Nissan chooses Barcelona
BARCELONA | The €130 million investment will represent the first sedan to be built in Nissan’s plant. The Barcelona plant will reach its maximum capacity.
Companies
This Apple is bitten, but not rotten
José María Notari, markets analyst, is optimistic about Apple. Although the company seems to be losing territory to competitors, which like Samsung get stronger by the day, Apple is still a winner.
Hochtief, FCC land Riga Airport upgrade
Consortium around Hochtief to upgrade and extend airport infrastructure by 2014. The contract has been valued at €79,5 million.
Brazil, China pull Heathrow airport to new passenger number record
LONDON | 5.6 million passengers passed through Heathrow in December, a record for the month and up 2.0% on December 2011. This took the number of passengers for 2012 to almost 70 million, the highest ever for a calendar year at Heathrow, and an increase of 0.9% compared with 2011.
Repsol taps one of Brazil’s largest oil fields
Sapinhoa is one of Brazil’s largest oil fields, with estimated reserves of 2.1 billion barrels of high quality oil. In the next 18 months Repsol’s platform should reach its daily production peak of 120,000 barrels.
M&A activity near 2008 levels
The overall figure of M&A operations is $2.2 trillion, 9 percentage points less than in 2011.
“Getting ‘likes’ on Facebook or Twitter followers to your company is useless”
NEW YORK | Evan Horowitz, Small Business Advisor: “I don’t see many people picking up their phones and talking to their customers in person. And they are not building the kind of personal connections to lasting business relationships.”
Banco Santander consolidates Banesto, Banif amid Spanish restructuring
Banco Santander’s transaction is part of the restructuring of the Spanish financial system, which involves a significant reduction in the number of competitors and the creation of larger financial institutions.
State-owned Greenland opens China’s door to Meliá Hotels
MAJORCA | The partnership represents the entry of a newly created 100% Chinese hotel brand in Europe, as well as the further consolidation of the expansion strategy of Meliá Hotels International in China.
Iberia’s death: stranger things have happened
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | The future is not easy for traditional commercial aviation in Europe and the trend is one of heavy losses and a drop in global market share. In 2012 the Association of European Airlines estimates air carriers will lose up to €2 billion.