*BOUYGUES 4Q NET EU265 MLN; ANALYST ESTIMATE EU337 MLN

*PPR 2007 NET EU922 MLN; ANALYST ESTIMATE EU840 MLN

*ROYAL & SUN FY OPERATING PROFIT 814M PNDS; ANALYST EST. 725M

*HONG KONG ECONOMY GREW 6.3% IN 2007 FROM YEAR EARLIER

*BRENT CRUDE OIL RISES TO RECORD $100 A BARREL IN LONDON

* The dollar fell to a record low of $1.50 per euro on speculation Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will indicate the U.S. central bank is prepared
to keep lowering interest rates.

* Accor Profit Rises 76% on Disposals, Pricier Hotels

* Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s say MBIA Inc. has enough
capital to withstand losses and justify its AAA rating. MBIA’s debt investors
aren’t so convinced. Credit-default swaps indicating the risk that Armonk, New
York-based MBIA’s bond insurance unit won’t be able to meet its obligations are
trading at similar levels to companies such as homebuilder Pulte Homes Inc.,
which is rated 10 steps lower.  The discrepancy illustrates the skepticism debt
investors have about the safety of MBIA’s rating after the company posted
$3.4 billion of losses on subprime mortgages last quarter. Moody’s and S&P both
said that while at least $4 billion of writedowns lie ahead, MBIA’s management
has made enough changes to warrant the top rating.

* Holcim Ltd., the world’s second- biggest cement maker, said full-year profit
climbed 84 percent boosted by a disposal and expansion in India. Net income rose
to 3.87 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) from 2.1 billion francs a year
earlier, the Jona, Switzerland-based company said in an e-mailed statement
today. That’s similar to a 3.83 billion-franc median estimate of eight analysts
in a Bloomberg survey. Sales added 13 percent to 27.05 billion francs.

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