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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.
telefonica telxius

Ibex, Markets, Spanish economy 13th January 2021

Telefonica Sells Telxius Towers To American Tower For €7.7 Bn In Cash. Is This A Threat For Cellnex?

Renta 4 | Telefónica announced today that it has signed an agreement with American Tower to sell Telxius’ tower business in Europe (Spain, Germany) and LatAm (Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina). The price of the deal is 7.7 billion euros, payable in cash. It includes the sale of some 30,722 sites to be carried out in two separate operations. Although American Tower still has little exposure in Europe (some 30,000 towers after the Telxius purchase), it represents the main threat to the leadership position of another Spanish company, Cellnex, with over 103.000 sites

filomena snowboard

Spanish economy 13th January 2021

The Price Of Electricity In Spain Increases 92% In 15 Years

The price of electricity in Spain has increased significantly in January coinciding with the Filomena storm -which last week caused the heaviest snowfall in more than 60 years- and the subsequent cold wave, with extreme temperatures for Spain of -10º. This “perfect storm” will boost energy consumption by at least 30% this week and could mean up to 200 additional euros for consumers’ pockets. The point is that the electricity bill has increased by up to 92% in Spain in the last 15 years and if this trend at the start of the year continues, it could rise by a further 21%.

Current EU major challenges-Brexit and Italy budget- move but still remain stranded

Spanish economy 13th January 2021

The Cut In Spain’s Current Rating Could Lead To A Downgrade Of Over 50% Of Companies In 18 Months

Moody’s points out that Spanish public debt is at maximum levels for a century. Thus, it will take into account in its next rating reviews whether the Spanish government presents a credible plan to reverse the fiscal deterioration aggravated by Covid-19. A downgrade of the current rating (Baa1 with a stable outlook) could lead to the downgrade of more than 50% of Spain’s companies’ in 18 months. Even so, this warning is not exclusive to Spain (public debt/GDP 120%), as there are other countries with high debt problems (Italy 158%, Greece 200%, Portugal 137%).

machinery

Spanish economy 12th January 2021

9.1% Of Spanish Companies Improved Their Machinery Equipment In 2020

New machinery is one of the main tools for introducing R&D contributions to the productive processes. In Spain, for every company working with obsolete machinery there are 45 companies improving their production capacity. The phenomenon also occurs in the improvement of production facilities, although it is less intense. Seven percent of companies have recently modernized their workspace, compared to 0.4% operating in areas in poor condition, according to data from nearly 250,000 interviews carried out by Iberinform in 2020.

neinor quabit

Spanish economy 12th January 2021

Neinor Homes And Rival Quabit Revolutionise Real Estate Industry: Create Spain’s Second Largest Group

Banca March | The Neinor group yesterday announced the absorption of its listed rival Quabit, creating a giant in the residential development sector. The group resulting from the merger will have a land portfolio with a gross value of some €2 Bn for the development of 16,000 homes. Also a gross development value of some €4.5 Bn. The operation will place Neinor behind Metrovacesa and Aedas in Spain’s real estate ranking. Metrovacesa has land valued at €2.626 Bn for the development of 36,000 homes, while Aedas has a land bank of approximately €2.16 Bn or 15,700 homes.

Madrid stock market

I.R. Spain, Spanish economy 11th January 2021

Shareholders Rights Directive II – A Good Plan For Greater And Long-Term Engagement… If We Find Out How To Get There

Pedro Saá * (Computershare) | SRDII, as it is commonly known, means a deep restructuring of the pipes of the communication from issuers to investors and a refurbishment of processes related the execution of shareholders rights and the transmission of holdings information to issuers. SRDII and, more precisely, the abrupt implementation without a proper testing phase, is highlighting the real hurdles to achieve the ultimate goals. 

Trump´s volatile mood

In the World, World politics 11th January 2021

Why Trump’s Challenges To Democracy Will Be A Big Problem For Biden

The attack on the Capitol may have threatened the lives of federal legislators and Capitol police officers, but the most it achieved was to interrupt, briefly, a ministerial procedure. But the question of real, lasting – and legal – accountability will fall to Biden, and his nominee for attorney general, Merrick Garland. They will decide whether to continue existing investigations and potentially start new ones.

Spain property

Spanish economy 11th January 2021

The price of housing in Spain could fall by 5% in 2021

Continuing the negative trend already observed in 2020, when this type of asset depreciated by 3.7%, housing prices could fall 5% in 2021. On the other hand, a certain recovery in the volume of sales and purchases is expected this year, with up to 480,000 transactions compared to 450,000 last year; in 2019, almost 570,000 property sales and purchases were recorded. 

ibex investors2020

Ibex, Markets, Spanish economy 11th January 2021

IAG, Spanish Investors’ Favourite Stock In 2020

The shares of IAG, Iberia’s parent company, were the most traded by Spanish investors in 2020, said the European online broker Degiro, while Tesla Motors’ shares were the most traded in Europe this year. IAG’s shares are followed by Banco Santander’s, the Chinese electric vehicle company NIO (listed on the New York Stock Exchange) and the US manufacturer Tesla, on the Nasdaq.

EU Budget the CAP beyond 2020 1073x480 1

European politics 10th January 2021

Will Portugal’s EU Presidency Protect Agricultural Producers?

European Views | Tensions over agricultural policy have been building steadily since November, when Frans Timmermans, the Vice-President of the EC, and one of the leading figures in the European Green Deal, questioned whether the €258.3 billion (in constant prices) budgeted for the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and €90 billion for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) were fully compliant with the European Green Deal and EU climate targets as they stood.