Business Roundup for Spain and the UK « Euro Weekly News

BBVA asks Brussels THE BBVA bank, Spain’s second largest, asked the European Central Bank (ECB) to authorise its €12 billion hostile bid for Sabadell.

Sabadell, headquartered in Barcelona and Alicante and Spain’s fourth largest bank, also owns the UK’s TSB.  It rejected an all-share offer in May, instigating the present hostile bid as BBVA continues its quest to buy its smaller rival.

With the ECB application, BBVA has now completed all authorisation requests, including the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority, sources told Reuters on June 5.

This is BBVA’s second attempt to acquire Sabadell, following a failed bid in 2020.  If allowed to go ahead, the takeover would create an entity with assets totalling more than €1 trillion.

Royal Mail doubts THE union representing 112,000 Royal Mail workers questioned Daniel Kretinsky’s £3.6 billion (€4.2 billion) takeover offer.

Commitments from the Czech billionaire who hopes to acquire parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) were insufficient, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said.

“We do not support a foreign equity company taking over Royal Mail,” general secretary Dave Ward told Sky News.

“At the same time, we have no confidence in the current board. Royal Mail should be re-nationalised but the political climate makes that very difficult at present.”

Inditex does it again Inditex reported record first quarter sales of €8.15 billion, overtaking analysts’ €8.1 billion forecast.

This was 7.1 per cent more than the same period in 2023 and the textile group’s highest-ever first-quarter figure although growth was, as expected, slightly slower than last year’s when post-pandemic shoppers hit the stores.  The Zara and Massimo Dutti owner has now posted record results for three consecutive quarters although increases were all below 10 per cent.

Shares rose by 5 per cent, hovering at nearly €46, giving the company a capitalisation of more than €140 billion.

He was “particularly” pleased with Inditex’s performance inside Spain, its principal market, chief executive Oscar Garcia Maceiras said.

Google it GOOGLE faces a £13.6 billion (€16 billion) court case alleging that it has too much control over online advertising.

Ad Tech Collective Action argued that Google abused its position by promoting its own products and services over  rivals’. Publishers received less money from the advertisements they hosted, while paying higher fees to Google,  Ad Tech Collective Action claimed.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, hoped to have the case dismissed, describing it as “incoherent”, but London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled that the case could go to trial.

15 per cent for all  SPAIN’S Cabinet approved a minimum corporation tax of 15 per cent for multinational companies.

Although Spain has a nominal corporation tax of 25 per cent, there are so many exceptions that many companies pay much less and all those with an annual turnover of more than €750 million will now be charged 15 per cent.

The measure is in line with an agreement between countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), directed at preventing tax avoidance.

Payback time CHINA has indirectly requested Spain’s support as the European Commission (EC) investigates its electric vehicle (EV) subsidies.

According to the EC, there is “sufficient evidence” that China’s EV manufacturers receive government aid which includes direct funding and tax breaks.

As a result, Brussels could apply retrospective and future customs tariffs that would cost China €3.68 billion.

Meanwhile, carmaker Chery, is re-industrialising Nissan’s vacated plant in Barcelona.

Without mentioning Chery, China’s Commerce minister Wang Wentao recently pointed out that China “highly values” Spain’s support of Chinese companies’ active participation in Spain’s reindustrialisation process.

The implication was hard to miss, insiders said.

More Brexit woes CLOTHING and footwear exports to the EU had fallen from £7.4 billion (€8.7 billion) in 2019 to £2.7 billion (€3.18 billion) by 2023.

This decline made a noticeable contribution to an 18 per cent reduction in post-Brexit exports of non-food products countries belonging to the EU’s single market, according to the Retail Economics consultancy and Tradebye, which handles e-commerce.

During this same period, Europe’s online markets have flourished, they found.