income. Julie Bachet, Managing Director of Vousfinancer, testifies to another important variable: “most banks have credit production targets equivalent to 2021, which is a record year. (…) In 2022, they should maintain a strategy of offensive rate in a context of ever-strong interbank competition”.

The New York Stock Exchange ended in the red following a volatile session on Wednesday, following already heavy losses the day before in reaction to the rise in bond rates which led the Nasdaq into the correction zone.

According to final results, the Dow Jones index dropped 0.96% to 35,028.65 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.15% to 14,340.25 points and the S&P 500 0.97% to 4,532.76 points.

After a severe fall on Tuesday, mainly caused by the technology sector, which is more sensitive to interest rates, the indices had nevertheless started the session on a rebound.

But this momentum did not hold. On the one hand, the Nasdaq continued its decline, falling back into a correction zone, since the index has lost more than 10% since its last record two months ago.

On the other hand, the Dow Jones, where so-called “value” classic economy stocks have more weight, also took a nosedive as investors looked for profit taking.

Bond yields on 10-year US Treasury bills, which had risen sharply the day before, up to 1.90% overnight, stabilized at 1.84%.

“A lot of stocks that had done very well over the last few weeks, like food, energy, financials, are losing steam,” said Tom Cahill, senior portfolio strategist for Ventura Wealth. Management.

“We’ve been betting very hard on these stocks but, as bond yields stabilize, we’re now seeing some profit taking in these value stocks,” the analyst continued.

The good quarterly results announced by the banking groups Bank of America (+0.41%) and Morgan Stanley (+1.85%) or even by the consumer goods giant Procter and Gamble (+3.36%) n failed to arouse the good mood of investors.

Bank of America posted a quarterly profit up 30%, driven by its investment banking and asset management activities, as well as the good financial health of the majority of its retail banking customers.

Despite a turnover a little lower than that of the previous quarter, Morgan Stanley posted a profit higher than analysts’ forecasts.

The two banks do not seem to have experienced the increase in payroll which penalized Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, whose results, despite everything excellent, had been sanctioned by Wall Street the day before and once more on Wednesday. Wells Fargo shed 1.98%, JP Morgan 1.55% and Goldman Sachs 2%.

Procter and Gamble has raised its growth forecast for fiscal year 2022 on the back of strong demand and rising prices.

Apart from consumer products and utilities, all S&P sectors ended in losses, starting with financials (-1.65%) and information technology (-1.37%).

Within the value stocks that prompted profit taking, automotive groups suffered like Ford (-7.92% to 22.45 dollars) or General Motors (-4.34% to 56.24 dollars) or even Boeing (-3.12% to $217.08).

The dollar fell slightly once morest the euro following rising sharply the day before, on fears of a more aggressive than expected monetary policy from the Fed to fight inflation.

The US central bank’s Monetary Committee is meeting next week and is expected to give guidance on its path to raising rates.

Crude oil prices, on the other hand, continued their run up, approaching 90 dollars for a barrel of Brent, their highest since October 2014.

In terms of economic data, the rise in new housing starts to 1.702 million at an annual rate for December, more than expected, helped the indices to recover for a moment in the first part of the session.

Illustrating the correction that the Nasdaq is undergoing, star stocks like Apple (-2.10% to $166.23) or Tesla (-3.38% to $995.65) have fallen sharply.

In the wake of their tumble in Tokyo, Sony shares slid 5.01% to 110.04 dollars in New York, the day following the announcement of the takeover by Microsoft, its rival in the video game sector, of the publisher Activision Blizzard for a record amount of almost $69 billion.

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