Spain Business Brief - Thursday September 2 2010

Spain Business Brief - Thursday September 2 2010
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By h.b. - Sep 2, 2010 - 2:25 PM
Sony is to close its only factory in Spain with the loss of more than 1,000 jobs

Photo EFE

Sony is to close its only factory in Spain, at Viladecavalls, where 1,030 jobs will be lost. Sony intends to sell the facility in parts to the Ficosa car parts company and the construction company, Comsa-Emte.
LCD screens will continue to be made at the plant for a time, and Sony is obliged to keep production going until the end of this year under an agreement to freeze wages two years ago.

The Treasury is now paying nearly 20% less interest than at the depth of the recession for its bonds, as the confidence in the Spanish economy has recovered. The latest issue over five years is offering a marginal rate of 2.997%; that compares to the 3.727% to the previous auction. The issue had a limit of 4 billion, but attracted applications for 5.393 billion.

Unemployment rose in August by 61,083 in Spain ending a four month run of falls and taking the total number registered in INEM offices as out of work to 3,969,661, according to the National Statistics Institute.
The numbers show that over the past 12 months unemployment has risen by 340,581, or 9.3%.
Meanwhile the Spanish Social Security system lost 131,858 affiliates over the month, ending six months of previous increases. The number of people now paying into the system is 17,716,464, 1.58% lower than a year ago, according to the Ministry for Employment.

Ryanair overtook Iberia for passenger numbers at Spanish airports in July, according to data from AENA, the Spanish Airports Authority. Iberia carried 2.77 million passengers, Ryanair 2.98. The Irish airline is set to extend its lead with the new hub at El Prat in Barcelona which opened yesterday; its target for passenger numbers in Spain as a whole this year is 22 million.

Zara has opened its online fashion store today, with prices online the same as those seen in stores in Spain. Online purchasers will have a month to change their goods if not satisfactory. The online store is open to shoppers in Spain, Germany. France, Italy, Portugal and the U.K. Customer service will be by a freephone number, and all major credit cards and paypal are accepted.
Zara has already established a leading online following on its Facebook page, but parent company Inditex enters the online marketplace after several of its rivals.

José Montilla, the President of the Catalan Government is back in Spain after a visit to the Chery Chinese car company. He has been trying to seal the construction of a new factory by the company in Cataluña, leading to the creation of 10,000 jobs and 1 billion € investment. Other European regions are also reported to be in the running for the plant.

The case against two Spanish brokers, based in the United States, and accused their of the fraudulent use of privileged information, has been postponed until September 28 in Chicago. The delay comes as a result of the Spaniards, Juan José Fernández García and Luis Martín Caro Sánchez, asking the judge for more time to prepare the documentation required of them.

The German government has approved a new tax on air passengers. They will charge 45 € for those taking long haul flights and 8 € for shorter journeys. Some fear the measure will impact on German imports and exports, while the concern in Spain comes from the tourism sector. The German airlines forecast the tax will result in the loss of about seven million passengers a year.

Spanish banks have announced a 6.7% fall in profits for the year to June, compared to last year at 7.979 billion. However the fall is because the banks have put aside a greater amount, 10.97 billion, 10.3% more than last year, to cover any future bad debts.

And finally,
Orange has said that they will not be increasing their internet tariffs in Spain in the short term. It comes after other providers including Telefónica, have called for heavy users to be charged more for broadband bandwidth. Orange has denied press reports that its mobile network is under strain at current usage levels.

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