Thursday, March 7, 2019

BREXIT & Spain Update by Patrick Macdonald at Blacktower.



The Council of Ministers of Spain met last Thursday in order to approve interim legislation aimed at protecting UK citizens living in Spain should the United Kingdom leave the European Union without a deal.
A summary of it has been released to the public, on which we are basing the following information, which we think you may find useful. In case new and relevant information is contained in the published law, we will send an update to this Newsletter.

Please note that measures approved are temporary and unilateral, which means that they will no longer be valid once the relevant period established has ended or if a bilateral agreement is reached between Spain and UK, or if a broader agreement is reached between the European Union and UK.

Another important requirement for those measures to apply is that United Kingdom provides similar treatment to Spanish Nationals living in the UK.

The measures that will affect circa 300.000 registered UK citizens living in Spain will be:

RESIDENCE PERMITS

British citizens residing in Spain before the date of withdrawal from the United Kingdom (March 29th, 2019) will fall in the general immigration regime after Brexit.

             All registered British residents in Spain will be considered legal residents after Brexit. In order to obtain permanent residency, prior periods of residence in Spain will be taken into account in accordance with the EU citizens' regime.
             In order to facilitate the documentation of all British citizens in Spain, the certificates of registration and family cards of citizenship of the Union will remain valid until the issuance of new documents under the general regime of foreigners.

This means that the current green residence cards or residence A4 papers that you hold will remain temporarily valid until the end of year 2020. After January 2021, UK citizens will be expected to exchange their EU resident cards for a Non-EU residence cards.

For those British citizens that do already hold a permanent residence card, the exchange process will be virtually automatic. We strongly advise British citizens living in Spain, who do not hold a residence card yet, to register as resident before Brexit at the Foreigner’s Police Station before March 29th.

DRIVING IN SPAIN

Spain has granted a 9 month period following Brexit to exchange UK driving licences for Spanish driving licences. If you are a UK licence holder living in Spain from that date, in the event that there is no EU Exit deal, and no bilateral agreement, you may have to pass a Spanish driving test to be able to carry on driving in Spain.

Residents in Spain should consider exchanging your UK driving licence for a Spanish driving licence as soon as possible. Increased demand may lead to longer processing times and delays to exchanging driving licences.

HEALTH ASSISTANCE

Spain will continue rendering health assistance to UK citizens who have either an EHIC card, or that have transferred their UK health rights into Spain in the same way as before Brexit - at least during April and May 2019.

After June 2019, rendering of health services to UK citizens will depend on:
           
             UK guaranteeing that Spanish citizens also receive health assistance in the UK, which will be paid by the Spanish Government.
             UK reimbursing Spain for the cost of medical treatment of UK citizens receiving health assistance in Spain.


Friday, November 9, 2018

October 2018 - Market volatility

October has been a poor month for investors. Nervousness set in after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates, as expected, in September but spoke quite firmly about the need to increase rates by more. At the same time, the yield on three-month US Treasuries (a proxy for cash) rose above inflation for the first time in a decade. US investors, if not the rest of us, now have other options for investing, apart from in equities.

Higher interest rates themselves are not necessarily a problem if economies are growing strongly, but together with the reversing of quantitative easing in the US (the Fed is reducing its stock of purchased bonds), does represent a tightening of liquidity conditions. This means less “firepower” to keep buying equities. At the same time, higher bond yields have increased the discount rate applied to future company earnings, thereby reducing their present value. This has put downward pressure on the share prices of highly rated growth stocks. Meanwhile, economic growth (outside the US at least) has been slowing, while many companies are experiencing higher costs as wages rise and energy prices go up. Source Quilter Cheviot.

www.finance-spain.com

Monday, October 2, 2017

Financial Markets update 02/10/2017

The FTSE 100 is called to open 13 points higher at 7385
UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.357 Spot Gold $1274.55 -5.74 Brent Crude $56.55 -0.22
$ per £ 1.3358
€ per £ 1.1355
$ per € 1.1765
U.S. stocks surged to all-time highs while Treasuries slumped amid reports that President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to discuss the role of Fed chair. The S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite Index and Russell 2000 Index all set records, with the S&P 500 closing out its eighth straight quarterly gain. Trump, who also reportedly met with former Fed governor Jerome Powell, said he expects to make a decision on the central bank’s leadership in two to three weeks. Financial shares, which would stand to benefit from Warsh’s views on deregulation, helped spearhead the stock market gains as the KBW Bank Index leaped to the highest since March.  But despite the enthusiasm, some investors predicted that Warsh’s nomination would hurt equities.
PRESS COMMENTARY
• Financial Times: Wall Street investors have started trying to hedge against a possible deal to cut US corporate tax rates by buying up the stocks of companies that currently pay the highest effective rates, and therefore stand to benefit the most.
* Osirium Technologies New Buy at Stifel, PT 200p
COMPANY NEWS
RH-Close to acquiring US Cement maker Suwannee for $750m(B'berg)
Deutsche Bank to Pay $190 Million to Resolve Forex Claims.
Daily Mail 11-Month Revenue Gains 5%; FY Outlook Unchanged
Subsea 7 Says Subsea Integration Alliance Wins $150M-$300M Deal.
AstraZeneca May Move Some Operations in Case of Hard Brexit: DN
Daimler to Produce Mercedes Vehicles in France, Echos Says
Zurich Insurance CEO Says RSA Wouldn’t Be Good Buy Now: FT
Air France Says ‘Serious Incident’ Forced Diversion of A380
Numis M&A Speculation Builds After Povlsen Buys Stake: S.Times
Volkswagen Stops Sale of Ducati Unit, Fiom Union Leader Says
Vontobel Has Up to CHF600m for Swiss Acquisitions, NZZ Reports. Source Quilter Cheviot.


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Financial Markets update 12/09/2017

The FTSE 100 is called to open 14 points higher at 7427.
UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.042 Spot Gold $1326.98 -0.74 Brent Crude $53.72 -0.65
$ per £ 1.3187
€ per £ 1.1021
$ per € 1.1966
U.S. stocks rallied to record highs Monday as Hurricane Irma weakened without causing as much damage as many had feared, and a North Korean holiday passed without new missile launches. Financial and technology companies lead the way. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 26.68 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,488.11. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 259.58 points, or 1.2 percent, to 22,057.37. The Nasdaq composite advanced 72.07 points, or 1.1 percent, to 6,432.26. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks surged 15.40 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,414.83.
PRESS COMMENTARY  
London has held on to its position as the world’s most attractive financial centre, while New York has fallen amid concerns about President Trump’s trade policy, Times.
The pound rose to a three-and- a-half-week high against the euro yesterday amid speculation that the Bank of England will signal that it plans to raise rates sooner than the markets are expecting, Times.

COMPANY NEWS  
JD Sports Fashion PLC said continued sale growth in the core U.K. and Ireland sports fashion division has led to a 33% jump in first half pretax profit.
AA PLC said that it had preliminary talks with Hastings Group Holdings PLC (HSTG.LN) in early summer to explore a possible merger of its insurance business with Hastings.
Ashtead First Quarter Adjusted Ebitda GBP431.1 Mln.
Hilton Food Group PLC reported 10.4% rise in first half pretax profit, on the back of strong volume growth, and said that full year outcome is expected to be in line with board's expectations.
Redrow Placing AT 590P/SHR...6.5% discount.
Cairn Homes says Michael Stanley and Kevin Stanley, directly or through entities controlled by or connected to them, and Emerald Everleigh Limited Partnership propose to sell about 15.65m of its shares.
Premier Oil to Sell Wytch Farm Interests to Verus for $200 m Cash.
Standard Bank Joint CEO Ben Kruger Steps Down. Source Quilter Cheviot.




Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Latest Financial Markets update

The FTSE 100 is called to open 25 points higher at 7415
UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.204 Spot Gold $1239.88 -2.44 Brent Crude $48.82 -0.16
$ per £ 1.3045
€ per £ 1.1312
$ per € 1.1533
U.S. stocks fell and the dollar slid to an 11-month low as President Donald Trump’s economic revitalization agenda once again faltered. European shares dropped amid earnings disappointments, and gold climbed to the highest in two weeks. The S&P 500 Index was lower, with financial and health care shares among the leading decliners. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell following a grim earnings report from Ericsson AB. Iron ore futures hit their highest since May on strong demand from Chinese steel mills.
While many traders had already dialed back their expectations Trump will be able to execute his pro-growth policies, the apparent death of the health-care bill lent a risk-off tone to markets. Some notable investors have become less sanguine as global equities continue to trade near record highs.
PRESS COMMENTARY
• Financial Times: Goldman Sachs has suffered its worst ever quarter in commodities, leaving the bank’s overall fixed-income division with a 40% collapse in revenue and putting it on course to dramatically underperform its Wall Street rivals for the second quarter in a row.
• The Times: Three million Mercedes-Benz cars will be hauled off the road to cut emissions amid growing concerns over pollution from diesel engines, it was announced yesterday.
COMPANY NEWS
Daimler AG is seeking to head off a growing crisis over potential emissions cheating by voluntarily recalling more than 3 million Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in Europe.
IBM reported operating earnings per share for the second quarter that beat the highest analyst estimate.
TalkTalk revenue in the three months ended June 30 fell 3.2% percent year over year, driven by effects of consumer contract activity, co. says in a statement.
Severn Trent raised its guidance for its business services division following the disposal of its North American business. The company expects its full-year performance to be in line with previous guidance.
Volvo AB’s second-quarter operating profit jumped 39 percent as the Swedish truckmaker delivered more vehicles and demand for construction machinery increased.
TT Electronics to sell Transportation Sensing and Control division to AVX Corporation, through its subsidiary AVX Limited, for GBP118.8m cash on a cash free, debt free basis.

ASML Holding NV forecast third-quarter sales barely topping analysts’ estimates, as Europe’s largest semiconductor-equipment maker won orders for eight more of its newest lithography machines in the second quarter.
Apple Inc. has appointed one of its top wireless software engineers the new head of its Chinese operations, as it tries to reverse a persistent sales decline in its largest market after the U.S.
Aviva sells Friends Provident International Ltd. to RL360 Holding Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of International Financial Group Limited, for a total consideration of GBP340m.
RPC Group 1Q trading was strong, with cash flow and merger synergies on target and the group announcing a GBP100m share buyback.
Akzo Nobel NV Chief Executive Officer Ton Buechner stepped down because of ill health.
McCormick & Co. agreed to acquire Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc’s food business for $4.2 billion, a deal that would add French’s mustard and Frank’s RedHot sauce to the spice giant’s lineup.
BHP. Fourth-Quarter Iron Ore Output Rises 8% on Expansions.

Micro Focus Kevin Loosemore,exec chairman, buys £1.1m shares. Source Quilter Cheviot.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Financial Markets Update 13/07/2017

The FTSE 100 is called to open 2 points higher at 7418.
UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.259 Spot Gold $1223.03 +2.44 Brent Crude $47.77 -0.86
$ per £ 1.2913
€ per £ 1.1280
$ per € 1.1447
U.S. stocks closed broadly higher Wednesday, led by solid gains in big technology companies. Investors welcomed remarks from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen before a Congressional committee. Yellen raised the possibility that the Fed would consider slowing the pace of its interest rate increases if inflation remains persistently below its target level. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 17.72 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,443.25. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 123.07 points, or 0.6 percent, to 21,532.14, a record. The Nasdaq composite added 67.87 points, or 1.1 percent, to 6,261.17. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 11.27 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,424.32.
PRESS COMMENTARY
Investments in private tech companies in Asia have topped those in the US for the first time following a series of giant funding rounds backed by investors keen to cash in on the region’s surging digital markets, FT.
 COMPANY NEWS
ASOS PLC reported a 32% rise in retail sales for the four months ended June 30, and said it expects sales for the year to be at the upper end of the 30%-35% range.
Babcock International Group PLC said the financial year from April 1, has begun well in line with the group's expectations.
Premier Oil PLC exceeded its half year production guidance, lowered its cash cost and said it will update its guidance for the full year once the summer maintenance programs have been completed.
BTG PLC' strong performance has continued into the new financial year and the company is on track to achieve its product sales growth target in fiscal 2018, the global specialist healthcare company's CEO said.
Saint-Gobain Estimates Cyber Attack Impact On 1H Sales At 1%.
N Brown Group PLC expects to pay between 35 million pounds ($45.2 million) and GBP40 million compensation to customers that were sold certain flawed insurance products between 2006 and 2014.
Game Digital PLC said that Sports Direct International PLC acquired 44 million shares, equivalent to 25.75% of the share capital of the group.
Alstom 1Q Sales Rise 6% Y/y, Maintains 2020 Targets.
Storebrand Second Quarter Net Income Beats Highest Estimate.
Casino’s France Same-Store Sales Rise 1.8% in 2Q, Led by Food.
Oxford Biomedica to Benefit as Novartis Drug Wins FDA Pane.

Reckitt to File Its First CBCR Tax Return to UK’s HMRC by Dec. Source Quilter Cheviot

Thursday, July 6, 2017

MARKET UPDATE 06/07/2017

The FTSE 100 is called to open 2 points higher at 7369.
UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.258 Spot Gold $1225.29 -1.75 Brent Crude $48.25 +0.41
$ per £ 1.2941
€ per £ 1.1416
$ per € 1.1335
U.S. stock indexes were mixed Wednesday as energy companies skidded along with oil prices, but technology stocks rose and reversed a portion of their recent losses. The Standard  Poor's 500 index gained 3.53 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,432.54. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.10 points to 21,478.17. The Nasdaq composite picked up 40.80 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6,150.86. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 6.54 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,420.15. Ex divs of note HSV -11.2p , PNN -24.87p,  NXT -£1.05 +0.45p special.
PRESS COMMENTARY
FT mkt report picked up on broker research to suggest BRW could be consolidation target.
EasyJet’s McCall Is Said to Be ITV Top CEO Candidate: Guardian
Ten luxury apartments at the top of the Shard have still not been sold four years after Britain’s tallest building opened to the public, Times.
COMPANY NEWS
AB Foods says strong performance at Primark in 3Q has slightly improved its outlook for the full year.
Reckitt Benckiser now sees full-year like- for-like net revenue growth of around 2%, compared with its previous growth forecast of 3%, co. says in a statement.
Sodexo Expects FY2017-2018 Organic Rev. Growth of 2.5%-3%.
Novartis Gets EU Approval for Cosentyx Label Update.
IAG Fresh British Airways Strikes Announced to Coincide With t he Big Summer Getaway.
Great Portland Estates 1Q Shows Sustained London Tenant Demand.
Bovis Homes First-Half Trading In Line With Expectations.
EasyJet June Traffic Up 11.3%.
3i Infrastructure  Q'ly Trading statement: The portfolio overall continues to perform in line with expectations. Portfolio income totalled £20.8 million in the period. Non-income cash of £17.7 million was also received.
H&M to Almost Double Number of South Africa Stores.
Stolt-Nielsen Ltd. 2Q Net Pft $15.6M.

Just Eat Names Peter Plumb as CEO Starting September. Source Quilter Cheviot