Business and Finance roundup for Spain and the UK

In deep waters THE UK government and water regulator Ofwat have drawn up contingency plans for the collapse of Thames Water.

Fears have grown that Britain’s biggest water company cannot survive owing to its £14 billion (€16.18 billion) debt.

Ministers and Ofwat discussed the possibility of placing Thames Water into a special administration regime (SAR) by taking the company into temporary public ownership.

In a statement to the stock market, Thames Water said it had received £500 million (€577.8 million) of an expected £1 billion (€1.15 billion) in new funding from shareholders in March. It continued to work constructively with them, it added.

Action plan progress THE Financial Action Task Force (FATF) commented recently that Gibraltar continued to make headway on its action plan.

The global money-laundering and terrorist financing watchdog also called on Gibraltar’s government to address “strategic deficiencies” in financial regulation.

In response, the government emphasised that it was working tirelessly to complete the action plan at the earliest opportunity.

“Only one substantive action point remains pending,” a government statement announced, reiterating its gratitude to  the regulatory bodies involved in pursuing the plan.

“The government is totally committed to this process, and all supervisory and other authorities continue to work with FATF to demonstrate our compliance,” the communique declared.

Spain’s top 10

INDITEX is once again Spain’s best-respected company, according to corporate monitor Merco.

The multinational, which is headquartered in Arteixo (Galicia) and owns Zara amongst other labels, headed the list for 10 consecutive years until 2022 when it was overtaken by Mercadona.

The supermarket chain returns to second place, ahead of Grupo Social Once, the organisation for the blind, and Repsol, which rose two places to fourth position.

Insurance company Mapfre remains in fifth place, followed by Telefónica – fourth last year – but now sixth.

Coca Cola moves up one place to be ranked seventh, while Ikea goes down one place to eighth position.

Santander has now entered the top ten, moving up from 11th to ninth place, with new arrival Mahou San Miguel, now ranked 10th compared with 13th in 2022.

Primark markup  ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS (AFB), announced that  sales rose by 16 per cent to £4.7 billion (€5.4 billion) in the three months ending on May 27.

The group, which owns Twinings and Ovaltine as well as Primark, said the fast fashion chain’s sales had increased by 13 per cent to almost £2 billion (€2.3 billion) during the same period.

Primark’s sales growth were “supported by higher average selling prices” as retailers continued to raise selling price owing to increased production and supply chain costs, AFB said.

Fair shares REVOLUTION BEAUTY, “affordable” makeup brand, gave bosses 11 million shares although shareholders voted them out.

Chief executive Bob Holt, finance chief Elizabeth Lake and other senior executives will receive more than 11 million shares between them, worth almost £3 million (€3.4 million) based on the company’s share price on June 28.

The handout was the outcome of restoring the firm’s listing after an accounting scandal resulted in its suspension from the stock market.

Holt and Lake, together with chairman Derek Zissman – who was also sacked – have now been reinstated.