Articles by The Corner

About the Author

The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
spain

Moody’s upgrades Spain’s outlook from positive to stable for more balanced growth model

Bankinter| Moody’s with Spain’s credit rating at Baa1 raised its outlook to positive from stable. S&P maintained its rating at A with a stable outlook. Moody’s outlook upgrade is based on a more balanced growth pattern, low private sector leverage, a robust banking sector, a stronger labour market and current account surpluses. S&P maintained its credit rating and stable outlook on the back of “resilient” economic growth, although it notes…


DIA supermarkets

DIA closes 60% of shops in Brazil due to persistent negative results, focus now on more profitable São Paulo area

Renta 4| According to a Relevant Fact issued in the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and a letter from its CEO, Martín Tolcachir, DIA has announced the closure of 343 of its 590 shops in Brazil, in addition to three warehouses. The Company takes the decision as part of the strategic review of the business in the country, already announced at its results conference on 29 February, and as…


caf cartel fachada

CAF wins contract to supply 10 commuter trains in Netherlands

Link Securities| The Spanish industrial company CAF (CAF) announced on Friday that it has been awarded a new project in the Netherlands. The public transport operator Qbuzz, part of the FS Group, has chosen CAF to supply 10 commuter trains and their corresponding fleet parts, which are scheduled for delivery from 2028 onwards. Qbuzz is a public transport company in the Netherlands serving the Groningen-Drenthe region, the city of Utrecht…


Spain

In 2023, investment in fixed capital grew by 0.9% in the euro area and, in Spain, by 0.6%

Oriol Aspachs (Caixabank Research)| Investment is back in the spotlight. It is becoming increasingly clear that the rapid rate of technological change and the emergence of new countries with the capacity to compete globally, especially China, will leave those economies that fail to update their productive fabric behind. Moreover, this is happening in a context of growing distrust of multilateral institutions and, in general, between the various economic blocs. Even…


3. Public debt

Spain’s public debt (€1.4 trillion) growing at 7.8%

According to data from the Bank of Spain (BdE), the debt of the State as a whole amounted in January to €1,422,968 million, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%. The regional governments increased their debt by 2.7% to €324,146 million. In turn, local corporations increased their indebtedness by 1.6% year-on-year in January to €23,212 million, while Social Security debt rose by 9.4% to €116,172 million. Finally, the debt of other central…


Repsol entrada

EIA now forecasts world crude oil demand to average 103.2 M b/d in 2024: favourable environment for Repsol

Renta 4| The US Energy Information Administration revises its supply and demand and crude oil price estimates for 2024. In its March edition of the Short-Term Energy Outlook, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it expects Brent crude oil prices to average 88 usd/b in the second quarter of 2024, up 4 usd/b from February, estimating Brent crude oil prices to average 87 usd/b in 2024, up from 82.4…


caixabank2

Caixabank approves share buyback programme for maximum €500 M of treasury shares

Link Securities| As reported in a Significant Event sent yesterday to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the Board of Directors of Caixabank (CABK) has agreed to approve and initiate a programme to buy back its own shares for a maximum amount of €500 million. The objective of the programme is to reduce Caixabank’s share capital following the redemption of the treasury shares acquired. The capital reduction may be…


ai person

Europe becomes first region to set AI regulatory standards

Banca March: The European Parliament approves the first regulatory standards for Artificial Intelligence. Europe becomes the first region to set fundamental rights and security standards for the dark side of this type of technology. It is expected to enter into force in May, although it is not thought it well be implemented until 2026. The regulation contemplates the classification of applications according to risk, in order to assign a series…


shop

Spain: 700,000 SMEs running at a loss

Fernando Santiago, president of the Spanish administrative managers, explains: “Our latest barometer, carried out among 6,000 Spanish registered administrative managers, shows that 23% of the 2.9 million small and medium-sized businesses closed in losses in 2023,” Fernando Santiago * | Almost 99% of businesses in Spain have 49 or fewer employees. And if you make a list of the entrepreneurs you know, you will be surprised: the hairdresser’s, the baker’s,…


5

Spain: inflation at 2.8% with core at 3.5% and food at 5.3%

According to the final reading of the data, released yesterday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), Spain’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.4% in February compared to January, slightly more than the 0.3% initially estimated and which was expected by analysts at FactSet analysts.On a year-on-year basis, Spain’s CPI in February, according to the final reading, was 2.8% (3.4% in January), with food rising to 5.3%, which was in…