via The Conversation | Numerous amendments are being negotiated in the UK parliament in an attempt to break the Brexit stalemate. There does not seem to be a clear majority for any specific way forward with Brexit and the parliamentary arithmetic has so far worked against the government. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking before Britain leaves the EU without a deal in place and reverts to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
Alex Fusté (Andbank) | There is a notable difference between US and European banks: the stock market pays 35% less for European banks. This claim is confirmed by the price/book value ratio, whose average for the 10 largest banks in the US sector is 1.24, while in Europe it falls to 0.8%. In the case of the two largest Spanish banks, Banco Santander and BBVA, the market price is even lower than the average, given that they show ratios of 0.8 and o.7 respectively.
On Tuesday Banco Santander announced that it will not exercise the repurchase of its contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) – the AT1 – of 1.5 billion euros and coupon of 6.25%. The bank, which referred to financial reasons, had already warned in its presentation of results that it would only make the call if conditions were adequate.
Red Eléctrica, the company which manages Spain’s high tension electricity cables, has agreed to buy 89.68% of Hispasat, the largest operator of satellite infrastructure by volume in Spain and Portugal, for 949 M€ from Abertis Infraestructuras. REE had already tried to buy Hispasat at the beginning of last year, even reaching a pre-agreement with Abertis. But the deal was frustrated by the corporate operations in Abertis and the disagreement of the previous government.
IAG has decided that any non-EU investor which buys shares from today onwards will have their voting rights suspended and will have to sell them within 10 days. If they do not, IAG itself will buy these shares for repayment at the lowest price.
House sales have been posting double-digit figures for the past three years, there is strong growth in construction and prices are clearly on the up. What will the future bring? As explained in the next report from Caixabank Research, this positive trend is expected to continue in the sector, both because of the Spanish economy’s good performance and also the healthy state of the industry itself.
*Plamen Tonchev via Macropolis | Since 2008, the increasingly close ties between Greece and China have caught the attention of the world media and there has been plenty of speculation about where this ‘romance’ is heading. Last October, the Athens-based Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER) undertook to delve into the intricate way China is perceived in Greece and the underlying causes behind this relationship.
Leonardo Vivas | Until January this year, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s strongman, seemed to have overcome all the obstacles in his battle for political survival. But after a few years preaching in the wilderness, the country’s democratic forces found a new energy with Juan Guaidó.
Europe represents more than a third of global investment in Industry 4.0, and the countries of western and northern Europe are the principle markets, especially Germany. On the other hand, the leading European car makers are already investing in their businesses with the objective of electrifying their fleets.
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC in its acronym in Spanish) is processing a circular so that all energy companies which supply electricity, gas and hydrocarbons meet six ratios which constrain their level of debt and dividends in relations to the volume of assets, cash flow, EBITDA or financial costs.