Spain Business Brief - Monday December 1 2008

Spain Business Brief - Monday December 1 2008
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By h.b. - Dec 1, 2008 - 1:04 PM

Archive Photo EFE

Car registrations in Spain fall by 49.6% year on year in November.

Sacyr Vallehermoso has sold its motorway business Itínere to Abertis for 620 million €. The sale is effectively controlled by La Caixa and decreases Sacyr debt by 37%.
Despite managing to offload Itínere the Spanish construction firm says it still is in talks with the Russian oil company Lukoil over the sale of the 20% of Repsol shares it owns.
Citi has reached an agreement with Abertis and the Italian Atlantia to aquire shares in the Itínere assets in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Chile.

The Government is to authorise an 8% increase in electricity prices from January 1, according to reports. The increase will be in two steps, one in January and another in April.

The number of car registrations in Spain in November were 63,068, down 49.6% compared to the 120,000 vehicles which were registered in the same month last year.
1.08 million vehicles have been registered over the first eleven months of the year, a fall of 26% compared to last year.
The car industry is demanding immediate help and the availability of credit for potential buyers under the new Plan Vive.

The European Central Bank is set to announce the largest interest rate reduction in its history. Latest reports say 75 points could be trimmed by ECB Governor, Jean Claude Trichet, It comes as the economic slowdown has reduced the risks of inflation.
Meanwhile the Bank of Spain has accused the ECB of blocking the growth of liquidity. It relates to a decision made by the European bank in September demanding higher levels of guarantees to obtain liquidity.

The Spanish Government has made it clear that despite the extent of the financial crisis they will not touch the Social Security Reserve Fund. The declaration came after the Grupo Popular placed a question about the fund which currently contains 65 billion €.

Santander has managed to complete its rights issue announced by surprise two weeks ago, and successfully raised 7.19 billion. President Emilio Botín said in a statement that the bank had strengthened its core capital by 7% by the move, and he was ‘very satisfied’.

The planned merger between the BBK and Kutxa savings banks appears to have floundered. It seems the plan has run up against the main opposition parties in the Basque region, the PSE and PP.

Another Spanish real estate company has filed for bankruptcy protection. Promodico from the Grupo Dico, has estimated assets of 455 million, but debts that are 102.5 million greater than that. Most of the money is owed to banks and savings banks.
Meanwhile the owner of Habitat is to sell the company’s headquarter offices to Caixa Manresa.

And finally,
The Supreme Court has ordered the French hypermarket company Carrefour to respect workers rights to 48 hours continuous time off. 11,000 Carrefour workers are set to benefit from the measure which forces the company to give two days off when workers have worked for six days.
Other supermarkets are expected to also have to come into line with the ruling.

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