Bankinter | The private sectors credit stock increases +3.4% in April (vs +3.2% before). A strong performance in company credit stands out (+3.9% vs 3.6% before) as well as credit for buying houses (+3.6% vs +3.5% before).
The M&A market in Spain has been very active over the last two years. There is a lot of cash around, but what is lacking are some good deals.
Spain is the country with the most SMEs chosen by the European Innovation Council, the European Commission’s financial and technical support tool, to receive up to 40 million euros in funding with the aim of supporting business growth via the development of innovative projects.
Despite the improvement in macro data over the last few years (GDP has risen by 13% and employment – Active Population Survey – 12.1% from its lows), the consequences of the crisis on the destruction of Spain’s businesses fabric still remain.
Financing is no longer a priority for European SMEs. In fact, it has not been for a long time now. In this way, with cheap and extensive bank financing as a base, the SMEs can focus on their business.
A recent report by Eurostat revealed that SMEs in Europe generate half of intra-European trade. These companies provide up to 249 jobs each and drive the economy.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will go ahead with the disposal of a substantial part of its SME banking business in the UK. The operation will be a complicated one and the British subsidiaries of Santander and Sabadell will participate in the bid process.
J. L. M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) |What is the main concern for Spain’s SMEs? The lack of clients. This is what they have revealed in the latest survey published by the ECB, covering the period from October 2016 to March 2017. And what about financing? It was once again the least of its worries, something which has been the case since the start of the year.
In 2016, Spain was once again the European country which received the most funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), for a total of 11.5 billion euros, in terms of investment per unit of GDP or, in other words, in relation to the size of its economy.
As a result of the global financial crisis, funding conditions for SMEs in the peripheral European countries tightened considerably. But following the implementation of expansionary monetary policies, including TLTROs and negative interest rates, has loan activity improved for small businesses in countries like Spain, where they are key drivers for economic growth and job creation.