CdM | At the end of the first quarter, public administration debt stood at €1.668 trillion, representing 103.5% of GDP, according to data from the Excessive Deficit Protocol (PDE) published by the Bank of Spain. This is 2.8 percentage points less than in the same period in 2024, while the growth rate of the debt balance was 3.3% year-on-year. Among the various subsectors of the public administration, the debt balance…
Link Securities | The company is willing to invest in data centres and cybersecurity services to convince European regulators to approve telecoms mergers, as the Spanish company aims to lead consolidation on the continent, Expansión newspaper reported yesterday. The group hopes its commitment to make concrete investments in major digital infrastructure will help convince the European Commission (EC) that fewer and larger telecoms operators would increase the bloc’s technological resilience,…
Alphavalue/ Divacons | The Catalan plasma derivatives company announced yesterday that, once the period for acceptance of the delisting takeover bid for Biotest has ended, it will control 99.25% of the company. Biotest was delisted on 6 June, according to the information sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The delisting offer was accepted by a total of 416,922 ordinary shares of Biotest and 3,002,804 non-voting preferred shares. In…
Bankinter: Principle of a trade agreement between the US and China. Trump announced yesterday an agreement whereby China will supply the US with minerals and rare earths in exchange for allowing its students access to American universities. The US will levy a 55% tariff on imports from China (current 25% + 10% base rate + 20% for fentanyl trade) and China will apply a 10% tariff on US imports. The…
Spain was stunned to discover how three of Pedro Sánchez’s four closest friends, who accompanied him in taking power first in the PSOE and then in the government, allegedly rigged elections, collected millions in commissions from public works contracts they awarded from the government, and placed their prostitutes in public sector jobs. A nearly 500-page report compiled by the Civil Guard transcribes eight audio recordings from meetings where they divided…
After three and a half years of negotiations, Spain and the United Kingdom, Brussels, and Gibraltar have reached a “definitive political agreement” on the Rock of Gibraltar. This agreement, which still needs to be ratified, will eliminate goods controls between Gibraltar and the EU via Spain. “The Fence, the last wall in continental Europe, will disappear,” celebrated Albares, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. In order to “guarantee the future…
Alphavalue / Divacons | US fund Lone Star, which owns 75% of Novo Banco, formally received takeover offers from both Caixabank and French banking group BPCE. In addition to the buyout offers, Lone Star is also considering the possibility of selling part of its stake through an IPO of Novo Banco in the future. There had been speculation that the value of the Portuguese bank could be between €5.5 billion…
Link Securities | As reported by financial portal CNMB, China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday declared its readiness to establish a so-called “green channel” for eligible “rare earth” export licence applications to speed up the approval process for European Union (EU) companies. A Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Wang expressed hope that the EU would take reciprocal measures to promote trade in compliant high-tech products with China. The development follows trade…
Bankinter: Bank of Spain downgrades GDP projections to +2.4% p.a. for 2025 (-0.3pp) and +1.8% p.a. 2026 (-0.1pp). In his appearance before the Congressional Committee on Economy, Trade and Digital Transformation, the Governor of the Bank of Spain anticipated the revision of the quarterly macro picture whose report will be published today. The adverse scenario with a prolonged tariff escalation would have a “significant negative impact” on the Spanish economy,…
Bankinter | Telefónica is hiring a financial advisor to evaluate possible acquisitions in Europe. One of the companies being considered is Vodafone Spain. Bankinter analysis team’s view: The operation could be interesting to reduce the competitive intensity in Spain, where the market would be dominated by three operators instead of four, but its execution would be complex and would take time. Telefónica would have to assess well the synergies and…