Business Roundup for Spain and the UK

NatWest changes RICK HAYTHORNTHWAITE, former Centrica chief, will join the NatWest board as  chairman in January.

Once installed, Haythornthwaite who has also chaired Network Rail and Mastercard, will step up the quest for a new chief executive to replace Alison Rose, who resigned amid the Nigel Farage de-banking commotion.

“Rick is a highly experienced chair who combines a successful commercial career with a deep knowledge of financial services markets and technology, plus a strong track record of delivery at significant customer-facing organisations,” Mark Seligman, NatWest’s senior independent director, said.

Haythornthwaite’s predecessor, Sir Howard Davies, will meanwhile work closely with him “to ensure a smooth handover next year.”

Frozen out NUEVA PESCANOVA reported sales of €1.07 billion for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 1.1 per cent less than the previous year.

The frozen fish and seafood company, currently engaged in selling an 80 per cent stake to the Canadian group Cooke, reported post-tax losses of €53.4 million, compared with last year’s profits of €7.8 million.

On September 5, a day after revealing its 2022-2023 figures, Nueva Pescanova announced redundancies (EREs) for 100 employees.

The redundancies, which Nueva Pescanova attributed to “economic and organisational issues” will affect office workers at the company’s offices in Chapela (Vigo) and Madrid.

Arm afloat ARM, the Cambridge-based chip designer, is seeking investors in advance of becoming New York’s most valuable float in two years.

The technology giant will ask investors to pay between $47 (€45.34) and $51 (€47.55) per share when it launches its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and holds meetings with potential investors.

Some big names which have already signed up as IPO investors in Arm,  included Apple, Nvidia, Samsung and Google’s owner, Alphabet, Reuters reported.

The company is targeting a valuation range of between $50 and $55 billion (€46.5 and €51.27 billion).

Buy, buy, buy BANK OF AMERICA (BofA) analysts have upgraded their recommendation for Inditex shares from “neutral” to “buy.”

The bank also increased its target price for the Galicia-based company’s shares from €37 to €43.

The multinational investment bank’s experts drew attention to the rapid growth of the Spanish fashion giant’s  at a time when its command of the retail clothing sector was “more visible than ever.”

Inditex had “entered and was reinforcing” a “virtuoso” cycle that was fuelling significant market share gains with the sector’s leading margins.

EY slated for Wilko audit AUDITORS Ernst&Young (EY) faced criticism for signing off Wilko’s accounts after the firm’s warning that it had insufficient funds to weather a severe drop in sales.

According to UK media reports, the possibility of approaching insolvency was allegedly detected in January 2022 when the beleaguered company completed its annual accounts for the year ending on January 29.

Reporting a £37.6 million (€43.9 million) loss, Wilko’s directors admitted that the firm had failed to obtain additional funding, “casting significant doubt” on its chances of continuing as a going concern.

They added that the company had sufficient reserves to continue operating until January 24, with financing acquired before then.

EY accepted the directors’ over-optimistic calculations and a senior auditor Victoria Venning, signed off the accounts, notwithstanding mounting uncertainty regarding Wilko’s financial health.

Mine reopens RIO NARCEA has resumed operations at the Aguablanca opencast nickel mine in Monesterio (Extremadura).

Geologists calculate that the mine has a useful life of approximately 10 years and should yield three million tons of nickel-bearing ore, Rio Narcea’s chief executive Alejandro Ayala told El Economista.

Basing their calculations on the current price of nickel, Rio Narcea expects an annual turnover of €335 million during the first six years of activity.

Resuming production at the mine after a halt of eight years was the start of Extremadura’s green revolution, Ayala said.

“Between the end of this year and the beginning of the next, we also expect to receive authorisation to begin extracting lithium,” he added.

Back in fashion MARKS & SPENCER announced Estee Lauder as one of its latest Brands collaborators.

The retailer launched the first Brands at M&S offer in 2021 after purchasing the classic Jaeger label, before further tie-ins with Sosandar, Nobody’s Child, Lyle & Scott and FatFace.

The initiative has revived M&S, helping it to shed its frumpy image and pushing shares up more than 80 per cent in 2023, increasing its value to £4.5 billion (€5.24 billion).

This has resulted in the company’s readmission to the FTSE 100 after four years, although chief executive Stuart Machin said there was “still a lot to do.”