Joan Tapia (Barcelona) | The figures of the Spanish economy were terrible in the second quarter. GDP plummeted by an outrageous 18.5% compared to the previous quarter, while the GDP of the euro area, despite suffering the biggest fall since reliable statistics have been available, fell considerably less, by 11.8%. And the loss of jobs in the same period was 7.5% in Spain compared to 2.9% in Europe.
The airports in the Aena network closed August with 8,951,753 passengers, 69.6% fewer than in the same month last year, along with 142,962 aircraft movements, 39.1% fewer than in August 2019, and 59,819 tons of freight, 28.6% lower. Out of the total number of passengers recorded in August, 8,909,752 were commercial passengers with 4,838,712 on domestic flights, 41.6% less than in August 2019, and 4,071,040 on international routes, down by 80.7%.
The consortium participated by Telefonica, along with its two rivals Mexico’s América Móvil and Italy’s TIM, has qualified as a stalking horse or first bidder in the race to buy Brazil’s Oi’s mobile business. The qualification as first bidder gives the consortium the right of first refusal if a higher competitive offer is made.
This operation will serve as compensation for the creditors and suppliers who will assume the removal and capitalization of Abengoa debt. The companies up for sale should be transferred within a year. Most of them are projects which have had the “for sale” sign on them for a while, and their valuation has deteriorated. In 2019, the 10 main assets had a net book value of €1.557 Bn and a negative impact compared to 2018 of €118 M. This is in line with the restructuring agreement approved on August 6.
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.