Financial markets in developed countries have suffered several difficult months of August this century. Therefore we should never be confident about August and this year there are reasons to face it with caution. In a brief series which starts today, Intermoney identifies the key elements of these potential risks.
Last Friday the expected news arrived of the interest of Hyatt Hotels Corp in the Spanish hotel chain. The Chicago based company showed its interest in acquiring NH Hotels, through an alternative (or negotiation money) for the shareholders of NHH to the existing offer of Minor. But just as the offer arrived, it has evaporated and yesterday Hyatt stepped back from its counter bid for NHH.
The French football team was proclaimed FIFA World Cup Champion two weeks ago in Moscow. Far for the epic victory- we all witnessed PM Emmanuelle Macron’s euphoria- Philippe Wächter, Chief Economist, Ostrum AM wonders in a note to investors whether a football win could propel France into the leading position in Europe in terms of growth too. And looking to the euro area at large – whether it could make up for Germany’s defeat in the early stages of the competition and Spain’s poor performance.
Six years ago in London, Mario Draghi made the famous pledge that the ECB would do “whatever it takes” to maintain the unity of the Eurozone. This speech marked an important turning point in the crisis. For economists at DWS, “it is time to remember the hidden costs of saving the Eurozone.”
Aids and subsidies from public administrations to Spanish companies have fallen by 42% to 1.201 billion euros, according to the ratings agency Axesor. Central administration aids were reduced by 84% to 144 million euros, while the rest (1.057 billion euros) are coming from the autonomous regions. The presence of the state increased during the first years of the economic crisis, but from 2012 there was a change.
Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | As Greece stands on the cusp of exiting the third, and final, of its painful bailouts, there is a discussion about the terms under which it is exiting and how they compare to the conditions that were on offer the last time the country was close to the MoU finishing line, about four years ago. Examining the two cases is actually a useful exercise – not just for Greek crisis veterans.
Mark Tinker Chief Economist at AXA IM Framlington Equities in Asia reminds us in one of his last notes of the stark contrast between the institutional investor in the west and the emerging retail and wholesale investors in the east. Western pension funds have long since abandoned the cult of the equity, the dominant alternative asset remains is Private Equity. The industry overall took in a record $453bn last year.
Repsol has reached agreement to acquire 40% of Mexican lubricant company Bardahl, which represents its biggest purchase in this business and pushes forward its internationalisation strategy in Downstream.
Banco Santander increased attributable profit in the first half of 2018 to €3,75 2 million, 4 % higher than the same period of last year after a €300 million net charge primarily related to integration costs for Banco Popular. At the time of the Popular acquisition, on June 7 th 2017, the Group said it expected to register € 300 million in integration costs per year until 2019.
Yu Yongding via Caixin | Washington launched its trade war against Beijing in part because of China’s long-running trade surplus with the U.S., but it turns out that the surplus isn’t as large as advertised. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that his country has an annual trade deficit of $500 billion with China. This is nonsense.