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In Spain 11th April 2025

IMF raises Spain’s growth forecast to 2.5% and recommends not increasing debt to finance defense spending

The increase in defense spending announced by Spain should not be financed at the expense of increasing the already high level of debt in our country’s economy. This is the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which asks Pedro Sánchez’s government to carry out cuts in other areas or tax increases to meet its commitments in defense matters. The IMF released on Thursday the preliminary conclusions that the institution’s…

aena el prat

Spanish economy 10th April 2025

Aena confirms traffic forecasts up 3.4% to 320 million passengers by 2025, and announces 10-for-1 share split

Intermoney | Aena (Buy, PO €215) held its shareholders’ meeting yesterday at which its chairman Ignacio Lucena confirmed their passenger traffic guidance in Spain of 320 million, implying an annual increase of +3.4%. The forecast was formally announced at the last presentation of the 2024 annual results, held at the end of February. In addition, the operator approved a future 10-for-1 share split, something that was also announced then and…

defensa 1

Spanish Politics 10th April 2025

Spain to allocate extra €2.08 billion to Defence in 2024 by redeploying funds to Ministry contracts

Alphavalue/DIVACONS | Spain will allocate an additional €2.08 billion in 2024 to Defence by reallocating funds to Ministry contracts, in response to NATO pressure to meet the 2% of GDP target. Currently, Spain is the country with the lowest relative expenditure of the 32 members (1.3%). Although it had committed to reaching 2% by 2029, the government now says it will do so ‘as soon as possible’, without specifying a…

repsol sede madrid

Spanish economy 9th April 2025

Repsol to launch partial sale (49% stake) of solar and wind portfolio in Spain valued at over €900 million

Banc Sabadell | Repsol (REP) will sell a part (49% stake) of a solar (300 MW) and wind (400 MW) portfolio in Spain that will come on stream in 2025 with a combined capacity of 706 MW, according to press reports. The valuation is estimated at over €900 million. Assessment: Positive news with little impact (3.8% capitalisation/8% NFD’24) if confirmed as more asset rotation was expected by 2025. We recall…

naturgy eolica

Spanish economy 9th April 2025

Naturgy’s electricity distributor to invest €1.33 billion until 2028 to apply remote metering and sensor technologies to grid

Link Securities | UFD, the energy group’s electricity distributor, will invest €1.33 billion until 2028 to reinforce and digitise its electricity grid in Spain, according to Bolsamania.com. The objective of these investments is to improve the service offered to its customers and to promote the development of the energy transition, as established in the new Strategic Plan. The investments made by UFD also aim to incorporate and provide a quality…

exports gorgeous

Spanish economy 9th April 2025

Government estimates €15 billion in exports to US – 80% – to be affected by tariffs

Spain is not among the countries most directly exposed to Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught, but even so, 80% of its exports to the United States will be compromised by the trade war that the White House has declared on the rest of the world. To this must be added the indirect impact from the damage suffered by other partners and the changes that occur in global value chains. Spain is…

gestamp edificio

Spanish economy 8th April 2025

Gestamp potentially more affected by secondary tariff repercussions

Deutsche Bank | Gestamp (GEST) will present its Q1-25 results on 8 May after the close of trading and will hold a conference call that same afternoon. As for its counterparts, the year has started with a difficult quarter considering European and North American production volumes. With the presentation of the results, we expect the outlook to be updated taking into account the impact of tariffs, but it should be…

utilities

Spanish economy 8th April 2025

Review of Spanish utilities before 1Q25 results presented

Morgan Stanley | Rob Pulleyn reviews his sector coverage as a preview of results, with expectations of continued outperformance over Europe (up 14% YTD and 21% from lows). However, the market maintains an underweight position on the sector and the valuation is still at a discount of -10% in PE versus a long-term premium of 1-2%. Rob maintains his preference for large cap integrated and regulated companies, offering the greatest…

xijinping pedro

In Spain 7th April 2025

Sánchez travels to China amid tariff war with US

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, begins an official trip to Vietnam and China this week with a strong commercial focus, aiming to increase sales of Spanish companies in these countries amidst the tariff war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump. The goal of the trip is to balance trade relations with both countries—currently, they sell much more to Spain than they buy—and it takes on special ignificance in…

Banco Santander Fachada 720x320 1

In Spain 7th April 2025

Santander reiterates all 2025 targets and expects to grow in Q1 2025

CdM | The chair, Ana Botín, will say today at the shareholders’ meeting that during the first quarter the bank has continued to increase the number of customers and expects to achieve a RoTE of approximately 15.7% (post-AT1), on track to reach the annual target of approximately 16.5%. The CET1 is expected to reach 12.9%, with a tangible book value plus cash dividend per share increasing above 14%. Among the…