Top Stories

Articles by Julia Pastor

About the Author

Julia Pastor
Julia Pastor has broad experience in business writing for Consejeros Media Group at Consejeros, Consenso del Mercado and The Corner. Previously, she worked for the financial news agency GBA and contributed to El País Business. She holds a Master's in Financial Journalism and a degree in English from the Complutense University in Madrid.
gas grid

In Europe 28th April 2014

Spain’s golden opportunity to become the gas hub of Europe

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | With seven LNG regasification plants and two connnections to big Algerian deposits, Spain has one of the EU’s highest capacity gas grid. A third infrastructure called Midcat linking the Mediterranean corridor with France remains unfinished, partly because of objections from France and Germany. The European Commission, however, wants to bring down this wall since Midcat could replace 10% of Russian imports and give wider negotiating power against Putin’s threats amid Ukraine’s pre-civil war climate.

Bank of Spain

Spanish economy 25th April 2014

Spain reaches 0.4% GDP 1Q growth –the fastest rate in 6 years

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Spain grows slowly but at a firm pace. Bank of Spain estimates that the country’s GDP increased by 0.4% in the first three months of present year against previous quarter when it rose 0.2%. This also means that year-on- year rate climbs by 0.5% reaching positive territory for the first time after nine consecutive quarters falling. After a painful recession, the government was euphoric to announce the biggest leap forward in six years.

 

Gamesa

Spanish economy 25th April 2014

Spanish Gamesa plants Finland’s most powerful wind turbines

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Spain’s manufacturer Gamesa opened earlier this week its first wind farm in Finland. This operation is strategic for the firm because of the Nordic country’s market- it could install about 1,550 MW of wind energy in next four years-. Beating Danish Vestas, the largest firm of wind turbines in the world, makes the project even more noticeable.

 

boy combing hair

Markets 24th April 2014

Stress tests: EU banks start tarting up

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | As the ECB’s crucial examination comes closer, all European entities, from the core to the periphery, have started studying different formulas to show the best capital ratios possible. German banks would imminently issue CoCos, while Italy’s could be about to create a joint bad bank and Spain is to monetize around €40 bn of deferred tax assets. The stress tests’ results will be released at the end of October 2014.

debt

In Europe 23rd April 2014

The juicy business of speculating with Spanish sovereign debt

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Speculators who dared to buy Spanish debt in 2012 when it yielded 7.5% and priced a record low of 88.6% made a good deal with gains of 38%, now that Spain’s 10-years bonds’ interests near 3% and price stands at 122.6%. Moody’s thinks the country’s sovereign debt is going upwards, alongside Ireland, thanks to its economic, institutional and fiscal strengh. However, Italy’s rating is suffering from the opposite trend.

Real economy

World economy 23rd April 2014

The Long Goodbye

BEIJING | By Andy Xie via Caixin | What’s important in today’s financial world is perception, not substance. If you check out what important financial figures have proposed in the past, they have been good for forming bubbles, not for growing the real economy.People around the world will only begin to question their economic policymakers when they realize living standards are slowly worsening.

Rescate banca

In Europe 21st April 2014

Healthy Spanish banks still have to pay €7.5bn for their peers

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | In the Spanish banks restructuring process, the €100 bn credit line coming from Brussels was crucial. However, Spain’s financial sector also saved itself by transferring €7.5 bn from the banks in better conditions to those that were nationalized, basically via contributions to the Deposit Guarantee Fund and the national bad bank Sareb. [Picture: “Banks should pay for the crisis”]

Eurobank

In Europe 21st April 2014

Are investors getting a bargain with Eurobank?

ATHENS | By Manos Giakoumis via Macropolis| The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) said on April 15 it approved the 1.33-billion-euro offer submitted by a consortium of investors for Eurobank’s capital increase. The approval signals the completion of the first phase covering 46.5 percent of the announced equity raising of 2.86 billion euros. 

king juan carlos

In Europe 16th April 2014

Are Spanish media betting on King Juan Carlos again?

OP-ED By Julia Pastor | Spaniards disaffection with monarchy sank to lowest levels in 2013 after several embarrassments and corruption scandals affecting the Royal Family. But as King Juan Carlos wraps up his 6th visit to UAE on Wednesday, Spanish media of all political signs are sticking to his diplomatic role. The monarch is seeking to open doors for Spanish infrastructure companies. Only Abu Dhabi’s subway is to raise €8 bn.

Greece's return

In Europe 16th April 2014

Who benefits from Greece’s return to the markets?

ATHENS |By Jens Bastian via Macropolis| The first Greek bond since 2010 was characterized by a particularly striking mismatch between the demand and supply side. More than 85 percent of those pension funds, private equity firms, asset managers and hedge funds – primarily from the US and the UK – who placed buy orders in the book-building process were left with portfolios devoid of Greek debt.What does this mismatch tell us? Clearly, this was not a coincidence. Rather, it speaks volumes of a well-orchestrated bond placement, where the sale volume was not the primary objective for the Greek Public Debt Management Agency.