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bankia

Markets 29th July 2014

Spanish Bankia’s good results irritate non rescued banks

MADRID | By Francisco López | For a few, Bankia has quickly accomplished the miracle of the loaves and fish thanks to a faultless management. For many others, the bank achieved to improve its results in the last two years “thanks to the King’s gunpowder” – an old Spanish idiom meaning one takes advantages of others’ resources but doesn’t value them –. Taxpayers paid €22.4bn, an amount far higher than the lender’s financial gap, which has given back a tiny amount so far. At least, it has overhauled its budget.

JORDI PUJOL1

In Europe 28th July 2014

Catalonia and the Pujol Case: corruption in the heart of the establishment

MADRID | By Fernando G. Ubaneja | Several corruption cases have put Spain under the international spotlight. The latest, which emerged by surprise on Friday and has been the talk of the town since then, is related to one its most controversial and rich regions: Catalonia. The independence campaign suffered a setback after the leading figure of Catalan nationalism Jordi Pujol admitted keeping undeclared funds in fiscal havens.

No Picture

Spanish economy 24th July 2014

Spain: Barclays see growth and employment improving in Q2

MADRID | The Corner | Ahead of INE’s official release of Q2 growth, Bank of Spain (BdE) published  on Wednesday its estimate in its economic bulletin. The central bank estimates that economic activity in Q2 accelerated to 0.5% q/q from 0.4% q/q in Q1, driven by positive contributions from both domestic and external demand. BdE has also revised upwards its annual growth projections for 2014 and 2015 to 1.3% and 2%. These estimates coincide with ours, both for Q2 14 and for 2014-15, analysts at Barclays point out.

employment

In Europe 24th July 2014

Spain’s jobs report shows a weak, uncertain but real recovery

MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Both the evolution of the GDP and employment in 2Q confirm that the Spanish recovery has arrived: it’s a weak, subject to uncertainty one, but undeniable. Official data released on Thursday were above expectations: 400,000 new employed, 310,000 less unemployed and a crucial piece of data: nearly 100,000 more occupied Spaniards. It’s the best data of the past 26 quarters, since mid-2007. But we should not forget the poor-quality contracts nor the 2 million long-duration jobless.

 

europe gas

World economy 23rd July 2014

Can’t live without Russian gas (yet)

MADRID | The Corner | The EU released on Wednesday a target to improve energy efficiency by 30% as part of a package of climate and energy policy for 2030, and a measure that some considered “a gift to Mr Putin.” The truth is Europe says it is on the verge to impose sanctions to Russia for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, although it has been reluctant to use US-stule sanctions in the past due to its high dependence on Russian gas -see this chart by Statista which shows the deep interconnection-. But there seems to be a way for the Old Continent to wear off any gas cuts if things gets really nasty: liquefied natural gas (LNG). For countries like Spain, it would be a golden opportunity. 

jyrki katainen

In Europe 22nd July 2014

Olé, Katainen

MADRID | The Corner | New Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Jyrki Katainen –Finnish, as his predecessor Olli Rehn- has pledged pure orthodoxy about the European Stability Pact. In an interview with German daily Die Welt, Finland’s former Prime Minister and now one of the most powerful men in the EU ruled out speculations about creative interpretations of the fiscal framework. Mr Katainen is the same who, during the worst moment of the crisis (Aug 2012), asked Greece and Spain for collateral in exchange for aid and reckoned that some peripherals were introducing major structural reforms that were “simply not being recognized in the market.”

german bund

Markets 18th July 2014

Shot down plane = Bund at 1.14%

MADRID | The Corner | Thursday was shelter assets’ day due to the tragedy of the Malaysian Airlines passenger hit by a missile in Ukraine, the hardening of the Russia sanctions and the worsening of the conflict in Palestine, analists at Bankinter commented. The Bund reached a new historic low of 1.14% (the previous record was 1.17%) and the yen and Swiss franc appreciated up to approx. 137 and 1.214 respectively.

 

No Picture

In Europe 16th July 2014

E.ON sells its Spanish business at Ebitda 10x

MADRID | The Corner | Citi will be the senior advisor in the business, whose preliminary assessment goes up to €3 billion. The major stakeholders would be Energía Villar Mir, EDP and several funds (such as KKR, Riverstone, Brookfield, Blackstone and JPMorgan’s infrastructure fund).