The housing stock in Spain would be estimated at 4.1 billion euros in the hypothetical case that all the homes were now on the market, which is a figure over three times higher than national GDP (1.2 billion). This is according to a study by the real estate website Idealista, in which all the houses recorded in the property register are valued at current prices.
Grifols has announced that its anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin has started a clinical trial to test its safety, efficacy and tolerability. This medicine provides a consistent concentration of purified neutralizing antibodies and could be used for both prevention and treatment of the disease. The clinical trial is the latest phase of an initiative that goes back to March when Grifols started work on its anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin as part of a collaboration with U.S. government agencies.
Bankia Estudios | Last year ended with the loss of more than 100,000 Spanish companies, a fall of 360,105 Social Security affiliates – the first decline in seven years – and an increase of 724,532 unemployed. It must be added 755,613 workers under temporary lay-offs programs and 349,342 self-employed receiving extraordinary unemployment benefits; in other words, more than 1.1 million people who, although technically still considered employed, are not actually working or are working reduced hours.
Solaria, one of the few Spanish listed companies dedicated exclusively to solar photovoltaic generation, has closed a PPA agreement, in its financial form, with Shell Energy, which is the largest signed by the company to date. In addition, its price has revalued 44% in the last three months tahnks to the recent entrance in Solaria’s share capital of iShares, Invesco and the increase in BlackRock’s holding. However, analysts find its valuation is not justified.
Intermoney | Real estate investment in Spain should increase by up to 25% this year compared to 2020, says a report by CBRE. So investment would be some €12 Bn in 2021, not including corporate operations like the purchase of Quabit by Neinor. However, CBRE expects uncertainty will remain during the first part of the year at the expense of progress in the pandemic vaccination process. Areas such as rental housing, logistics, and other assets such as student and nursing homes are expected to remain on the rise.
Renta 4 | Faes Farma will expand its industrial capacity with a new production plant in Derio (Vizcaya) in order to meet the strong growth expected by the company beyond 2024. The estimated investment will be around €150 M. This will be implemented over the next 4 years and will require an increase in staff of about 200 workers. The new plant will be located in the Zamudio Technology Park, with the potential to manufacture more than 100 M units of medicines.
The so-called Tobin tax on financial transactions – which will be charged on the acquisition of shares of large Spanish listed firms like Inditex, Iberdrola or Banco Santander – came into force on January 16. The new tax will mainly affect the purchases of these companies’ shares, either in cash or via credit. According to the list drawn up by the Tax Agency, it will be applied to almost 60 companies with a market capitalisation of more than 1 billion euros as of December 16 2020.
Renta 4 | This week could see Naturgy finalising its entrance into the US firm Candela Renewables, valued at 80-100 million dollars, according to Reuters. This is a platform for the development of renewable projects, founded in 2018 by former employees of First Solar and Nextlight, and which has launched 26 projects to date. In the absence of further details on the possible operation, we would favourably consider the entry into the US market on a quality basis.
The European Recovery Fund monopolized, along with the coronavirus pandemic, the 11th edition of Spain Investors Day, which closed last Thursday with the aim of positioning the country as an investment destination. At the same time, the EU was planning to increase direct aid to Spain by €11 billion, given the crisis’ impact on debt, as can be seen in one of the annexes to the regulations on the Facility for Recovery and Resilience, which is awaiting final ratification.
The French public transportation operator RATP has selected the offer of CAF and Bombardier to supply 146 trains for the second busiest suburban line in Paris for a joint value of €2.56 Bn. The consortium would have beaten the bid made by Alstom which could have offered a price 500M euros higher than that of the Spanish-Canadian consortium. In any case, Alstom will complete the takeover of Bombardier in two weeks, so part of the CAF contract will also benefit the French industrial group.