Capgemini Q1-2009 Results Stable, Investors Push Shares Up 3 Percent

Capgemini released its Q1-2009 results with revenues of €2,205 million, up 0.9% compared to Q1-2009 of €2,205 million but down 0.3% at constant exchange rates.

Outsourcing Services increased 1.1% and Technology Services edged up 0.4%;
Sogeti declined 0.7% while newly-formed Consulting Services dropped 9.8%.

By geography, United Kingdom & Ireland rose strongly at 7.0%, France and Benelux revenues dropped 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. North America sales had the worst results, falling 6.9% than Q1-2008.

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NVCA Wants to Broaden Big Four to Global Six

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) has come up with four key recommendations to help US venture-backed companies, to kick start the IPO market, which decreased in 2008 to only 6 IPOs in the United States. Taking recommendations from capital market leaders, the NVCA focuses on the venture capital industry, investment banking, accounting professions, law firms, stock exchanges and the government to to restore a vibrant IPO environment once the economy comes back.

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Big4 Firms Make Top 250 in Latest Fortune 500 List

Fortune Magazine just released its Fortune 500 list of top US companies by revenue for the year 2008. Not surprisingly, the top companies in this list were oil giant Exxon at a staggering $443 billion, followed by ubiquitous Walmart at $406 billion, multinational oil companies Chevron at $263 billion & Chevron Phillips at $231 billion and international conglomerate GE at $183 billion. After the top ten, there is a steep drop with number 11 Bank of America at $113 billion and then down the list, number 50 Safeway with $44 billion, and then number 90 Alcoa with $28 billion.

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Capgemini Has New SBU – Consulting, Largest in Europe, 4,000 Consultants

Capgemini just announced a new Strategic Business Unit, Capgemini Consulting Services with revenues of EUR 700 million (8 % of Capgemini 2008 revenues of EUR 8.7 Billion) and over 4,000 expert strategy and management consultants in more than 30 countries as part of a corporate reorganization.

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EY Report Shows Q1-2009 IPO Activity Completely Stalled – Only 50 Worldwide

As widely expected, exit strategies through initial public offerings to investors took a beating in the last three months, testimony to a slow capital market and unenthusiastic investors. Ernst & Young confirms that in its just-released Q1-2009 Global IPO update. There were just 50 IPOs worldwide in Q1-2009 raising about US$1.4 billion in capital, with only 2 deals over US$100 million...

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Mark-to-Market Accounting Moves to Center Stage

FAS 157, the FASB rule which determines how financial institutions evaluate the value of their financial assets on their balance sheets has been brewing as a hot topic for a while and today moved to center stage based on a meeting of the Financial Standards Accounting Board which relaxed some of the guidelines on how this rule can be applied in the illiquid credit markets that we are now operating in now...

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