The Corner | July 27, 2015 | Spain’s bailed-out lender Bankia saw its first-half profit rose 11.5 percent from a year ago, as it reported on Monday. Net profit rose 10.3 per cent to €311m, versus a consensus of analysts’ expectations of €277.8m. Charges against bad debts fell and offset weaker revenue from lending.
The Corner | July 26, 2015 | Spanish listed banks’ Q2’15 earnings season starts today. Analysts at AFI are less optimistic than consensus estimates.
July 24, 2015 | UBS | Sector performance since crude began to slide again has, unsurprisingly, been poor: EU integrateds are down 11% since the May peak, underperforming the wider market by 11%, and the US peers down 10%.
MADRID | July 24, 2015 | By Fernando Barciela | Economist, businessman and former minister at several Spanish socialist cabinets between 1982 and 1993, Carlos Solchaga praises the big steps taken by the Spanish labour reform –the main of which he claims were made in the years ‘93 and ‘94, while he was a member of the government. This is the first part of our conversation.
HONG KONG | July 24, 2015 | Barclays | The Markit “flash” manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell to 48.2 in July, reaching a 15-month low (consensus: 49.7; Barclays: 49.7). The weaker PMI supports our view that the economy is not on solid footing, and we look for a flat growth profile in H2.
ATHENS | July 23, 2015 | By Jens Bastian via MacroPolis | Now that the rather bizarrely termed “bank holiday” has come to an end in Greece after three weeks – although domestic and external capital controls – continue, it is appropriate to take stock of the situation and inquire where do we go from here.
The Corner | July 23, 2015 | The Spanish economy grew by 0.9% q/q in Q1 15. Q2 data suggest that activity accelerated to 1.1% q/q, taking full-year 2015 growth to 3.3%, on Barclays estimates. “We think that the risks to the Spanish growth outlook are balanced, especially as the likelihood of Grexit has dropped,” the bank analysts commented on their July economic bulletin.
The Corner | July 23, 2015 | Spain unemployment fell by 295,600 people, or 5.4 % in Q2 from Q1. It is the second major Q2 drop since at least 2008, according to the Active Population Survey.
The Corner | July 21, 2015 | Spain’s total public administration debt stood at €1.040 trillion at end-May, up €7.890 billion from a month earlier and representing approximately 97.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Bank of Spain. The government expects public debt to reach 98.9% of GDP in 2015.
The nuclear deal with Iran, like Nixon’s opening to China in 1972, has the potential to be a geopolitical game-changer—if it can get through Congress first.