Spanish economy

Cuerpo

Washington Asks Spain to spend more on Military and Eliminate ‘Google Tax’

The Spanish and US governments held their first high-level meeting yesterday, Tuesday, after Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20th. Carlos Cuerpo, the Spanish Minister of Economy, visited Scott Bessent, the US Secretary of the Treasury, in Washington just days after Pedro Sánchez met with Xi Jinping in Beijing. According to the rhetoric of the new US administration, Spain is a problem because it is the NATO…


unemployment spain

“Effective unemployment has only decreased by 72,000 people since 2019” according to FEDEA

FEDEA, the Foundation for Applied Economics Studies, published a new document yesterday in which its director, Angel de la Fuente, points out that “The improvement recorded between 2019 and 2023 or 2024 is considerably smaller in the case of effective unemployment than in registered unemployment. Comparing December 2024 with December 2019, for example, registered unemployment has decreased by just over 600,000 people, while effective unemployment has only decreased by 72,000.”…


España deuda publica

Fitch maintains Spain’s rating at A-, positive outlook and estimates GDP at +2.5% this year driven by domestic demand

Bankinter | Standard & Poor’s revises Italy’s rating upwards to BBB+ from BBB, stable outlook. The agency highlights the improvement in public finances and estimates a progressive reduction of the deficit in the coming years. Specifically, it anticipates that it will stand at 3.4% this year (compared to 7.2% in 2023) and that it will fall below 3.0% in 2027. It also anticipates a gradual improvement in economic growth. It…


grifols edificio

Brandes Investment increases stake in Grifols’ B shares to 16.4%

Alphavalue/DIVACONS | Brandes Investment Partners has taken advantage of the sharp fall in the stock market value of the Catalan company specialising in plasma products following the tariff crisis to increase its stake in the B shares (non-voting) to 16.4%, with an estimated value of €250 million. This position could be key if Brookfield decides to resume its takeover bid for the company. Grifols shares rose 6.63% on Thursday. Grifols:…


aena el prat

Aena confirms traffic forecasts up 3.4% to 320 million passengers by 2025, and announces 10-for-1 share split

Intermoney | Aena (Buy, PO €215) held its shareholders’ meeting yesterday at which its chairman Ignacio Lucena confirmed their passenger traffic guidance in Spain of 320 million, implying an annual increase of +3.4%. The forecast was formally announced at the last presentation of the 2024 annual results, held at the end of February. In addition, the operator approved a future 10-for-1 share split, something that was also announced then and…


repsol sede madrid

Repsol to launch partial sale (49% stake) of solar and wind portfolio in Spain valued at over €900 million

Banc Sabadell | Repsol (REP) will sell a part (49% stake) of a solar (300 MW) and wind (400 MW) portfolio in Spain that will come on stream in 2025 with a combined capacity of 706 MW, according to press reports. The valuation is estimated at over €900 million. Assessment: Positive news with little impact (3.8% capitalisation/8% NFD’24) if confirmed as more asset rotation was expected by 2025. We recall…


naturgy eolica

Naturgy’s electricity distributor to invest €1.33 billion until 2028 to apply remote metering and sensor technologies to grid

Link Securities | UFD, the energy group’s electricity distributor, will invest €1.33 billion until 2028 to reinforce and digitise its electricity grid in Spain, according to Bolsamania.com. The objective of these investments is to improve the service offered to its customers and to promote the development of the energy transition, as established in the new Strategic Plan. The investments made by UFD also aim to incorporate and provide a quality…


exports gorgeous

Government estimates €15 billion in exports to US – 80% – to be affected by tariffs

Spain is not among the countries most directly exposed to Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught, but even so, 80% of its exports to the United States will be compromised by the trade war that the White House has declared on the rest of the world. To this must be added the indirect impact from the damage suffered by other partners and the changes that occur in global value chains. Spain is…


gestamp edificio

Gestamp potentially more affected by secondary tariff repercussions

Deutsche Bank | Gestamp (GEST) will present its Q1-25 results on 8 May after the close of trading and will hold a conference call that same afternoon. As for its counterparts, the year has started with a difficult quarter considering European and North American production volumes. With the presentation of the results, we expect the outlook to be updated taking into account the impact of tariffs, but it should be…


utilities

Review of Spanish utilities before 1Q25 results presented

Morgan Stanley | Rob Pulleyn reviews his sector coverage as a preview of results, with expectations of continued outperformance over Europe (up 14% YTD and 21% from lows). However, the market maintains an underweight position on the sector and the valuation is still at a discount of -10% in PE versus a long-term premium of 1-2%. Rob maintains his preference for large cap integrated and regulated companies, offering the greatest…