Antoinette Ismail (European Views) | Net demand for loans to businesses in the Eurozone area reached their lowest level in six years at the end of 2019, that’s according to the latest Euro Area Bank Lending Survey (BLS) from the European Central Bank (ECB). It is the first time a decrease in demand for enterprise loans has been recorded since the fourth quarter of 2013.
The ECB meeting this week should be a non-event, but risks are for a hawkish surprise in tone. We will be all ears on two elements: the timeline and the motivation for the review that starts this week and finishes before the end of 2020.
Morgan Stanley | The transformation of Ferrovial (FER) into an almost North American pure play infrastructure is underway with the service sales and construction reduction plan.
Alphavalue | The demand for mortgages in Spain fell sharply between October and December 2019, registering its biggest drop since 2013. The worsening of the housing market prospects and, to a lesser extent, regulatory and fiscal changes are among the factors.
Norbert Rücker (Head of Economics & Next Generation Research, Julius Baer) | The outline of the EU Green Deal, was announced yesterday with an overwhelming price tag underpinning its ambitions.The outline is comprehensive but vague, and the impact is elusive to date. Market forces continue to drive the transition.
The acquisition of German VDM has obtained anti-trust approval in the US market but is still awaiting European authority clearance. If approved, the transaction is expected to be closed in March and BofA will raise Acerinox target price to 11.6 euros, practically 14% above its base scenario or upside potential close to 22% of the spot price.
Link Securities | The presence of far-left party Unidas Podemos in the Spanish government, may force a new push-back in the privatization of the bailed-out lender Bankia (BKIA), scheduled for 2022, according to Spanish newspaper Expasión.
(European Views) | The European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton has rejected claims that relying on European firms in the ongoing 5G network roll-out would cause substantial delays, commenting on rising tensions in Germany over the possible risks posed by Chinese firm Huawei Technologies.
Morgan Stanley | Looking ahead to 4Q, we expect modest growth in NII (+ 0.5% QoQ) and by 2020 we have -2% (Caixabank -1% and Bankia -3.5% YoY). The growth in commissions will improve by comparable easy and inflows (we expect + 4% YoY on average).
Santander Corporate & Investment | The strong funds outflow from European equities in recent years and the severe relative bad behavior of European markets vis-à-vis American ones has begun to attract the attention of some non-European investors.