Georgeson | Spain (IBEX 35) saw the highest proportion of contested remuneration resolutions: 60.6% in 2021, an increase of 33.2% from 2020. The UK experienced the lowest. Spain also registered a 101.7% increase in contested policy resolutions relating specifically to remuneration policies: from 28.6% in 2020 to 57.7% in 2021.
Mirabaud | There has been a lot of talk about semiconductors and the extent of the shortage we’ve experienced since the start of the coronavirus crisis. However, while the consensus is betting on a return to normalcy in early 2022,we should perhaps look to 2023 instead, particularly because of the expansion of … cryptocurrencies.a. The factsDaimler AG’s chief executive yesterday warned that the global semiconductor shortage may not disappear completely…
BancaMarch | The M&A market accelerated in August and 2021 is on track for a record year. M&A deals worth almost $4 trillion have been completed since the beginning of the year. In August, a typically quiet month, $500 billion worth of deals were closed globally, close to double the same month last year and the $275 billion of 2019. The increase in corporate deals has been fuelled by low…
ASE Group | Gas has risen so much that coal-fired plants are now competitive. In recent months, Germany has reduced its gas-fired power generation by 36% while doubling its coal-fired generation. Similar developments have occurred in the UK and the Netherlands. This pull in coal demand has driven up the price of coal by 1000% in the last year.
Judit Montoriol-Garriga (CaixaBank Research)| There is no doubt that the pandemic severely affected the property market on the Mediterranean coast and islands throughout 2020 and the first few months of 2021. The slump in international tourism due to restrictions on travel and uncertainty regarding how the health and economic situation would develop have led to a significant decline in the number of foreigners buying residential properties in Spain, plummeting by…
Katherine Davidson (Schroders) | More than 114 million people lost their jobs over 2020, according to the International Labor Organization. Even more saw their working hours and wages cut. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the post-pandemic recovery is seeing a shortage of labour – pushing up wages and shifting the balance of power in workers’ favour for the first time in decades.
Almudena Díez | Red Electrica’s Director -Socorro Fernández Larrea- explains why the current price of electricity in Spain (140€ MW/h) has been at record highs for days: Q: How do you explain to consumers that the system can have such sharp fluctuations in the price of electricity that directly affect their pockets? A: Very easily, by telling the truth, if you like. The problem arises because the price of energy…
Bruno Cavalier (ODDO BHF) | In a few weeks’ time, Angela Merkel will cease to be Chancellor, a position she has held since 2005. Polls show that the three main contenders to succeed her are tied. Despite Germany’s good performance in the first Covid-19 wave, successive waves of contagions brought new restrictions in early 2021, delaying the recovery. Also, Germany clearly suffers from its overexposure to the automotive industry, which is 25 points below normal.
Banco Sabadell has proposed a redundancy plan for 1,900 employees to the trade unions, which could mean the closure of between 230 and 300 branches. It should help the bank to improve its low profitability, ROE, of 3.1% on equity, far from the cost of capital (which can be up to three times higher). It is also way off the profitability obtained by its Spanish competitors (Santander and BBVA have…
Last August, in an interview with the Times, Telefónica’s chairman, José María Álvarez-Pallete, urged the United Kingdom to follow Spain’s example in fiber optics so as not to miss out on the digital revolution. Pallete remarked that in Spain there is more fiber optic than in the UK, France, Germany and Portugal together, with a penetration of 70%, compared to only 3% in the UK. Yesterday it was learned that…