Fernando González Urbaneja | There is an abundance of modern, current literature on how democracies die; it is a subject that interests academics who theorise on the subject and retired politicians who use their heads to think and review what they have experienced and suffered. In almost all these works there are two indicators that do not fail. Firstly the practice of destroying adversaries turned enemies, and secondly the discrediting…
CaixaBank Research (Pedro Álvarez Ondina) | Spain’s tourism industry has developed exceptionally in recent years, becoming one of the country’s main sources of business, income and employment. However, this strong development had also led to the emergence of some negative actions and social unease regarding the role played by tourism at certain destinations and moments until, in 2020, the coronavirus crisis paralysed the sector’s activity and highlighted its social and…
Intermoney | Ferrovial, via its affiliate in India, IRB, has won one of the biggest contracts for a motorway concession in that country. The project is for a 127 km long motorway corridor in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which will require an investment of 800 million euros. The duration of the concession is 36 years and it will receive a public subsidy of 200 million euros. IRB is listed…
Pablo Fernández (IESE) | The average return of mutual funds in Spain over the last 15 years (1.91%) was lower than the investment in 15-year Spanish government bonds (4%). The average return of the Ibex 35 index was 1.35%, that of the EuroStoxx 50 4.2% and that of the S&P 500 was 10.7%. 64 funds out of 562 Spanish funds with a 15-year history outperformed 15-year government bonds, 314 outperformed…
A.J.A. | An Argentine friend of mine once asked me why I thought his country was not coming back from the precipice. “To put it simply, Alfredo, if a country’s greatest pride is Maradona’s “hand of God” against England…. It’s fucked.” He nodded, silently. There was little to discuss. Yesterday Spain had its own “hand of God”, one of those images for the gallery destined to mark an era. To…
Cement consumption in Spain grew by 11% in 2021, to 14.9 million tons, which is the highest figure in the last ten years. The sector expects this trend to continue in 2022, when it expects another additional 5% increase, according to data from the sector’s employers’ association, Oficemen. The figure, however, is 27% below that of 2011, when it was still in full decline due to the bursting of the…
About 1.4 million people in Spain are at serious risk of financial exclusion due to the inability to access banking services, according to a study by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) published Wednesday. The absence of bank offices and the lack of capabilities and digital skills to operate in ATMs or online are the main factors converging amongst those over 65 years old and residents in municipalities with…
BBVA Group posted a recurring profit of €5.07 billion in 2021, the highest in the past ten years, thanks to the positive evolution of revenues and lower loan-loss provisions. Including non-recurring impacts, the net attributable profit rose to €4.65 billion, 3.6 times higher than the €1.31 billion registered in 2020. In terms of growth it acquired a record of almost nine million new customers. The net tangible book value per…
Renta 4 | Cepsa is putting its Chemical division up for sale for 3.5 billion euros. The Spanish oil company, controlled by Mubadala and The Carlyle Group, has given the green light to the transaction. Citi and Linklaters are advising on the deal. Advent International y Apollo Global Management are amongst the leading candidates for acquiring the division, along with CVC, Platinum Equity, Lone Star and Rhône Capital. The Indian conglomerate…
Banco Santander achieved an attributable profit of €8,124 million in 2021, which compares to an attributable loss of €8,771 billion in 2020, when the bank made a non-cash adjustment to the valuation of goodwill and deferred tax assets (DTAs). The 2021 attributable profit is 25% higher in current euros than in 2019, before covid. Excluding net charges of €530 million for restructuring costs already announced in Q1 2021, underlying profit…