Banco Sabadell has been left hanging after the announcement of the merger between Bankia and CaixaBank. For months there had been talk of a combination of Sabadell and Bankia as the most promising concentration operation in the sector. Now, however, this possibility has vanished and the Catalan bank would be assessing different options to protect its interests.
According to the latest OECD’s data for the month of August, Spain is at the back of the bunch, with 93.2 points. It is the only country which has slowed down, losing 1.4 whole points and becoming the country signalling lower growth. The final Q2’20 GDP data for the Eurozone does not leave Spain in a good position either. The decline in the country’s economic activity stands out as being the most negative, with a drop of 22.1%, ahead of France, which declined by 18.9%, Italy by 17.7% and Portugal by 16.3%.
Spain is ranked 30th in the UN’s Global Innovation Index (GII) and 21st in the new brand value indicator. For the first time in its 13-year history, the renowned GII includes brand value as one of its main indicators. With a score of 33.29 out of 100 on the Global Innovation Index (GII) global brand value indicator, Spain is among the countries whose brand value to GDP ratio is lower than expected for the size of the economy.
Naturgy signed last week with Snowy Hydro its first energy sales contract with a retailer in Australia to build a 218 MW wind farm in Victoria. Some days later, the company has increased its presence in the country with the award by the Australian Capital Territory of 107 MW wind farm and a battery energy storage system of 20 MWh. With both operations, Naturgy doubles its presence in the region, reaching a renewable capacity of near 600 MW and becoming the Top-3 independent wind energy producer.
Intermoney | There are important reasons for maintaining a prudent attitude with regard to the Spanish economy, situating its full recovery in the year 2023. This would mean that we would lose more than a decade of the fledgling 21st century. On the other hand, there are also reasons to hope the recovery will eventually take shape and not be too far off. These include the encouraging development of the COVID-19 vaccines, the decisive response from the ECB and the EU, and a lesser impact of the crisis than feared on large European partners and customers.
Banca March | Pedro Sanchez’s government hopes that the European Council will approve the Commission’s proposal on the SURE fund this September, in order to access the first tranche of financing this year. Spain’s request for financing in the first tranche is valued at 21.325 billion euros and is already approved by the European Executive. This will be used to cover the expenses associated with employment until September 30th.
The order, with an undisclosed customer, is for two new onshore wind projects in Texas that will generate a combined 325 MW of power using 65 SG 5.0-145 wind turbines. Project takes Siemens Gamesa’s total installed capacity close to 6 GW in Texas, strengthening its position as one ofthe top3 OEMs in the state.
Bankia and Caixabank have communicated that they are at a preliminary talks stage for a possible merger that would be carried out through an exchange of shares. For the time being, no agreement has been reached. The merger would create a lender with total assets of €664 Bn (according to data from Q2’20). So it would be the leading Spanish bank by volume of assets. It would combine a network of offices (including those of CaixaBank’s Portuguese subsidiary) with 6,700 branches and staff of over 51,000.
The Swiss group SIX already controls over 95% of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) after its takeover bid. In a statement to the CNMV, SIX said it has now exceeded the threshold required to exercise the right of a forced sale, which will mean the exclusion of BME shares from the Spanish stock market.
The Social Security affiliates increased in August by 6,822 on a monthly average after rising by 161,217 in July. This is the first increase in an eight month of the year since the historical registers started in 2001. “In August there is usually a sharp drop in affiliation due to the destruction of many seasonal jobs at the end of the month, but this year jobs have recovered due to the progressive re-opening of companies”, says Funcas.