Naturgy has reached agreement with Argentina to recover 120 million euros. The company has been suffering significant damage to its accounts from the hyperinflation and the devaluation of the Argentine peso this year.
The Spanish blood products company could invest 5 bn$ in the Chinese pharmaceutical company Shanghai RAAS Blood Products, leader in China, which specialises in the investigation, production and sales of plasma products. The operation would be formalised in Q219. Grifols would reinforce its position in China and would reduce its dependence on the US.
In this new binary world where China is bad and the US is good, there is a great danger of over-looking the very real structural risks in the west at the moment. As told by Mark Tinker, AXA strategist in Asia, one of the current amusing party games might be to play ‘substitute the words US for China in different bearish economic projection’ and see if it worries you more or less.
Repsol has secured 12 new blocks in an area near to Pikka, the largest on-land oil discovery in the US in the last 30 years. The oil company has secured mining domination in a zone situated south of the River Colville (Alaska, US), where ConocoPhillips has also made significant discoveries. Repsol´s partner Oil Search has also secured four leasing contracts.
The EC found yesterday that Italy is in breach of the European Union’s debt criterion, with a debt/GDP ratio of 131.2% for 2017, significantly above the EU’s threshold of 60%. According to the firm Julius Baer, it is obviou the 60% target introduced in the Maastricht Treaty in the early 1990s cannot be binding anymore, given the elevated debt levels across European countries.
Andy Mok via Caixin | President Xi Jinping’s visit to Spain on his way to Buenos Aires at the end of this month will result in the usual and necessary flurry of declarations about strengthening bilateral relations centered on trade as well as discussions on how Spain might support China’s diplomatic initiatives in the EU.
After being arrested by Japanese authorities on Monday for alleged fiscal fraud, Carlos Ghosn, Chairman of Nissan and CEO of Renault has been temporarily suspended at the head of the company and remains chairman “temporarily incapacitated”. The greater integration of the alliance between Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi is now left in the air. Furthermore, it generates uncertainty in relation to the corporate governance practices of the alliance.
A disagreement on Brexit is a possibility. In this environment it is fair to point out that companies in the UK focused on the local market do not seem too worried about the negative aspects of this scenario, such as UK GDP growth. Strategists at Alphavalue have analysed the performance of 22 UK shares with distinctively domestic “flavour”.
Esty Dwek (Natixis IM) | The Italian budget standoff comes under scrutiny again this week, as the European Commission could start its ‘excessive deficit procedure’ on Wednesday, since Italy hasn’t changed its 2.4% budget deficit and 1.5% growth forecasts for 2019.
DWS | Sometimes, it is better to remain silent than to speak up and remove all doubt about your ignorance. Having been inundated by comments on what to make of the latest twist in the Brexit drama, however, we too feel compelled to add our bit. Amidst all the recent turbulence, we believe three conclusions can already be drawn, none of them particularly comfortable for British financial markets.