Business Roundup For Spain And The UK

Bad loser AIRPORTS operator Aena said on November 8 that it hoped Iberia would not hinder the imminent changeover to new handling companies.

Although it retains Madrid-Barajas, Iberia Airport Services lost its licences for eight airports after the contracts were put out to tender.

These have gone to Menzies, Aviapartner and Groundforce, a decision which Iberia has now appealed against to the Central Appeals Tribunal, (TACRC), attached to the Finance Ministry (Hacienda).

The TACRC has now suspended the allocations while it investigates Iberia’s objections, a process which could take weeks to complete.

Call for openness BANK OF ENGLAND governor Andrew Bailey said on November 8 that Brexit had modified the UK economy’s “openness.”

Speaking at the Financial System Conference in Dublin, Bailey said that as a public official he took no position on Brexit, which had been the British population’s decision.

But he stressed that free trade required “strong regulation” based on agreements with foreign supervisory bodies.

He hoped to see further close regulatory cooperation with his counterparts in Ireland, Bailey said, to “minimise fragmentation of financial markets after Brexit.”

Mapfe in Turkey SPANISH company Mapfre is selling its Turkish life insurance division to the Swiss group Zurich.

The Madrid-based firm headed by Antonio Huerts will now centre its Turkish operation on the non-life segment, company sources told the financial daily, El Economista.

“We aim to guarantee stable growth and maintain financial sustainability by concentrating on the long-term strategic areas where we will develop our activities,” said Edinc Yurtseven, director general of Mapfre’s Turkish subsidiary, Mapfre Sigorta.

The amount involved in the Zurich sale  has not been revealed and awaits approval from Turkey’s Regulatory and Supervisory Authority for Insurance and Private Pensions (SDDK).

Chipping in PENNSYLVANIA-BASED Vishay Intertechnology paid $177 million (€168.5 million) for the UK’s largest microchip factory in Newport (Wales).

The US sale arrived a year after the UK government blocked a Chinese-backed takeover on national security grounds and ordered Dutch company Nexperia to sell Newport Wafer Fab in November 2022.

Nexperia, which is owned by Chinese giant Wingtech, appealed against the order, but put the plant up for sale.

The company has done well out of the deal which doubled the worth of Newport Wafer Fab when Nexperia bought the 86p per cent that it did not own for £63 million (€72.3 million) in 2021.

Debanking on the rise THE Nigel Farage debanking scandal has opened the door to a spate of complaints regarding unilateral account closures.

The GB news presenter and the Brexit party’s former president changed to Lloyds after Coutts, now owned by NatWest, closed his account for motives that ranged from his financial position to his political views.

Figures quoted in the UK media show that the Financial Ombudsman opened 1,613 cases linked to bank account closures between March and September alone.

With 2,708 debanking cases reported throughout 2022, complaints are likely to have risen by 20 per cent to approximately 3,200 by the end of 2023, Financial Ombudsman sources said.

Christmas cheer A SCIENCEDIRECT study used Spain’s Gordo de Navidad to gauge the impact of lottery winnings on consumer sentiment and consumption.

Researchers found that residents in winning towns or cities – even those who won nothing – were “significantly” more optimistic about the Spanish economy than people elsewhere.

There are now 180 series of each number sold in the Christmas lottery and as the participants usually buy at least one Decimo (tenth), the distribution of the biggest prizes influences local spending.

The ScienceDirect article noted a 10-percentage point rise in the number of cars sold in municipalities where a big prize had been sold, while unemployment dropped 0.3 of a percentage point.

Both were linked less to an improvement in the region’s overall wealth than to increased optimism, the study’s authors concluded.

Madrid venture BRITISH private equity investment firm Maya Capital is finalising the purchase of Hotel Mayorazgo in Madrid’s exclusive Gran Via.

According to sources quoted in the financial daily Cinco Dia, Maya Capital made a  formal offer of €60 million last August for the 200-room hotel, and at the same time requested a comprehensive “due diligence” audit.

Normally completed with one or two months, this is taking longer than expected, the same sources said.

According to the latest accounts presented by the hotel’s owners, Salazar Hermanos, the hotel was back in the black last year, with a turnover of €8.62 million and a profit of €1.7 million, compared with 2019’s record €8.01 million and €1.45 million.