MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | Spanish Repsol’s chairman Antonio Brufau noded the company’s key stakeholders -Caixabank, Pemex, Sacyr and Temasek- by recently approving an extraordinary dividend of €1 per share with a charge to present year results. The Argentinian bonds selling monetization and the sale of YPF provided the company with a juicy cashflow near €10 bn against €27.5 bn of its market capitalization.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | The Spanish central lender ordered the national bad bank Sareb’s to assess the 107,000 toxic real estate assets again and 215,000 collaterals on loans that it purchased to the intervened financial entities. This new due dilligence ruined the work of 24 companies such as the property firm Richard Ellis, Clifford Chance’s lawyers and the consulting group KPMG.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | Definitely, Mario Draghi has turned communication into the essential tool for the European central bank’s policy to make sense without taking any measure at all. Month after month the ECB’s president resources to words instead of actions, but some analysts start to dislike this considering they have been long waiting for a move from the institution.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | Trend of credit fall in euro zone core countries as well as in peripheral ones has shifted direction thorought 2013: it moderated in Europe’s periphery while slowing down in central economies.The rate between credit and deposits has moved under 100% for the first time, which illustrates the euro zone strong deleveraging process.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | Despite the Spanish residencial housing market weakness, main offer and demand variables are seemingly beginning to stabilize, pointing that real state starts and sales will reach a minimum level in 2013.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | We are facing a new era in global economy: the rise of the so-called “new economy,” full of challenges and uncertainties that can’t be ignored so as to be on the road to growth. However, Spanish politicians seem to turn a deaf ear and to ignore the needs of the labour market.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | For the second consecutive quarter, Spanish banks have maintained their lending criteria and there is a lower decline in credit demand than in previous quarters. For the next months we expect a moderation in credit reduction, a sign that the country has left the worst of the crisis behind.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | The European Union troika paid a visit to Spain and concluded that the country’s banking sector “progresses satisfactorily”. Although the final report will not be unveiled until November, first impressions are promising and represent the gateway of the 2014 stress tests.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | According to the Bank of Spain, the public aid for the recapitalisation of the Spanish financial system between 2009 and 2013 amounts to €61.366 billion (£51.739bn), 5.9% of the GDP. This is below the average cost of other banking crisis since 1970. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the public cost of the financial crisis was of 3.9% of the GDP.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Guell | A factor to bear in mind is that in the most successful exporting sectors, foreign investment punches high and has become vital to the economy and the Spain brand.