The CEO Stephen Hester also confirmed that the bank would have ended next week to repay emergency loans granted by London during the financial crisis.

It also will resume payment of dividends and coupons attached to hybrid securities.

RBS posted a first quarter operating profit of 1.2 billion pounds (1.46 billion euros), after a loss of 144 million the previous quarter. The consensus gave a profit of 800 million.

London has an 82% interest in the bank bailout since the surgery in 2008 and has "no desire" to sell given the situation of stock markets, reported the group.

"As far as I know, there is no desire to sell at current prices and I think it is quite understandable," said Stephen Hester at a conference tee ; léphonique. "Even if everyone wants it to be done, to my knowledge there is nothing in sight."

Sources had said in March that the government had held talks with Abu Dhabi, which had fueled speculation of a sale.

"MISTAKES OF THE PAST"

The rise of the bank in the green is due in particular to the investment bank, which posted an operating profit of 824 million pounds during the quarter against a loss of 109 million the previous three months.

"We are pleased with progress made in the first quarter, although the economic and regulatory environment remains tough," said Stephen Hester. "RBS continues to significantly grow in strength and resistance."

Hester added that the bank was progressing very well in the correction of "errors" of the past, with a decrease in non-strategic assets and increased liquidity.

She said her "Funded balance sheet", defined as total assets less the balance sheet derivatives, was further reduced by 27 billion pounds to 950 billion. Of this total, the non-strategic assets decreased from 11 to 83 billion pounds.

"Once again, the good news is the progress speed of adjustment of the balance sheet. It's all about cleaning up the balance (…)", said Ian Graham, an analyst at Investec. "For me, progress is obviously there but the road is long and painful."

Around 9:25 GMT, RBS shares gained 2.4% to 25.14 pence in morning, outperforming the European sector index of banks, up 0.22%.

New episode of the clash between remote Nicolas Sarkozy and Anne Lauvergeon. Incumbent President said Tuesday that it had terminated the functions of Anne Lauvergeon at the head of Areva because she was "unable to work in harmony with EDF". "Ms. Lauvergeon, we asked him to leave his post for some reason is very simple, was that she was unable to work in harmony with EDF, "he said on France Inter.  

Asked about its incompatibility with the current CEO of EDF Proglio, considered close to Nicolas Sarkozy, the head of state assured that "with the previous (Gadonneix, ed), it was exactly the same thing ". Ms. Lauvergeon "did everything to remain as head of Areva," she "came to me countless times," he insisted, "if it had been in disagreement with the policy as I was driving to the nuclear, one wonders why she wanted to stay. "

"This is someone I respect, I kept at the head of Areva that I had even known (…) we can not say that he mistreated her," continued the President UMP candidate and confirming that he was offered a post in his government. "See Ms. Lauvergeon now explain how she suffered with me, when she was a president of Areva who wanted to stay, who wished by all means remain president of Areva, all these people who, once that they left their posts, say 'my God as we suffered when + they wanted to stay, it's pretty outrageous, "he – he concluded.

In an interview last week in the weekly L'Express and a book, Ms. Lauvergeon, old Sherpa of François Mitterrand, ousted in 2011 by the Government of the head of champion French nuclear company, denounced the methods of the CEO of EDF Proglio, reveals some of his conversations with Nicolas Sarkozy, accusing the government for consideration until 2010 to sell a nuclear reactor to Libya's Colonel Gaddafi. Again, Nicolas Sarkozy denies.

"I have not consorted with Gaddafi"

"There was never a central issue to sell to Mr. Gaddafi and let me tell you that if there is a head of state who in the world, has not paved with Gaddafi and is responsible for his departure and what happened to him, I think maybe it's me, "Sarkozy said in response to a question from a listener on France Inter. When visiting the controversial Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Paris in December 2007, the Head of State announced to reporters, after an initial interview with the Libyan leader that France had signed the signature of "tens of billions" of euros of contracts with Libya …… These agreements

…, he cited "collaboration contracts for desalination of seawater with a nuclear reactor for armaments cooperation, different economic contracts ". Lauvergeon accused the government of having planned until 2010 to sell the nuclear reactor. "This is a blatant lie (…) it has never been involved," insisted Tuesday Nicolas Sarkozy, "I remind you that if Benghazi was saved and if Gaddafi is gone, it is because that France intervened. " "There is still a logic. We can obviously angry with me for a whole bunch of things but we can not blame me for the inconsistency. In Libya it is France that led the operation, it is France with the UK, "he said.

"So, between those who say that Gaddafi paid my campaign, the other we wanted to offer a nuclear power plant, do you really think I would have done this if it was all true?" concluded the incumbent president and candidate of the UMP. The information website Mediapart published in March a note suggesting that the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has funded a 50 million euros the 2007 campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy. The President had called the accusations "ridiculous".

When moving to Tripoli in July 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy, France and Libya signed a memorandum of agreement on civil nuclear aim of which was, according to the secretary general of the Elysee Claude Gueant of the time, "to provide to Libya a nuclear reactor that allows the provision of drinking water "in seawater déssalinisant This agreement was widely criticized, especially from France's partners such as Germany, and left in environmentalists who saw a proliferation risk. Some had even suspected this Agreement to be consideration for the release of Bulgarian nurses held in Libya, which the Elysée has always denied.

The Paris Stock Exchange closed sharply lower Friday amid concerns persist about the situation in Spain and Italy, and while the slowdown in Chinese growth is stronger than expected. The CAC 40 gave 2.47%, passing under the 3200 points to 3189.09 points, in a trade volume of 3.697 billion euros.

On other European markets, Frankfurt fell 2.36% and 1.03% of London. The Eurostoxx 50 index lost 2.58% on its side. "We broke a very important technical level, that of 3200 points, this does not bode well. We will start next week in very bad disposition, "warned Frederic Rozier, manager of equities at Messchaert Private Banking Growth Slows

.

The Chinese trend has been sealed, early interactions, confirmed by the slowing of Chinese growth, which reached its lowest level in almost three years (+8.1% yoy in the first quarter). "Investors not expect a downturn as fast. It should be remembered that any slowdown in China has a strong impact on the global economy, "said Mr. Rozier. However, for Renaud Murail at Barclays Bourse," it is almost certain that stakeholders would not reacted so negatively to this statistic a few weeks ago. Currently, less bad news is amplified. "  

The climate has been sealed by the blood of net borrowing rate of Italy and Spain in the bond market, yields on 10 year Spanish flirting again with 6%. Rome suffered a further decline in industrial production in February, while economists were betting on a rise, while the debt of Spanish banks to the ECB in March smashed the record already history for the previous month. "This suggests two disturbing elements: access not only of the Spanish market remains difficult, but they still have a strong need for short-term liquidity," said Alexandre Baradez at Saxo Bank.

The bank attacked very

The banking sector in the fourth largest economy in the euro area of ​​particular concern for investors because it is very exposed to the real estate market in the doldrums in the country. In this context, anxiety, low morale of U.S. households has compounded the disappointment of stakeholders.

As for values, the banking sector has been particularly attacked, Societe Generale yielding 5.79% to 17.80 euros, BNP Paribas 5.22% to 30.40 euros and Credit Agricole 5.08% to 3.91 euros. More cyclical stocks have suffered heavily from the slowdown in China, the image of Peugeot (-5.15% to 9.84 euros), Lafarge (-4.94% to 30.88 euros) or Vinci (-4 , 21% to 34.83 euros). L'Oreal was the only value of the CAC 40 close to achieving in the green (1.15% to 92.14 euros) after the beginning of 2012 found "promising" with sales up sharply in the first quarter.

Capgemini (-5.12% to 29.92 euros) suffered from lower sales forecasts for 2012-2013 the number two Indian IT Infosys Technologies. Atos took to 2.31% to 44.37 euros, while a note from Morgan Stanley suggests the establishment of "strategic options" for the group if the title is still low. Stallergenes has granted 3.34% to 42.66 euros after confirming its annual growth target following an increase of 7% of its turnover for the first quarter. Finally, Gold by Gold unscrewed from 6.01% to 6.72 euros in its first day of trading on Euronext Paris.

These orders rose 1.3%, slightly below the consensus of analysts polled by Reuters which gave 1.5%, according to figures released Tuesday by the Commerce Department.

Many economists believe that the expiration of certain tax benefits on productive investment in late 2011 has encouraged companies to move their investments.

The decline in January was revised to 1.1% against 1% in the first estimate. 

Orders for civilian capital goods excluding aircraft, a category closely followed because it was considered a good indicator of future investment plans, rose 1.7% in February against 1.2% in the first estimate.

Stop the panic that gripped markets. Two days before the deadline given to private creditors of Greece to accept or not the deletion of part of the country's debt, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Ollie Rehn, steps into the breach. In an interview with Le Figaro, he argues that the operation "should proceed smoothly." And adds: "From the information we collect, the debt swap should take place smoothly, as the transaction is financially attractive to the private sector"

The Finnish Commissioner was asked about whether the fact that the dreaded "credit default swaps" (CDS), these insurance contracts on default of payment to be triggered if the debt exchange operation went wrong. "It is not our preferred scenario. Instead," said Rehn, while anxiety has spread in the markets Tuesday.

European shares ended the session sharply down and banking stocks were particularly hard hit, indicating investors fears of a default of Greece as we approach the result of the restructuring of its indebtedness imposing. The rate of participation of private creditors should be at least 75% for Greece to erase part of its debt (107 of the 200 billion held by private creditors) and receive the second aid package of 130 billion approved last week in Brussels.

About a third aid plan, referred to by the German weekly Der Spiegel Sunday, "this is a hypothesis that has been circulating among Cassandra, I am not …", Rehn sweeps. "Let's focus instead on the implementation of the second rescue plan, which provides a unique erase debt," he told the BBC.

The Commissioner also stated "that the risk of explosion (the eurozone) is behind us." But "the recession is here, and unemployment is worrying," he says. "We are at a critical time in which member states must keep their budget commitments, to make the necessary structural reforms, while strengthening the firewall to anti-crisis 750 billion euros in Europe," Rehn recommends.

The 'rally' stock in recent months has been built on a series of economic indicators improving, which suggest that growth in U.S. corporate earnings remain intact, analysts said.

But some strategists warn against a downward trend, while the main New York indexes have reached key thresholds and that the publication of results for the fourth quarter draws to a close.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose in eight of nine weeks past. During the past week, the Dow finished above 13,000 points for the first time since May 2008, and the S & P 500 closed twice over resistance threshold of 1,370 points.

The Nasdaq composite crossed the threshold of its side of the 3,000 points and is trading around its highest level since 2000.

Some believe that Wall Street could continue to rise thanks to new macroeconomic indicators considered solid.

"The question is: 'Are we witnessing a sustained improvement in the economy?' I think the answer is yes, and that the rally will continue somewhat, "says Bryant Evans, portfolio manager and advisor for Cozad Asset Management, Illinois. 

Detailed figures for February employment in the United States must be published Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect 210,000 new jobs outside agriculture, against 243,000 the previous month.

This would mark the third consecutive month of job creation. The unemployment rate is meanwhile expected unchanged at 8.3%, its lowest level in three years. To investors, such figures would bring additional proof of a recovery in the U.S. economy.

Growth of gross domestic product (GDP) U.S. has already been revised up to 3.0% annualized in the fourth quarter of 2011, its highest rate , since the second quarter 2010, according to the second estimate published Wednesday by the Commerce Department.

TAKING PROFITS tempting

Now that the second bailout of Greece seems on track and that the earnings season draws to a close, investors are more focused on macroeconomic data.

Rising oil prices, bolstered by the tensions around Iran, however, could darken the horizon. Brent crude is trading above $ 120, an ominous trend when Europe seems to be sliding into recession.

Also in Europe, the first funds of the new aid package to Greece could be paid immediately after the debt swap between Athens and its private creditors s, to be concluded by 9 March.

In any event, investors had gains high enough since the beginning of the year to consider taking profits.

The S & P 500, who finished almost unchanged in 2011, increased by 9% since the beginning of the year. 

U.S. ECONOMY, THE ENGINE RALLY

Health of the U.S. economy now looks up the engine for stock markets, investors wanting to believe that a recovering economy will spur creation of jobs and profits up.

Regarding the fourth quarter, the share of companies exceeding expectations is declining.

A 9.4% quarterly earnings growth is also lower than in previous quarters, but analysts want to believe that the recovery of the U.S. economy will help to avoid settling too brutal. 

"From our perspective, as the employment situation continues to improve, we are on track," said Thomas Villalta, portfolio manager at Austin.

Monday, the ISM services will provide an overview of the activity of tertiary service last month.

The ADP survey on job creation in the private sector in the United States, released Wednesday, will precede the official statistics on Friday.

The source said the draft statement, which must be finalized during meetings scheduled in Mexico this weekend, made loans and bilateral borrowing arrangements options for improve the firepower of the IMF.

"Progress in this strategy will be discussed at the next ministerial meeting in April," the draft communique quoted by the source. These reports were confirmed to Reuters by another official of the G20.

The IMF wants more than double its capacity to respond by raising $ 600 billion of new resources to deal with the consequences of the crisis of sovereign debt within the eurozone. This project creates a reluctance in some countries, foremost among them the United States and Canada.

Mexico, who chairs the G20, has pushed for the issue of IMF resources is discussed along with the initiatives that the Europeans could be taken to resolve the crisis sovereign debt, at the meeting of finance ministers and central bankers this weekend in Mexico City.

Some countries indicated that no discussion on the strengthening of IMF resources could be envisaged as the Europeans have not strengthened their own firewall to stem the debt crisis, an issue they must be discussed at the European Council of March 1 and 2.

The Moody's decision weighs on market sentiment already dominated by concerns about the ability of Athens to carry out drastic austerity measures required by its lenders in exchange for a new aid plan.

"It is clear that (the decision by Moody's) do not change the deal, but they come at a time when investors are asking questions about risky assets, following a period of strong growth" said Chris Weston, institutional trader at IG Markets. 

The euro and British pound lost ground against the dollar after this announcement, as the yen after a new policy easing by the Bank of Japan.

The day will be full of economic indicators including the German ZEW index and industrial production in the eurozone, as well as new auctions of sovereign debt in Europe.

In the afternoon, investors expect sales to particular details of the U.S. in January and business inventories for December.

The Paris CAC 40 index yields 0.3% to 3,374.97 points in early trade, the German Dax lost 0.1%, the UK FTSE 0.16% and the pan-European index STOXX 50 was down 0.18%.

Bank stocks in Europe (-0.57%) are among the largest declines, with insurers (-0.53%) and commodities (-0.8%). 

In Paris, BNP Paribas lost 2.7%, largest drop in the CAC 40, followed by Credit Agricole (-1.64%) and Societe Generale (-1.5%).

Alcatel-Lucent continues to rise they began Friday after the publication of its first profit since 2006, and earns 4% plus increase in the CAC.

L'Oreal takes 2.1% after posting results slightly exceeded expectations, marked by a recovery in margins, and have said "well armed (…) for another year of growth in turnover and results. "

Switzerland was launched three years ago the tender for the renewal of its fleet, now consisting of F-5E / F Tiger built by the American Northrop, whose older copies have been flying since 1976.

She originally planned to order up to 33 devices.

The Minister of Industry and Energy Eric Besson confirmed Wednesday that the price of gas and electricity for individuals would be maintained until the presidential election, despite the attacks to justice and GDF Suez of other gas suppliers. Asked about RMC and BFM TV about the continued freeze gas prices to presidential, Mr Besson said: "Yes. The Prime Minister made this decision and he made it clear to the national representation . (…) In any case for individuals. "

"We have a simple thesis is that the increases should be extremely limited so as not to influence the purchasing power," he noted, without being able to specify whether this also applied to the gel subscription. For electricity, Mr. Besson is back in a statement to AFP on the remarks made earlier on the air. "It will increase slightly, probably," he said on BFM TV and RMC. "I do not know (when) we will discuss this with EDF."

Asked by AFP, the Office of the Minister of Energy said: "Eric Besson reaffirms that in accordance with the arbitration of the Prime Minister, electricity rates applicable to individuals are frozen until 1 July 2012, and no decision is expected to increase. "