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Spanish economy 21st January 2012

Weekend long read: Spain’s finance and economy ministers open their portfolios to Wall Street and Frankfurt

By Ana Fuentes in New York, and Julia Pastor in Madrid | Right before the three crucial meetings (Eurogroup, Ecofin and European Council) that will take place in the next 10 days, the Spanish government is deploying its best arguments in order to regain markets’ trust. Rajoy’s economic team, the Finance minister Luis de Guindos (left) as well as Cristóbal Montoro, minister of the Treasury, appear in the weekend edition of…

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Companies 20th January 2012

Bankinter’s results are so much better than expected, even competitors are surprised

By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | Bankinter, with €59bn in assets, is the smallest of the Spanish listed banks but it has surprised everyone with its brilliant results. Net profit at the end of 2011 amounted to €181.2mn with an improvement of 20% compared to 2010. The gross margin was of €1,104.48mn, an increase of 0.20% year on year. Its income before provisions grew by more than 2.9% compared to…

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Markets 19th January 2012

Spanish debt challenges the agencies’s ‘implicit’ ratings

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The rating agencies never rest, much less when they talk about those countries suffering the most. Specifically, Fitch and S&P have been looking at Spain. The first has warned that it will probably downgrade Spain’s solvency rating by one or two notches by the end of January. According to Fitch, and even though its analysts admit the good will of the new government’s fiscal…

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aggregation line 14th January 2012

Weekend link fest

A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. The euro debt drama explained in 100 words It’s not the banker’s pay system, populace! EC’s Tajani: don’t worry Cameron will U-turn Former Santander banker, now Lloyds boss says no to bonus Manufacturing jobs rise…

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Spanish economy 13th January 2012

The UK crowns Spain as the favorite holiday destination in 2012

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Towards the end of 2011, the British press published a news item, that was finally denied, regarding an evacuation plan that the Foreign Office was supposedly preparing to evacuate British citizens resident in Spain in case of a financial crunch. A few days later, at the beginning of the New Year, that same publications crown Spain as the favourite holiday destination for British families…

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Spanish economy 12th January 2012

“Spain will do everything it needs to do,” says the minister of Industry to investors

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The second edition of the Spain Investor’s Day started on Wednesday. This event presents itself as “a unique project in Spain, the great personal encounter of the global investor with Spanish issuers and businesses. Its permanent objective is to present Spain at its highest level as the investors’ destination”. The meeting gathers major listed companies and major institutional investors in order to generate contacts,…

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Spanish economy 11th January 2012

Economic reforms could attract €3.2bn in venture capital to Spain

The Spanish Association of Venture Capital (ASCRI is the Spanish acronym) presented the results of the sector in 2011, when the investment of these firms in Spain reached €3.249 billion, 7% less than in 2010, but more than twice the amount invested in 2009. Venture capital  has 3,200 million euros to spend on new business investments in Spain, said on Tuesday Maite Ballester, president of ASCRI. Ballester believes that “the…