T.C. | The five big Spanish banks posted net profit of 7.825 billion euros in the first quarter of this year, compared with a loss of 1.053 billion in the first quarter of 2020, when they made provisions of 3.9 billion to deal with the coronavirus crisis. It should be noted, however, that without the effect of the Caixabank / Bankia merger, the Q1’21 profit would be considerably lower at…
The construction sector aims to take in workers who are currently on temporary lay-offs and who work in the tourism or hotel and catering sectors in order for them to be trained in the new techniques that are already being used in construction. In contrast to the evolution of these two sectors, still heavily affected by the pandemic and with companies in difficulties that could lead these workers to permanent unemployment, the construction sector has already recovered all the employment lost since the outbreak of the health crisis and even surpassed it.
Pep Ruiz (BBVA Research) | The US economy’s stimulus plan, with a fiscal stimulus that can exceed 12 pp of US GDP, which could increase Spain’s GDP by 0.2 pp and 0.9 pp this year and next year respectively.
T.C. | The world leader in the textile sector, Inditex, today announced its foray into the world of cosmetics from Wednesday 12 May, with the launch of a new cosmetics line, Zara Beauty. It “will be integrated as another section and will be available online in all European markets, USA, Canada, China, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.” Later, it will be incorporated in all countries and have…
A hypothetical merger between Banco Santander and BBVA would mean the largest merger in European banking. It would also have a high return on investment and low integration risk, according to the services firm Alvarez & Marsal and reported by Europa Press. In its latest report called ‘The Pulse of European Banking’, the firm has analysed merger and acquisition opportunities amongst the major European banks in terms of investor return,…
Oriol Carreras Baquer (CaixaBank Research | We are all well aware that the impact of the pandemic has varied widely from sector to sector. Those linked to tourism and leisure have suffered disproportionately. At the other end of the spectrum, some sectors, such as agriculture, forestry and fishing, or public administrations, education and health, have seen their activity increase during the pandemic. In this article, we focus on all the other sectors: the ones which, while having been dealt a heavy blow, have suffered less than those hardest hit. We will call them the «intermediate» sectors.
T.C.| Yesterday, the Spanish stock market closed at a twelve-month high, with the selective Ibex 35 above 8,800 points. The good results of some of the companies that have already presented their first quarter figures (Santander, Repsol, Naturgy, Indra, Viscofan…) pushed the index but did not prevent, as Morgan Stanley analysts explain, “Spain continues to have negative EPS (Earnings Per Share) and DPS (Dividends Per Share) revisions relative to the market… although it continues to trade at a 30% discount to the MSCI Europe”, when “the historical average is 20%, making it one of the most undervalued countries in the region”.
T. C. | The Spanish economy fell by 0.5% in the first quarter of the year, returning to negative values after having registered rates of 17.1% and 0.0%, respectively, in the third and last quarter of 2020. Analysts had expected a decline of 0.4%, so the figure is almost in line with forecasts.
Luís Pinheiro de Matos (Caixabank Research) | Headline inflation rebounded to 2.2% in April (1.3% in March). The figure is above CaixaBank Research’s forecast (1.6%). On the other hand, core inflation moderated to 0.0% (0.3% in March), a rate not seen since 2014. The new high in inflation can be explained entirely by the performance of energy prices, while the underlying components have not yet shown signs of recovery.
Olivia Álvarez (Monex Europe) | The EU, a significant laggardin Q1, starts to rise from the ashes. With below 10% of the total population having received at least one jab by the end of March, the European Commission entered negotiations with main suppliers to ramp up deliveries. As a result, the EC set ambitious goals to have 70% of the EU adult population vaccinated by the end of June, which accounts for 55%-60% of the total EU population.