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July 23 (Reuters) – The euro dipped to the day’s low against the dollar on Friday after a newspaper report said several of Spain’s 18 savings banks have failed tests to see how strong they would be if economic circumstances were more adverse. [ID:nLDE66M041]
The euro dipped to as low as $1.2864 EUR= on trading platform EBS, down 0.2 percent on the day.
(Reporting by Masayuki Kitano)
July 22 (Reuters) – The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Friday:
* Spain’s Santander (SAN.MC) is preparing to list its UK operations on the London market as early as this autumn, the Financial Times said, in a deal that could raise an estimated 3 billion pounds ($4.55 billion) to fund growth by the bank. [ID:nLDE66L007]
* Paulson & Co, the hedge fund linked to civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs (GS.N), will launch a new fund open to retail investors, the Financial Times said. [ID:nLDE66L00M] (Compiled by Tresa Sherin Morera)
(Reuters Life!) – Germany and the Nordic countries have topped a list of 21 high-income nations when it comes to generosity of paid parental leave, with Australia and the United States tying in last place.
Researchers associated with the U.S.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research examined the parental leave policies of 21 countries with their study published in the peer-reviewed social science Journal of European Social Policy.
They found Sweden ranked highest for gender equality in parental leave practices, while Germany and Sweden were the most generous with paid parental leave, both offering 47 weeks.
They were followed by Norway offering 44 paid weeks, Greece with 34 weeks, Finland with 32 weeks and Canada with 29 weeks.
Neither the United States nor Australia guarantee any paid parental leave and were tied for the lowest ranking in terms of overall generosity of paid leave.
“The United States (and Australia have) the least generous parental leave policies of all 21 economies compared in this study,” said researcher Janet Gornick.
“We pay a high price for our meager policy, because parental leave improves the health and well-being of children and their parents and paid leaves provide families with crucial economic support at such an important time.”
The study looked at parental leave policies according to three criteria: total time guaranteed for parental leave and whether paid or unpaid, total paid leave, and gender equality of the parental leave such as leave and pay available to fathers.
Gornick said while all 21 countries protected at least one parent’s job for a period, there were great differences across these countries on each of the three criteria.
France and Spain came highest in terms of total guaranteed leave, each giving over 300 weeks, while Switzerland and the United States ranked at the bottom, with 24 and 14 weeks respectively.
Australia and Switzerland ranked near the bottom in terms of both generosity and gender equality of parental leave.
While bottom of the paid leave table, the United States scored better on the gender equality index, coming 10th in the list.
Japan ranked near the bottom of the gender equality index at 19 but came 7th in terms of overall generosity for giving 26 weeks of paid parental leave.
(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Michael Perry)
(Corrects Reuters Instrument Code to (SAN.MC) from SAN.MV)
MADRID July 12 (Reuters) – Spain’s largest bank Santander (SAN.MC) said on Monday it has agreed to buy the commercial banking unit of SEB (SEBa.ST) for 555 million euros ($699.1 million). (Reporting by Paul Day; writing by Jonathan Gleave,)
(Reuters) – Spain’s 1-0 extra time victory over Netherlands in the World Cup final Sunday left them with a probably unwanted record of the fewest goals ever scored by the winners of the tournament.
Spain scored just eight goals in their seven games in South Africa, three less than the previous record low of 11 — shared by Italy in 1938 (four games), England in 1966 (six games) and Brazil in 1994 (seven games).
Spain lost their opening Group H game to Switzerland 1-0, beat Honduras 2-0 and Chile 2-1 in their other group games, and then achieved 1-0 victories in the knockout rounds against Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and Netherlands.
Spain also became the first team to win the World Cup after losing their opening match.
The tournament was first held in 1930 and has been contested 19 times now.
(Writing by Paul Radford; Editing by Jon Bramley)
July 9 (Reuters) – Spain’s Iberdrola (IBE.MC) said on Friday it had signed a 2 billion euro ($2.54 billion) 5-year revolving syndicated loan.
The loan is priced at Euribor plus 75 basis points, and is adjustable, according to the company’s credit rating.
The facility has an option for additional syndication up to 500 million euros, the electricity company said.
No further details were immediately available. ($1=.7885 Euro) (Reporting by Elisabeth O’Leary; editing by Simon Jessop)
June 22 (Reuters) – Spain does not rule out the possibility of tax hikes in order to meet its target of reducing its budget deficit, Economy Minister Elena Salgado said in an interview with Expansion newspaper published on Tuesday.
Bonds | Global Markets
“We do not rule out anything,” she said. “We must ensure that the sum of our income allows us to meet our spending within the expected budget deficit. That’s a condition.”
Spain aims for the ratio of its budget deficit to gross domestic product to fall to 3 percent in 2013 from 9.3 percent this year.
(Reuters) – Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix in a McLaren one-two with team mate Jenson Button on Sunday.
Sports
Hamilton’s second win in a row, from pole position in Montreal, sent him top of the championship standings after eight races. Spain’s Fernando Alonso finished third for Ferrari.
(Editing by Alan Baldwin)
June 13 (Reuters) – Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix in a McLaren one-two with team mate Jenson Button on Sunday.
Hamilton’s second win in a row, from pole position in Montreal, sent him top of the championship standings after eight races. Spain’s Fernando Alonso finished third for Ferrari.
(Editing by Alan Baldwin; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
(Reuters) – Demand for photovoltaic solar power systems is strong and continues to grow, although the large utility market continues to lag, the chief executive of SunPower Corp said on Wednesday.
Gulf Oil Spill
Like other makers of the renewable power system, U.S. market leader SunPower has been hoping for strong growth in demand for large-scale, multi-megawatt solar projects, although the country continues to lag European growth.
“Large-scale developments in utility are happening maybe slower than planned,” Chief Executive Tom Werner told Reuters at a Lazard Capital Markets energy conference.
“It’s still really a 2011 or beyond development,” he added, noting the residential rooftop and commercial markets remained robust.
Those markets are largely dependent on state and federal incentives, which have supported steady growth in recent years, although the projects tend to be much smaller than the utility projects.
The U.S. photovoltaic market was less than 10 percent of the global market last year, far behind Germany, where more than half the new solar modules were sold.
On Tuesday, SunPower announced it would build a 9.1 megawatt solar power plant in Spain for the Naturener Group, its fifth project for the group.
(Reporting by Matt Daily; editing by Andre Grenon)
June 9 (Reuters) – Demand for photovoltaic solar power systems is strong and continues to grow, although the large utility market continues to lag, the chief executive of SunPower Corp (SPWRA.O) said on Wednesday.
Like other makers of the renewable power system, U.S. market leader SunPower has been hoping for strong growth in demand for large-scale, multi-megawatt solar projects, although the country continues to lag European growth.
“Large-scale developments in utility are happening maybe slower than planned,” Chief Executive Tom Werner told Reuters at a Lazard Capital Markets energy conference.
“It’s still really a 2011 or beyond development,” he added, noting the residential rooftop and commercial markets remained robust.
Those markets are largely dependent on state and federal incentives, which have supported steady growth in recent years, although the projects tend to be much smaller than the utility projects.
The U.S. photovoltaic market was less than 10 percent of the global market last year, far behind Germany, where more than half the new solar modules were sold.
On Tuesday, SunPower announced it would build a 9.1 megawatt solar power plant in Spain for the Naturener Group, its fifth project for the group. (Reporting by Matt Daily; editing by Andre Grenon)
June 1 (Reuters) – Spain’s Almirall (ALM.MC) has cut its 2010 guidance after a new round of drug price reductions, becoming one of the first in the pharmaceutical industry to announce the impact of a European-wide austerity drive.
Healthcare
Almirall, best known for its asthma and allergy drugs, said it expects revenue to fall by about 5 percent in 2010 from the 925 million euros ($1.13 billion) posted in 2009.
This compares with the company’s original forecasts for full-year revenue to be stable or slightly lower.
Net profit excluding one-off items will also fall by about 5 percent in 2010, the drug firm said on Tuesday.
Last month, Spain announced a further wide range of price cuts for patented drugs from Aug. 1, following a 1.5 billion euro hit in March. Drug prices have been in the firing line as European governments tackle ballooning budget deficits, and smaller European-based drug firms like Almirall were expected to be among the hardest hit. [ID:nLDE64G20F]
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Erica Billingham)
June 1 (Reuters) – The cost of protecting government debt against default in France as well as other peripheral euro zone countries rose on Tuesday as investors remained anxious about sovereign ratings.
Five-year credit default swaps (CDS) on French government debt rose to 74.6 basis points from 68.6 bps at the New York close on Friday, according to CDS monitor CMA DataVision. New York markets were closed on Monday.
It means the cost rises to 74,600 euros to protect 10 million euros-worth of French government bonds.
The French CDS was nearing a record high 80.6 bps set on May 6.
France’s Budget Minister Francois Baroin said on Sunday that keeping the country’s triple-A rating was “a stretch”. [ID:nLDE64T0B8]
Peripheral sovereign CDS also rose, including those of Spain and Greece. Late on Friday, Fitch Ratings downgraded Spain to double-A plus. (Reporting by George Matlock)
May 31 (Reuters) – Seoul shares opened 0.1 percent higher on Monday despite Fitch’s downgrade of Spain’s credit rating, lifted by firm gains in automakers such as Ssangyong Motor (003620.KS).
Financials
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.53 percent at 1,631.37 points as of 0006 GMT.
(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
(Reuters) – Chile beat Northern Ireland 1-0 on Sunday in their penultimate warm-up match before they head to the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Sports
Striker Esteban Paredes scored the only goal of the match with a header at the back post from a corner after 30 minutes.
The Chileans, who will play in group H alongside Honduras, Switzerland and Spain, dominated possession but seldom threatened the Northern Irish goal.
Chile are due to play again later on Sunday, against Israel. Coach Marcelo Bielsa is expected to name a completely different starting line-up for that match.
Bielsa has narrowed his squad down to 24 players but needs to drop one more man before Tuesday, the FIFA deadline for naming definitive World Cup squads.
(Editing by Dave Thompson)
An inspirational talk with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has allowed unsettled midfielder Cesc Fabregas to forget uncertainty over his club future and focus on the World Cup with Spain.
Fabregas has requested a transfer to La Liga champions Barcelona but said on Wednesday any deal was “not up to me anymore”.
Speaking at a news conference after training with the Spain squad at their camp outside Madrid, Fabregas, who came through Barca’s youth programme before joining Arsenal at the age of 16, said he had spoken at length about his future with Wenger.
“It was probably the greatest conversation I’ve had with anyone in my life.
“I respect him so much and I don’t want to say too much about this.
“He told me to concentrate on my football and to concentrate on the World Cup.
“He told me to leave it in his hands and he will deal with whatever happens with my future. That’s what I’m doing. Just concentrating on football.”
Barca director general Joan Oliver said on Monday the club had not yet made an offer for Fabregas and they were in no hurry to conclude a deal.
“I just want to be focused for the World Cup because it’s the most important thing,” added Fabregas.
“The rest is the future and I’m not interested in the future. “It’s not up to me anymore. It’s just now about Arsenal and whoever it has to be and that’s it.”
If Fabregas moved back to the Catalan capital, he would be playing alongside Spain team mates including Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique, as well as new signing David Villa, who joined from Valencia last week.
(Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Justin Palmer;
To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Brazil will head to the World Cup as the number one team, according to the latest FIFA rankings.
The five-time world champion retained top spot ahead of European champion Spain in Wednesday’s release of the final monthly rankings before the June 11 World Cup kickoff.
Portugal is third followed by the Netherlands and world champion Italy. Germany is sixth, edging Argentina and England.
France moves up one to No. 9, trading places with Croatia which did not qualify for the World Cup.
The United States at No. 14 heads the three World Cup qualifiers from CONCACAF.
Cameroon at No. 19 is best of the six African World Cup teams, and No. 20 Australia leads Asia’s four qualifiers.
Host South Africa is No. 83, and No. 105 North Korea is the lowest-ranked qualifier.
Sweden’s Robin Soderling swept into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, destroying American Taylor Dent for the loss of just two games.
The 2009 runner-up needed just 71 minutes to post a 6-0 6-1 6-1 victory and set up a last-32 clash against either qualifier Tobias Kamke of Germany or Spain’s 29th seed Albert Montanes.
So far in the tournament the fifth seed has conceded just seven games after his first round defeat of Laurent Recouderc.
Soderling, who stunned four-times champion Rafael Nadal last year and went on to lose to Roger Federer in the final, took the opening set in 17 minutes, dropping just five points.
Dent finally registered on the scoreboard when he held serve early in the second set but he had no answer to the baseline power of Soderling who powered on to victory.
(Editing by Miles Evans.
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Second seed Venus Williams took the first step towards a maiden French Open title when she outgunned Patty Schnyder 6-3 6-3 in the first round on Sunday.
Venus, who lost the 2002 final to sister Serena, could have expected a trickier match against Schnyder but the wily Swiss has been struggling with injury and she eased to the opening set in 32 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Wearing a risque dark outfit that resembled a nightdress, Venus broke in game eight of the second to lead 5-3 and she eventually served out for victory in an hour and 20 minutes, sealing the win with a forehand winner.
She now plays Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara or Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain for a place in the third round.
(Editing by Miles Evans; To query or comment on this story emailsportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Croatia’s Marin Cilic was given a tougher workout than he expected before beating Brazil’s Ricardo Mello 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-1 in the French Open first round on Sunday.
The 21-year-old 10th seed was in little discomfort as he raced through the first set in 25 minutes in the searing heat of Suzanne Lenglen Court before Mello, who has never won a match at Roland Garros, hit back to take the second.
Cilic, who reached the fourth round last year and has cuttingly pacy groundstrokes from the back of the court, finally ground down the 29-year-old. Mello lashed a forehand wide to hand the Croatian the match after two hours and 26 minutes.
Cilic will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov or Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver for a place in round three.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Miles Evans; To query or comment on this story emailsportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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