Naturgy, the third Spanish electricity company in terms of number of customers, behind Endesa and Iberdrola, is freezing electricity tariffs at the levels they were before the price hikes. This is to prevent users from suffering the uncontrolled increases the market is experiencing. To this end, from 15 September, it is offering to apply a cap of 60 euros per megawatt hour to all customers currently on regulated tariffs. Beyond…
The government’s energy reform is stirring up the whole sector, according to the daily Expansión. Not only the large electricity companies, such as Endesa, Iberdrola and Naturgy, which are already preparing a legal battle. Renewable energy companies are also coming out en masse demanding that this reform be softened by modifying some aspects as the the energy sold outside the daily market, through bilateral contracts (or PPAs, in technical jargon) will also be reduced. These bilateral contracts are the essence of the current development of the renewable energy sector, because they serve to finance it.
Fernando González Urbaneja | Two economic and labour issues are occupying the public debate: how to sustain employment and how to increase wages. These are seemingly incompatible goals, but labour markets are so complex they cannot be locked into simple equations. Claiming that lowering wages will increase employment is as unfounded as claiming that raising wages will reduce employment. There are other, more complex factors involved in order to achieve…
CdM | The Government cuts electricity companies’ “extraordinary” income by €2.6Bn: €1.221Bn for Iberdrola, €976Mn for Endesa, €188Mn for Naturgy, €144Mn for Acciona and €71Mn for EDP. On Tuesday, the government approved through a Royal Decree-Law a shock plan to contain the escalation of electricity and gas prices. According to Morgan Stanley’s analysis team the measures – assuming they are effective in Q4’21 and Q1’22- will have a strong impact…
Link Securities | Inditex (ITX) has presented its results for the first half of its fiscal year (H1 2021), which runs from February to July, achieving record sales, EBITDA and profits. Revenues came in at €11.936 billion, 49% higher than in H1 2020, and in line (-0.3%) with the figure expected by FactSet’s analysts’ consensus. At constant exchange rates revenues grew by 53%. Online sales at constant exchange rates rose…
On 7 September, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, which means that companies and businesses in the country are obliged to accept it as a form of payment in day-to-day transactions. However, in this country there are only four Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency ATMs (machines where users can buy or sell cryptocurrencies). The US is the country with the most cryptocurrency…
Fernando González Urbaneja | The deadlock to renew the institutions (more than a thousand days of delay in the CGPJ) indicates that the quality of Spanish democracy is mediocre. And it is not because of the regulated procedures, but because of the application of those procedures by the responsible (or rather irresponsible) politicians. Those in government (socialists and partners) accuse the opposition of being unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the latter’s response is…
Fernando Rodríguez| The AIAF market has surpassed 47 billion euros in sustainable fixed income issues with the incorporation today of the Kingdom of Spain’s first green bond for 5 billion euros. The Spanish government placed this bond last week, as part of a sustainable financing programme that the Treasury’s latest estimates put at a total of 20 billion euros. The funds will be used to finance projects promoting the ecological…
A total of 13 banks operating in Spain posted net losses in the first half of 2021. This is compared to 15 entities that recorded ‘red numbers’ in the same period of the previous year, according to the financial statements of banks published on Friday by the Bank of Spain. In the first half of the year, ten banks associated with the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), one of the Spanish…
Fernando González Urbaneja | In its day, the Barcelona Fair was the most important in Spain, while Madrid’s IFEMA languished in the Casa de Campo. A visionary president of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, Adrián Piera, imagined an ambitious IFEMA and the socialist mayor at the time, Tierno Galván, had faith in him (“if you say so, Piera, you’ll be right”). There was more support and competitions, but the Feria…