Airlines Deals

The main Spanish stock market index, the IBEX 35 is now the IBEX 33 and will be so until at least the 27th of the month. The reason being that the phone book company TPI and Telefónica Moviles both leave the listings. The Mapre corporation will be added to the list shortly and it still unclear what the effects of a possible take over will be on steelmaker Arcelor.

Low cost airlines have seen a 15.9% increase in passenger numbers in Spain over the first six months of the year compared to last, while the traditional companies have seen lower growth at 5.1%.
Tomorrow Tuesday Iberia is to announce the name of its new low-cost carrier – already leaked to be clickair. Low cost airlines now control 31.7% of the international flights in Spain, with most popular airports for the new carriers being Palma de Mallorca, Málaga and El Prat in Barcelona.

Media Group PRISA has announced reduced profits down 8.3% for the first half of this year compared to last. The numbers came in at 67.3 million €, below market expectations where a 2% fall had been forecast. The reduction did not affect the shareprice however which rose over 1% on the news.

The Banco Pastor has announced a profit jump of 32% to June, compared to the same period last year at 84 million €.

The old administrators of one of the two Stamp trading companies which have been intervened by the authorities two and a half months ago, Afinsa, are today presenting an appeal against the decision of the mercantile judge to declare the company insolvent.

The management of the Braun company and the unions have reached a pre-agreement on the conditions for the closure of the company’s factory at Esplugues de Llobregat. It will mean the loss of 761 jobs at the plant. The agreement needs to be ratified by the workers in September but offers early retirement packages for the over 50’s and a transition plan for those aged 48. The company has undertaken to pay 50 days pay for each year worked, split into 42 monthly payments, put an initial 4000 € per worker and an extra 900 € for each year worked.

Risk capital company Permira and the Ballvé family are now the controllers of the Telepizza company, and have agreed a new 75 million € investment plan to open 546 new outlets in Spain and Portugal. For the first time towns with less than 30,000 population will be considred by the company, which now also plans to see more products and establish a new central call centre