Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | A stale parliamentary debate that rarely stayed on topic seemed a good way to wrap up another disappointing political season in Greece. The country has been stuck in a deep, dark hole for almost a decade and now it has a chance for a change in fortune. But its decision makers will have to display much more vision, determination and mastery than was on display in Parliament on Monday.
Telefónica is continuing with its plans for cutting group debt – estimated at 50 billion euros – by divesting stakes in some of its subsidiaries and ruling out any major new acquisitions. On the one hand, the company is still preparing to list a minority stake in its UK mobile subsidiary O2 towards year-end, on the other they are considering to sell Telefonica Argentina.
José Benito de Vega | Moody’s has lifted Repsol’s outlook from negative to stable and confirms long- term debt rating at Baa2. Analysts were expecting this upgrading after Repsol presented a new strategic plan for 2016-2020. In fact, Repsol’s stock price performance has revalued 11%, less than the Ibex, but a lot higher than the Stoxx 600 Oil & Gas (-1%).
Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | Over the period of nine months that it took to complete the second programme review, the role of the International Monetary Fund as Alexis Tsipras’s strongest ally to secure debt relief was one of the many curved balls that the flew past the Greek prime minister.
J.L.M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | From recent ECB statistics, there would seem to be a recovery in financing in line with the monetary authority’s implict goal when it implemented its extreme measures.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | The stock phrases came thick and fast after Monday’s Eurogroup. “Great progress,” “very close” and “an agreement in a few weeks” were a few of the perennial quotes trotted out again by officials following a failed attempt to settle differences over Greek debt relief.
The CNMV and the government have been trying for years to get the big companies and Spanish banks to issue debt in Spain. But despite some reforms having been made, Spanish companies continue to head for Europe and even farther afield to ask investors for money.
Endesa registered net profit of 253 million euros in the first quarter of 2017, down 26% from a year earlier, due to the impact of the “high” prices of electricity in the wholesale market. Its dividend yield is still attractive at 5.7%, while the share price has also been supported by rumours of a corporate deal.
Italy’s government debt could set to be 133% of GDP this year – a level that is some 34% higher than it was at the end of 2007. Meanwhile, Ireland’s debt shot up as the government had to bail out the housing and banking sectors post-2007 and by 2012 it was very close to the same level as a percentage of GDP as Italy’s (123%9).
French elections will likely serve as a way to take the populism temperature, as well as being the next step towards de-globalisation. As the Dutch general elections showed, the populist drive may prove to be not as strong as anticipated by the polls. But most of the media is presenting the French elections in this way. Furthermore, it has to be considered the fact that the pollsters underestimated the force of populism last year in the UK.