Spain Business Brief - Thursday June 19 2008

Spain Business Brief - Thursday June 19 2008
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By h.b. - Jun 19, 2008 - 12:48 PM

Archive Photo EFE

830 jobs to go at Altadis factories in Spain

Imperial Tobacco has announced that it is to lose 830 jobs in the Altadis company in Spain, which the British firm purchased in 2007.
The re-structuring plan includes an end to ‘negro’ cigarette production in Alicante and the movement of all European cigar production to Cantabria.
Altadis has a total number of 6,700 workers in Spain, and of the 830 to go, 530 of them will be in the factories of Alicante, Cádiz and Palazuelo, Cáceres. It’s hoped 80% of the losses will be made via early retirement.

Banco Santander is reported to be preparing an offer for the German bank Dresdner, which is part of the Allianz insurance group. Reuters quotes sources close to the company saying that the process is still in the very early phases and there are no clues as yet as to who is holding ‘the best cards’.
In other take over news, Repsol YPF has commented that it would not sell Gas Natural to a competitor, such as Gaz de France. The Financial Times says that GdF Suez has shown interest in the Spanish gas company.

Telefónica has announced that it wants to increase its shareholding in the new China Unicom company to ten per cent. The firm is the second largest operator in China after having merged with China Netcom. Currently Telefónica has a 7.2% share in CNC.

Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS) has announced that its company Spanair is no longer for sale. The Spanish airline had been put up for sale in June 2007, but now the Scandinavians realise that the current situation in the industry means that no attractive offers will be forthcoming. The airline’s headquarters are to remain in Mallorca, according to the new announcement.
SAS meanwhile is immersed in a restructuring process, and job losses are expected.

Following the meeting between the Government, Employers and Unions yesterday, today there are reports that the Prime Minsiter wants to propose a reform of the unemployment service INEM in the medium term.
Zapatero told National Radio today that he thought the service could be far more efficient. He also admitted that it was understandable that some people had a perception that the current situation was a crisis. He also repeated his belief that the EU 65 hour working week was ‘unacceptable and a backwards step’.

The price of land in Spain has fallen by 7.7% in the last year, according to the new numbers from the Ministry for Housing. Most expensive land is in Álava and Barcelona, the cheapest in Jaén and Ourense. Over the first quarter there were 8,892 land deals completed in Spain – the number is 30.6% down on a year ago.

Meanwhile farmers are demonstrating in Madrid today about the increase in Diesel prices. Thousands have gathered in the capital to demand help from the Government to ease the effects of the higher prices, which they say have risen by more than 50% over the past year.

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