The exceptionally hot summer afflicting large parts of the planet has highlighted the precariousness of a finite resource – clean, consumable water. According to Allianz Global Investors, “by helping to bridge the gap between water supply and demand, investors can help address a critical structural problem while adding growth potential to their portfolios.”
One of the key supports for Spain’s economic growth during the recovery has been the strength of international tourism. CaixaBank Research predicts 3.4% growth in tourism-related GDP in 2018, outperforming Spain ’s economy as a whole (2.8% growth). This excellent performance has helped to create jobs: in the four years between Q1 2014 and Q1 2018, 396,000 new jobs were created related to tourism.
Gestamp, the multinational company specialising in the design, development and fabrication of highly engineered metal components for the car industry, has recently inaugurated its new plant in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands (UK). In fact, Gestamp counts with seven production plants in the country. Since 2012, the company has invested more than 200 million pounds in its installations in the UK.
The ratio which estimates the Spanish non-financial firms average cost of financial debt reduced between 2008 and 2016 (the last year for which data is available) by more than 50%, so that the average value want from 5.9% at the beginning of this period to 2.7% in 2016, according to the last data from the Bank of Spain.
“The unifying factor in the Italian coalition of two disparate political parties is firm agreement on the flaws of the EU’s deficit limits, and the risk is that any conciliation with the EU fronted by the Minister of Economy and Finances Giovanni Tria may amount to nothing more than political expedience,” commented today Neil Mellor Senior Currency Strategist at BNY Mellon.
Cepsa will be launched onto the stock market in the last quarter of the year through an IPO. Valuations are being discussed in the range of 10 or 11 billion euros for 100% of the company. The Abu Dhabi sovereign fund (IPIC) bought 100% of Cepsa in 2011. At that stage Cepsa was listed in the stock market for approximately 7.5 billion euros.
James Rice via Caixin | The U.S. media’s daily narrative on China and the U.S.-China relationship paint a bleak picture: Pollution, exchange rates, ghost cities, protectionism, and unfair trade practices dominate the story. Rather, we should remember that historically, China and the U.S. have been friends and have long enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship.
The Spanish financial entity BBVA has entered the Dow Jones sustainability index, which Telefonica has left. BBVA shares have accumulated losses of -23.38% so far in this exercise, weighed down by the situation in Turkey, a region which contributed 11% of the Group’s net profits in the first half of 2018.
Overall the European financial system grew 0.9% in 2017 (2.8% for the Eurozone) through the banks. The size of the SBS remained relatively stable. This contrasts with its evolution in 2012-2015 when its average annual growth was 9%. The size of shadow banking in the EU, in fact, varied little in 2017, with total assets of 42 trillion at the end of the year.
via The Conversation | With the prospect of a no-deal Brexit edging closer to reality, the European Union is trying to foster some kind of deal on the remaining issues. Lead negotiator Michel Barnier has suggested that if both sides are “realistic”, there could be an agreement by the beginning of November.