MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Spanish banks are starting to offer mortgages and commercial loans again, as their staff advices clients to buy and invest, spending is back on track, even if people are putting it on their credit cards. A sign of recovery cash flowing.
MADRID | By Francisco López | The new season for presenting results starts this week with much better expectations than in previous years. After two years recording negative results in Spain, most market watchers consider that 2013 allowed the return to positive figures thanks to cost reductions, the increase in financial operations, the low interest margin and a lower impact on the accounts of the harsh restructuring process started in 2009.
MADRID| By Francisco López| Spain’s banking sector wholesale maturities will reach € 88,000 million in 2014 and € 72,000 million in 2015. Experts forecast that more than half will be financed via foreign markets.Only BBVA estimates to sell around € 7,000 million in bonds and covered bonds.
MADRID | By Francisco López | Spanish banks face into the new era of banking union with their homework successfully completed, both in terms of adjustments and efficiency in the stress tests. Their balance sheets are healthy, although now a new challenge awaits: how to improve profitability in an adverse economic cycle, with rates close to 0% and with credit lending remaining worryingly low.
THE CORNER TEAM | As the euro zone crisis shakes off a recession, investment opportunities are mushrooming across the South of Europe. In Spain, banking and media sector as well as infrastructure are the preferred bets. “As maximum exposure recovery in Europe’s periphery, FCC is ideal. Just don’t think about the downside,” the Financial Times’ Lex argued on Friday, after millionaires George Soros and Bill Gates have both bought stakes in the indebted construction company in less than three months.
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | The UK is the European country which has given more financial support to its banking sector with €82.000 millions since 2008, followed by Germany (€64.000 millions), Ireland with €63.000 and Spain with €60.000, according to an European Comission’s report.
MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | As credit institutions gathered in Frankfurt to meet top ECB officials for a first-hand appraisal of the forthcoming common supervision, the Spanish banks proved utterly misinformed. They had taken for granted that domestic sovereign bonds held in their balance sheets could be accounted at their nominal value. Yet Draghi failed to provide any assurance to that effect, hinting the issue being subject to review next year.
LONDON | By Barclays analysts | We discuss the Italian economic and financial situation based on data and analysis contained in the November 2013 Bank of Italy Financial Stability Report. Following almost two years of recession in Italy, positive growth should resume in Q4 this year. After a likely 1.8% GDP contraction this year, we forecast a 0.8% expansion in 2014.
MADRID | The Corner Team | The balance of non-performing loans of the Spanish banking sector rose in September to reach a new record of 12.68 percent, since the 12.12 per cent in August, according to provisional figures that the Bank of Spain reported on Monday. The volume of non-performing loans rose 6.888 billion euros, up to 187.830 million euros.
THE CORNER TEAM | Madrid and Dublin celebrated cutting their bailout umbilical cord on Thursday, renouncing to extend the aid after their aid programmes will end. This means they will be able to enjoy economic, budgetary and funding conditions like most other sovereign countries. To finally fund themselves normally on the markets, without paying an extra penalty. However, there is still homework to do: in the case of Spain, the country needs restructuring its local savings banks.