Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Greece was in free fall mode when at the European Central Bank they had the funny idea of pushing the country …downwards. The ECB said it had frozen all operations with Greek banks, which already are suffering a killing capital drain: “Central bank head George Provopoulos told Papoulias that Greeks have withdrawn as much as €700 million ($891 million) and the situation could worsen, according to the transcript…
BEIJING | In a rather competitive environment like China, the Spanish CEO Pedro Fajardo managed to be the very first one in his field by identifying a niche with a big market such the Spanish language. With 100% Spanish capital and without relying in external financial sources, he built Chinaempleo.com by using savings, bank lending as well as revenues from their site and advertising. In less than 2 years the site…
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Telefónica’s president César Alierta devoted his speech during the company’s general shareholder meeting to claim that markets are not considering the company’s growth potential, as well as to defend that Spain is “a very solvent country.” According to the data gathered by Link analysts, Alierta stressed Telefónica’s high dividend yield, which at current prices will be of 13,3% in 2012. In Alerta’s opinion, it…
The European Investment Bank opened credit lines in support of small and medium-sized companies in Spain with two €200 loans to Banesto and Banco Popular. The EIB loan granted to Banesto is its first with the Spanish entity under the Bank’s new SME credit strategy and it will facilitate access to finance in the current economic crisis. In both cases, the capital line will carry favourable maturity and interest rate terms, which…
It was Germany, with a 0.5 percent growth of GDP in the first quarter of this year, that helped the euro zone avoid enter technical recession territory. GDP remained stable in both the euro are and the EU during January to March of 2012 compared with the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Compared with the same quarter of the previous…
LONDON | Less than 5 percent of all small businesses play the biggest role in boosting the UK economy, a new report by Santander Corporate Banking has concluded. The study, released Tuesday, also indicated that this same small fraction of SMEs accounts for two-thirds of all private-sector employment. Santander analysts found that a very limited number of small businesses have a significantly higher economic impact than the rest of the UK small…
MADRID | BBVA Research’s latest estimates confirmed the recession in Spain, pointing to a GDP contraction of 1.3% in 2012. However, economic indicators are revealing a less dramatic than estimated deterioration in the real economy. The data presented in its ‘Spain Economic Outlook’ report show that the measures adopted lend credibility to the ability to meet current fiscal deficit targets. BBVA’s economic research department flagged the positive effect of the programme set…
Performing real estate assets in Spanish banks must now be provisioned at 30 percent of its book value, which will raise the average coverage ratio for all real estate assets to 45 percent. Then, troubled and toxic real estate assets will be transferred to an asset management company (sociedad de gestión de Activos) and the rest of the portfolio will be independently audited. The picture of the situation within the banking system in…
In March 2012 compared with February 2012, seasonally adjusted industrial production fell by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU. In February production rose by 0.8% and 0.4% respectively. In March 2012 compared with March 2011, industrial production dropped by 2.2% in the euro area and by 1.9% in the EU. These estimates were released this week by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In March 2012 compared with…
LONDON | US equities’ outperformance is becoming exhausted and investors should look through the euro smoke for opportunities, JP Morgan advised clients in its latest weekly strategy report. In spite of agreeing in line with consensus, analysts’ recommendation was to open ears to what the arguments might be in support of European equities. Is it time to go overweight Europe?, the investment entity asked in its paper. Although every investor’s favourite regional equity bet…