Spain Business Brief - Wednesday November 11 2009

Spain Business Brief - Wednesday November 11 2009
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By h.b. - Nov 11, 2009 - 2:27 PM
Rato and Aguirre meet in Madrid as the ex IMF head returns to business in Spain

Rodrigo Rato and Esperanza Aguirre in Madrid on Wednesday - EFE

The ex head of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo Rato, met up today with the PP President of the Madrid región, Esperanza Aguirre, for the first time since the conflict ended over who would be the new Chairman of the Caja Madrid savings bank. The couple hugged each other at the start of a conference organised by the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. Aguirre’s regional government is now supporting Rato as he moves to his new post, and he used the occasion to criticise the passivity of the Government, and said that unless there was structural reform the country faces very weak growth for a very long time.

Joaquin Almunia, the EU commissioner for the Economy, has warned that the decision of Brussels to give Spain an extra year in which to bring its deficit back down to below 3% of GDP does not mean any let up in the tax take in the country. Brussels now calculates that the Spanish Government has to adjust its budget by 1.75% a year to meet the target in 2013.

Deutsche Bank has announced that it wants to expand its business in Spain with the purchase of some of its rivals. The bank says that there are advantages in having a larger network, and the Chairman of the company in Spain, Antonio Rodríguez Pina, has said that they will be disciplined in price and in the generation of worth in their business. Currently they have 260 branches in Spain and more than 3,000 employees here.

Banco Sabadell shares have been on the slide today following the decision of the Italian Unicredit company to sell its 3.23% participation in the bank for 168.6 million €. Shares were trading down by more than 6% at one point.

The number of new companies registered in Spain during September was the lowest seen for the past 17 years, down 27% on a year ago at 5,340. The only positive note in the new numbers is a 10% reduction in the number of companies going out of business at 1.068.

The amount of unpaid debt coming from the trade sector has fallen for the sixth consecutive month, and was down by 57.2% in September at 409,887 €.

The Colonial real estate company has published a net loss of 369.2 million € for the first nine months of the year. The loss is 85% lower than that seen over the same period last year.

The Spanish Government has said it will take a look at the German system which would ensure that part time workers have the right to unemployment pay. The UGT union has called for more resources to be dedicated to the situation when ERE redundancy notices are granted.

The judge in Mercantile Court 6 in Madrid has agreed to dissolve and liquidate the Afinsa stamp trading company, after establishing that the tangible assets fail to meet the debts in the company’s viability plan. Those who invested in the company will get a maximum 33% of their investment returned. Nearly 200,000 people have been affected by the company collapse three years ago.

And finally
The Spanish Association of Christmas Hamper makers, which makes up some 70% of the sector, has said that prices will be as much as 15% lower this year, in an attempt to avoid a collapse in sales.

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