Spanish companies like Santander, Zara, Freixenet, ACS, Repsol, Roca, Iberdrola, Abertis, Telefónica, Melia or Ferrovial, to mention only a very few, are the companies which are behind this internationalisation of our country’s economy. Over the last few years, they have given a considerable boost to the Spanish economy’s presence across the globe.
If a slowdown started in the Spanish economy for 2017, this would find Spain’s private companies in a healthy situation with regard to their debt: at end-2015, this was below the eurozone average (106.4% of GDP).
Experts in tax issues are busy these days trying to explain what has happened with corporate tax, the revenues from which have fallen no less than 85% in the January-July period. The Tax Office only raised 433 million euros compared with 3.011 billion in the first six months of 2015.
José A. Santos (Patrivalor) | The value of the 60 Spanish companies listed on the stock market stood at 536.499 billion euros at end-July 2016, down 9.0% from end-2015, Patrivalor says.
The three big electricity companies in the Ibex 35 index, Iberdrola, Fenosa Gas Naural and Endesa are holding their breath ahead of the outcome of Sunday’s general elections. The years under the PP government have been overall difficult for them and the group, also called the Oligopoly, has a list of outstanding claims and petitions for which a solution will be difficult to find if Spain’s next government is left-wing.
F. Barciela / F. Gil Ljubetic | For a long time, and particularly since the crisis, it has been clear that the excessive level of payment default in our country is one of the reasons, if not the main one, behind the demise of our companies, above all SMEs.
A buyback is the repurchase by a company of its outstanding shares in the stock market. They can have a variety of intentions for doing that, but the most immediate impact is to keep the share price higher than it would be without this additional demand.
The global economy in general, and the Spanish economy in particular, are experiencing turbulent times. China, the emerging markets, raw materials, the weak recovery, inflation or exchange rates are entangled with the domestic problems of each individual country. In Spain, these are focused on a political map with a lot of question marks and a worrying level of private debt, which Abengoa’s crisis has accentuated.
In the corporate world, size is also important. One of the areas still pending reform in Spain, and one of the economy’s biggest weaknesses, is the size of companies. According to studies published by groups like the Circulo de Empresarios (Circle of Entrepreneurs) or research institution Fedea, Spain’s GDP would grow 13-15% if the average size of its companies was closer to that of neighbouring countries like Germany or the UK.
The picture of the Spanish economy is changing thanks to the international activities of its companies, which has been increasing since the end of last year. Those firms which already operate overseas are expanding their business, but there is a risk that the uptick in domestic demand could dissuade new companies from leaving their home market.