Tag Archives: #payment habits france

Hypermarkets in France a new deal. A lot of Hypermarkets make losses.

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Hypermarkets the new deal

Hypermarkets in France

Hypermarkets in France a new deal.

In France, consumption declined in most Hypermarkets in 2019. The glass is half empty or half full. Optimists will find that two thirds of the Carrefour Hypermarkets in France make money. Pessimists will point out that a third of the park pulls down the result of the branch. The issue is also sensitive to Auchan, the other chain of very large Hypermarkets. In its December issue, the trade magazine “Linear” examined the “evil of self-service hypermarkets” and advanced “the real numbers”. The trade magazine recalls that the self-service hypermarkets Carrefour, Auchan and Casino recorded sales of 2.7 billion euros between 2014 and 2018, of which one billion for the first two. Consumer habits are changing. Consumers commute less and tend to local supermarkets. The shift from non-food shopping to e-commerce and specialized supermarkets also explains the dissatisfaction of certain Hypermarkets. “Linear” keeps its figures from union sources. According to this information, the decline in sales is associated with a decrease in profitability. Carrefour France’s hyper integrated and franchised companies reportedly had a current operating deficit of 132 million euros in 2018. For comparison: Auchan Retail France generated a profit of 479 million in 2014. Operating profit (80% of activities are carried out by Hypermarkets) decreased to -155 million. The magazine also confirms that “89 businesses would make losses” at Carrefour Hypermarkets SAS ‘191 locations in 2018. The Carrefour Group does not comment on these figures, which it does not publish. In an interview with “Linear,” Marie Cheval, general manager of consumer markets, only states that 41 Hypermarkets will launch Rebond, “an operating model that inspectors entrust to directors to compensate for deteriorating profitability.” Dejan Terglav, General Secretary of FGTA-FO from Carrefour, responds to “Les Echos” and assesses all these figures as “likely”. He fears that the group will default to leasing around twenty hypermarkets. Carrefour has started to revive its consumer markets. 2018 is the first of the Group’s transformation plan that has invested particularly in competitiveness and prices. This strained numbers and margins. Kepler Cheuvreux underlined this “conscious strategy”. Since then, sales space reductions have been initiated, such as the rental of space to Darty. The Hypermarket soldier needs to be saved.

Who pays debt recovery costs in Europe

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Who pays debt recovery costs in Europe In Germany the debt recovery costs charged to private or professional debtors are fixed by law. The list of debt recovery costs is detailed by the legislator, which goes as far as quantifying the amounts that can be claimed for a simple reminder letter. This is a major difference between France and Germany, France going so far as to prohibit the recovery of individuals. The German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection wants to reduce debt recovery costs by 50% with a new draft “law to improve consumer protection in collection costs”. German professionals are “upwind” against this reform, their arguments being presented below. This reduction in debt collection costs would affect not only debt collection agencies and lawyers, but also creditors facing higher costs. According to the recovery professionals, this would be a reversal of the polluter-pays principle. Typically, two to six months elapse between receiving and closing a file. And in cases where a trial becomes inevitable, the handling of the case will take three to six yearsThe objective remains to recover the claim amicably. In this regard, even before the first reminder letter, many test steps, data comparisons and solvency checks are performed. On this basis, an individualized debt recovery strategy in relation to the debtor’s situation is determined. In this way, recovery professionals can decide, through which communication, how often and for what purpose, to manage this file. The German project stipulates that consumers will only be required to pay the debt recovery costs of a collection service provider or a lawyer if they have been informed in time. The project would impose the information of the debtor by an undeniable and proven action of the financial risks it incurs if it does not pay its bills. The decrease in the recovery costs payable would result in a profound change in the profitability of the German debt collection services. For the German recovery professional’s two possibilities open up to them: either the collection service providers reduce the scope of their activities by adapting them to their revenue prospects. Or the creditors bear part of the costs of the collection service. For the Germans it is a reversal of the polluter-pays principle. Because it is not the creditor who misbehaved, but the debtor, and this one, should pay for his bad behaviour. The Germans also want to differentiate between private and commercial debtors. Late payments in companies must be as low as possible. In order to achieve this objective, the German legal system is expected to inflict serious legal consequences on debtor companies that do not respect their commitments. In general, the German collection professionals ask that we move away from the flat-rate collection costs and replace it with a gradation of these costs related to the difficulty of collection. The problem of recovering unpaid bills is a hot topic in all developed countries. Very often individuals are protected and for companies the commercial relationship that we are trying to maintain is a real obstacle to rigorous practices in terms of debt recovery costs. Prevention is one of the first levels to be used to first make every effort to ensure that payment delays are reduced to the minimum. The development of digital and new means of payment will certainly change the situation by significantly reducing outstanding payments. However, it is indisputable that we must penalize the bad coaters and the professional latecomers who use and abuse supplier credit. Finally, it is up to the legislator to put in place simple and inexpensive judicial systems and procedures to sanction bad faith behaviour. It is absolutely abnormal that in very many cases no proceedings are initiated because the costs to be incurred are disproportionate to the unpaid claim. The professionals of bad faith are perfectly informed. Georges Vonfelt GEVO

B to C debt collection costs in France a nightmarish situation when debtor is an individual.

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B to C debt collection costs in France a nightmarish situation. The B to C debt collection costs in France were the subject of a new judicial decision dated September 26, 2019. This decision concerns the collection costs charged to individuals by the collection agencies. The decision of the Administrative Court is as follows. The collection of damages from the debtor must, except to qualify as deceptive marketing practices, be preceded by a justification of the nature and amount of the damage alleged. According to the judges the only fact for the administration to note that neither the proof of bad faith, nor that of the reality and the quantum of the damage, were reported, was sufficient to reclassify the damages and interests in debt collection costs constituting deceptive marketing practices. The burden of proof of the bad faith of the debtor and the loss suffered is on the creditor. Failing this, the collection firm is exposed to heavy criminal penalties for deceptive marketing practices. The context of this decision is related to the practices of some French recovery firms that try to make debtors pay damages by referring to Article 1231-6 of the Civil Code. The root of the problem is related to the small amount of the claims in the B to C files. To make their actions profitable some collection firms do not hesitate to claim substantial damages from the debtors to cover the debt collection costs incurred. The Court’s decision confirms that in practice and for debtors with a private person status, it is in fact impossible to claim recovery costs except to risk very heavy penalties. How to produce receipts for debts of a few tens of euros. And it is equally true that not paying small bills for an individual is a real lawless area, the debtor not in fact risk anything to pay his bills when he sings, if he decides to pay. No one is going to expose the debt collection costs of proceedings for a claim of a few tens of euros.

Hedge Fund the rise of one whom nothing predestined to become the best manager of history.

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Hedge Fund the rise of one whom nothing predestined to become the best manager of history “The man who solved the riddle of the markets” Wall Street Journal’s Greg Zuckerman’s book is the book that everyone is talking about on Wall Street. He portrays the rise of one whom nothing predestined to become the best manager of history. The mathematician Jim Simons, whose fortune exceeds 23 billion dollars, is at the origin of a UFO: the Medallion fund. Since 1988, this quantitative hedge fund has recorded an average annual gain of 66.1%, reduced to 39% after deducting its commissions. Over 20 years (1985-2004), George Soros’ hedge fund (Quantum fund) had an average annual return of 20.2%. Prize of excellence Aware of its value, the Medallion Hedge Fund has taken the highest rates in the industry, 5% of assets and 44% of profits generated through its performance. Hedge Fund typically take between 1.5% and 2% of assets and 20% of profits. Given its success, this Hedge Fund no longer accepted money from investors since 1993. In 2005, it was reserved exclusively for employees of the Hedge Fund. For Simons, this fund was to remain relatively small, less than $ 10 billion, to continue to perform well. The founder is aware of the law of diminishing returns in the financial world: the more the capital is important, the more a manager is struggling to remain as efficient.

Inconceivable In an interview with “Institutional Investor” in November 2000, the founder of Renaissance said: “Today we manage $ 4 billion, perhaps $ 7 to $ 8 billion in the future. But 70 billion, never! It is inconceivable. I am 62 years old and in the next three years I would like to pass the torch. Today the Hedge Fund manages $ 110 billion, and Jim Simons retired in 2010 while remaining involved in his company, being non-executive chairman. The Medallion has been a fantastic Hedge Fund appeal and advertising product, which has launched other funds such as Renaissance equities. He managed the increase in his assets and the change in size of his fund. “Make money when I sleep” In 1978, Jim Simons left his position as professor of mathematics at Stony Brook University to found his first Limroy Hedge Fund. Like other traders of the time, he tries to anticipate the decisions of the Federal Reserve but without much success. Yet at the time, he consulted the opinion of an economist, Alan Greenspan, who would become the president of the Fed between 1986 and 2007. His poor results prompt him to seek a trading system without human interference. “I do not want to worry about markets every minute. I want models that make me earn money when I sleep. He then embarked on quantitative management in the futures markets, particularly commodities. It speculates on potatoes, oil or pig carcasses but again the yields are random. The Hedge Fund, Renaissance Technologies, which was born in 1982, decided to move up a gear and began to build systematic and rigorous quantitative management. “There are movements and configurations in the markets that are not ‘visible to the naked eye’ by traders, but Renaissance wanted to exploit these anomalies in a systematic and rigorous way,” says Greg Zuckerman. Grey matter The fund is progressively recruiting the best mathematicians, astrophysicists, linguists, artificial intelligence specialists and computer scientists. It ensures their loyalty by allowing them to invest their bonuses in the Medallion Hedge Fund, where the average investment of employees is now around $ 50 million. Those who leave the company are subject to very strict confidentiality agreements and a non-competition clause over a very long period. It is not possible that they go into another Hedge Fund to disclose the secrets of the company.

The “home culture” of Renaissance, the antithesis of that of Hedge Fund of the time, was in three words: humility, patience, work. No star manager took positions according to his “instinct”, a word banned internally. His traders had to follow the signals of mathematical models and never take personal initiative. In fact, very few Wall Street professionals have been recruited by Renaissance who prefers to hire IBM alumni. The Medallion fund also invested some of its money in about 40 Hedge Fund. It was a way to seize opportunities that he had not identified himself while benefiting from information feedback on the markets. Data gathering. To help it achieve good market forecasts, this Hedge Fund was one of the first to recognize the importance of having as much financial data as possible. He has collected very old and good course histories. Databases often contain errors that a statistics specialist was responsible for flushing out and correcting. The fund was collecting data that was not available to its competitors: one of the contributors regularly went to the New York Fed in Manhattan to manually collect prices on bonds that were not public. Anticipating the rise of “high frequency trading” (ultra-fast trading machines), the fund invests early in technology and computers at the forefront to increase the speed of its transactions and be the first to seize opportunities. The “gross” anomalies in the markets have long since disappeared and the fund must innovate to remain efficient. “The mathematics we use can be sophisticated,” he told Institutional Investors, “but we start from data analysis, we do not have preconceived notions.” “In our business, we want action, we appreciate a certain level of volatility. In 2008, the year of the financial crisis, the Medallion fund jumped by 80%.

 

Payment delays : How to find 20 Billions € in France?

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Payment delays : The most recent figures and surveys in France shows that if the legal payment delays are respected the small and medium French companies (with less than 50 Million € turnover) would improve their cash flow situation with 20 Billions € a year.
The unpaid invoices and payment delays generate a lot of costs inside and outside of the Company:
Internal Management of the payment delays, costs related to the financing of the outstanding sales, debt collection costs, litigation costs.
In France the companies which are far away from the consumer are those with the most of the problems concerning the payment delays from their clients (forwarder, logistic, storage, business services)
In the Business to Business filed the costs per Invoice for the management of the payments are around 609 €!
In the Business to Consumer field the costs for the management of the payments are more or less equal to 6 % of the company turnover. The reason is that the French law exonerate the private customer from every kind of liability in relation with the non-payment of their invoices.
Georges Vonfelt
www.gevo.fr