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Articles by The Corner

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
banco sabadell josep oliu

Spanish economy 23rd July 2024

Banco Sabadell reports €791 million profit at mid-year, up 40%

Link Securities | SAB increased its net interest income by 9.8% (+8.8% year-on-year at constant rates; +1.1%; FactSet consensus) between January and June, compared to 1H2023, to €2,493 million, mainly due to higher credit yields and revenues from the fixed-income portfolio supported by higher interest rates, offsetting higher cost of funds and capital markets and lower average volumes. – SAB also reduced its net fees and commissions by 3.3% year-on-year…

Naturgy

Spanish economy 23rd July 2024

Naturgy finalises definitive price agreement with Sonatrac for gas supplies, retroactively for 2023, and for 2024

Bankinter | Naturgy is about to seal a new gas price agreement with the Algerian state-owned monopoly Sonatrach, its main supplier. Both groups are finalising a pact that definitively fixes the price of supplies in 2023 retroactively and those of 2024. In addition, the criteria for revisions from 2025 to 2027 are beginning to be established.for revisions from 2025 to 2027. This will put an end to years of tense…

crowdstrike

In the World 23rd July 2024

Negative impact on CrowdStrike will be prolonged in short term

Bankinter | A flaw in an update to its Falcon platform has caused incidents worldwide on Windows-based devices. The company has acknowledged that the security patch installed in the early hours of Thursday to Friday morning was the cause of failures when logging on to Windows devices, locking them, displaying the blue screen of death (BSOD) and preventing a reboot. CrowdStrike has also confirmed that it is close to being…

enagas logo

Spanish economy 22nd July 2024

Fitch Ratings upgrades Enagás’ credit rating to “BBB+” with “stable” outlook

Link Securities | On 19 July 2024, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has published a note in which it has upgraded Enagás’ credit rating to “BBB+” with a “stable” outlook. The rating upgrade is supported by the improvement in business risk as a result of the execution of the company’s asset rotation, the prudent capital structure defined and the strong deleveraging following the sale of the stake in Tallgrass.

Xi Jinping

In the World 22nd July 2024

Third Plenum points to more muddling through but with more mud than ever

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | China’s long-awaited Third Plenum is finally over. Four days of high-level meetings (from July 15 to 18) among Party leaders ended with a perplexingly vague read-out of the meeting. The press conference on July 19 has not managed to assuage China watchers’ general impression of an uneventful gathering even if 300 reforms have been counted from official media but, reportedly, most of which already underway….

Talgo building

Spanish economy 22nd July 2024

Pegaso International, consortium controlling 40.22% of Talgo, inclined to reject Skoda’s offer

Link Securities | According to different sources consulted, the offer of the Czech company Skoda for Talgo meets with the doubts of the majority shareholders of the company, the newspaper elEconomista.es reported yesterday. Pegaso Internacional, the consortium that controls 40.22% of the railway company through the sum of the stakes of the Oriol family, the family office Torreal and the private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners, is sceptical about the…

españa turismo selfie

Spanish economy 22nd July 2024

Competitiveness of Spain’s tourism sector: strengths and weaknesses

Judit Montoriol Garriga (Caixabank Research) | Global international tourism has grown very significantly in recent quarters and is very close to recovering pre-pandemic levels: in Q1 2024 it was only 3% below 2019 levels, according to the UN tourism barometer. The Spanish tourism sector was among the first to recover: among the world’s top 10 destinations, Spain was the second country, after Turkey, to surpass pre-pandemic international tourist numbers. Thus,…

espana europa billete

Spanish economy 19th July 2024

AIReF revises Spain’s GDP growth upwards to 2.4% for 2024, but only 1.9% and 1.6% for 2025 and 2026

Bankinter | The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) assesses the Government’s Economic Situation Report. It considers the macroeconomic scenario for the years 2024-2027 to be optimistic. AIReF has updated its macroeconomic scenario and projects GDP growth of 2.4% for 2024 (up 0.4pp); 1.9% for 2025; 1.8% for 2026 and 1.6% for 2027 (against 2.4% 2024; 2.2% 2025 and 2% in 2026 and 27 of the Government’s macroeconomic projections announced…

Japanese general

World economy 19th July 2024

Japan’s trade balance surprises and unexpectedly enters surplus in June: ¥224.000 million against -¥185.700 million estimated

Bankinter: Japan’s Trade Balance went into surplus in June. It stands at ¥224,000M vs -¥185,700M estimated and -¥1,220,000M estimated. The indicator surprises and enters surplus unexpectedly. However, its breakdown shows a weak evolution. Exports slow down, despite the weak yen (+5.4% year-on-year from +13.5% previously and versus +7.2% estimated), and Imports (+3.2% year-on-year from +9.5% previously and +9.6% estimated). It is precisely the slowdown in this last item, which points…

repsolrenovables

Spanish economy 19th July 2024

Repsol and EDF Renewables to work together on offshore wind off Iberian Peninsula coast

Repsol and EDF Renewables have reached an exclusive agreement to join forces for future offshore wind tenders in Spain and Portugal, given that the Iberian Peninsula offers significant growth opportunities, the two companies said in a statement on Thursday. REP has stressed that renewable generation projects are one of the strategic pillars of the company’s energy transition process. To develop its portfolio of renewable projects, the company has set an…