Iberdrola reported net profit of 2.804 billion euros in 2017, up 3.7% from a year earlier. Consolidated EBITDA fell by 7.8% to 7.318 billion euros last year. The results were impacted by the US tax reform and difficult operating conditions in Spain.
Spain banks 2017 results confirmed that last year was one of transition for the interest margins. Looking to the future, the pillars of the banking sector’s strategy will continue to be the reduction in problematical assets and the improvement in profitability, within a context where a sustained recovery is still pending (average ROE in 2017 of 7%, on a par with 2016).
Italy’s general elections on 4 March will likely be the biggest political event in the euro zone this year. They can be notoriously hard to predict, but the most likely outcomes are a new government from the current centre-right coalition or a new PD/centre-right coalition. The markets should absorb either event in stride; even if bond spreads widen, Allianz Global Investors believe Italy is still a buy as long as the centre holds.
It seems obvious that the most sensible thing to do with respect to retirement is to try to save something and invest it well to complement the meager pension which, foreseeably, the State will give us when we retire.
Repsol’s sale of a 20% stake Gas Natural to CVC is near to being closed. The current value at market prices of 20% of Gas Natural is 3.708 billion euros. Furthermore, the stock has fallen nearly 6% in the year due to last markets turmoil. After its recent downward correction, Repsol’s stock price is back at an advantageous entry level.
Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos has been chosen by euro zone ministers on Monday afternoon to replace ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio. Ireland withdrew the only other candidate, central-bank governor Philip Lane, at the start of the meeting.
As part of its restructuring process, Siemens is preparing a stock market listing for its health division, which will be the biggest operation to take place in Germany (it will make its debut on the Frankfurt stock market) since the IPO of Deutsche Bank in 1996. The company is valued at around 40 billion euros.
Spain is the European country with the highest fibre to the home (FTTH) penetration rate in Europe, with 33.9%, after clocking up around 1.61 million new subscrbers between September 2016 and September 2017,
Toxic, unproductive or problematical, or however you want to call those assets which were the ruin of the Spanish banks, are not easy to get rid of. Assets linked to the property bubble reached over 300 billion euros at the worst point of the crisis, between 2011 and 2012. But thanks to the lenders’ huge efforts, the last official figure from the Bank of Spain stands at 190 billion euros.
After thirty years, with the MSCI emerging markets at a historical high, having outperformed developed markets for the past two years. What should we expect going forward ?