Spain Business
Spain Business Brief - Monday September 8 2008
By h.b.
Sep 8, 2008 - 1:51 PM

The Spanish stock market index IBEX 35 has rallied today after the news of the United States government rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The IBEX recovered part of the losses suffered during the end of last week when falls of 6% were recorded and the week ended with the index at its lowest level of the year.
The banking sector has been leading the rally today which has seen prices up by more than 4.3%. The increase is in line with other rallies being seen today on European markets.

The Spanish airline Futura has applied for bankruptcy protection in Mercantile Court 1 in Palma today, according to sources in the High Court of Justice. The company has restarted its flights today with the permission of the Ministry for Development, following a 24 hour suspension of services yesterday, and says it is facing difficulties because of the increase in the price of fuel.
A CCOO union spokesman said they did not understand why the company halted activity yesterday, causing great concern to workers. Futura is considered by experts to be the most powerful independent charter company in Europe and is known to have diversified its activity into complementary businesses.

The Spanish National Competition Agency (CNC) is to investigate whether the main petrol companies in Spain have stopped a reduction in petrol prices on the forecourts following the reduction in the crude oil price. The measure affects Cepsa, Repsol and BP and will check that no price fixing has been taking place. The companies have 15 days to respond to a series of questions and face fines if they are considered to have carried out actions against the market.
Meanwhile Santander and Unión Fenosa are putting the details on the proposed sale of their shares in Cepsa. Santander has a 30% shareholding and Unión Fenosa a 5% one.

Minister for Tax and the Economy, Pedro Solbes, has today made a call to large businesses in the country to stay calm in the face of the data about the economic slowdown. Speaking at a dinner attended to by many top Spanish bosses as well as members of the international monetary fund and the OECD he said it was crucial to remain calm and not to make errors from precipitated judgements in the search for short-term solutions. He said the current conditions needed to be seen as an opportunity for Spain to ‘modernise, diversify and improve’.

Spanish construction and services company Ferrovial has sold Belfast Airport to an ABN Amro investment fund for 165 million €. The Spanish firm will get 107 million € from the deal, and is expected to use the money to reduce its debt. Ferrovial shares have rallied strongly by 8% on the news today.
Last August 20 the UK Competition Commission ordered BAA, owned by Ferrovial, to sell three of its seven airports in the United Kingdom, including two in London and one in Scotland.

And finally,
The bar and restaurant sector in Spain is the latest area to notice the effects of the economic crisis, according to the Spanish Hostelry Federation (FEHR). They say that bars, restaurants and cafeterias have seen a fall of 5%-6% in their business over August, compared to last year’s numbers.
Beer companies are also reporting a fall in demand of about 6%.