Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | In an interview over the weekend, the head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling aside from the optimism on the progress of the current review hinted of one of the options that eurozone lenders might be willing to consider for the debt relief that Greece is due to receive by the end of the programme.
There has been a lot of positive news from SiemensGamesa this week. On the one hand, it has presented two new products: the onshore wind turbine SG 4.2 – 145 and the SG 8.0 – 167 DD for off-shore which will boost annual energy production by 20%.
A recent report by Citi attempts to contrast global utilities valuations and highlight key investment opportunities. Summarizing, Asian and LatAm utilities, while growing fastest at 14-16%, trade at dividend yields of 3.5% and 5.3% reflecting risks. Japanese, US and European have dividend yields of 2.4%, 3.5% and 5.5% consistent with their growth profiles of 7%, 6% and 2.7%, respectively.
Morgan Stanley said this week that the uncertainty over Catalonia which has weighed on Spain’s performance has meant that the MSCI Spain has underperformed the EMU by 8% since August. And Spanish SMEs have underperformed by 13%. That said, there is a reason for betting on the Spanish market: it has had the fourth best EPS growth examples.
Standard & Poor’s has announced an upward revision in its long-term credit rating for Repsol from BBB- to BBB. It has also improved its short-term rating from A-3 to A-2, with both ratings assigned a stable outlook. S&P had already improved its outlook for the Spanish oil major from “stable” to “positive” in July, leaving the door open for a ratings upgrade.
The European Commission (EC) has started an investigation into the aid which Spain’s coal-powered electricity plans receive for the installation of filters which reduce the levels of contamination and so comply with legal targets. Since 2007, fourteen plants have received €440 million in subsidies for this concept and payments are expected to continue until 2020.
Mirwais Parsa | China, an economic giant, has started the move to revitalize the ancient Silk Road. Its ambitious Belt and Road (B&R) initiative includes a major investment in South Asia: the $46-billion Wakhan corridor, which would connect if built, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, bringing stability to the region.
According to the stress tests carried out by the Bank of England (BoE), the UK banking system could absorb £50 billion of losses with the capital they have in excess of the minimum requirements. Banco Santander’s UK subsidiary did a good job in the tests.
BBVA has confirmed the sale of its portfolio of property assets, held by its subsidiary Anida and valued at 13 billion euros, to Cerberus. Some 78,000 properties are included in the sale agreement.
Liu Xiao and Wu Yujian via Caixin | After a tumultuous year, the price of bitcoin surged past $10,000 on Wednesday morning Beijing time, growing more than tenfold from the beginning of the year.