Business

Catalan companies sold more goods and services abroad than they did to the rest of Spain in 2011. 52.9% of all Catalonia’s external sales were made abroad, while 47.1% were made to the rest of Spain. In addition, it is the first time that Catalonia has registered a positive balance of trade.

Sales of industrial goods to non-EU markets increased by 28% between January and March. Catalan industry reached a record in 2011 by exporting €55.19 billion in goods. However, the sector continues to lose jobs, which makes it more competitive in return. Also, industrial investment increased by 2.4% in 2011.

Up to 200 enterprises and 3.000 video-game professionals are attending the Gamelab Fair, an international event specialized in this sector. The main videogame companies in Catalonia have announced during the occasion that they are uniting to grow internationally and attract foreign investment.

Choosing between these two rival cities to build the macro complex of hotels, casinos and business centres is “very difficult”, according to the Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Michael Leven, who visited Barcelona on Monday and Madrid on Tuesday

The Catalan company has promoted its presence in BRIC countries and has achieved two consecutive years of profits therefore recovering from the effects of the explosion of the property bubble

From October 15th to 17th, Barcelona will host Seafood, the largest show in southern Europe in the field of marketing fishing products. In its first edition, the show will feature nearly 300 exhibitors, 40% of them international, as well as many representatives of exhibiting companies and processors of seafood.

The leading company in Spain for online entertainment sales, born in 2000, has not stopped expanding over the past twelve years. What began as an idea among four friends to get the theaters filled, today is a leading Internet company with more than 350 employees, a presence in six countries and a turnover of €210 million a year.

Independent auditors state that in the worst possible scenario the Spanish banking system would need up to €62 billion. The Eurozone agreed to put at Spain’s disposal up to €100 billion if needed. In the most likely scenario, the Spanish banking system would require between €16 billion and €25.6 billion. Within the most stressed case, Spain’s three main banks would have enough resources of their own to face difficulties and would not need any additional funding. They are the Barcelona-based CaixaBank and the two international giants BBVA and Banco Santander.

House prices have dropped for 17 consecutive quarters in Catalonia. Last quarter’s drop was the highest since the crisis in the sector began in 2008, falling by 14.6% in the last 12 months. In Spain as a whole, house prices dropped by 11.8%.

On its 75th anniversary, the company has demonstrated the keys to its success: innovation and the study of the healthy properties of food. The President of the Catalan Government has said that Gallina Blanca is an example of solid-working practices which fight speculation and help to improve the economic situation.

Compared to the rest of industrialised countries, Catalonia’s industrial sector improved its competitiveness index by 0.7% between October and December 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier. Catalan industrial prices have been improving their competitiveness since 2009.

According to the Bank of Spain’s Deputy Governor, the Catalan bank would need an additional amount of €4.5 billion to meet the capital requirements of the last decree approved by the Spanish Government. Before this announcement, the Spanish State had already allocated €2.97 billion to rescue CatalunyaCaixa. Novagalicia would also need €4.5 billion. Combined, these €9 billion are to be added to the €19 billion for Bankia. The Spanish Government refuses to give the total figure required by the entire banking system, as it waits for the independent audit’s results. However, the IMF leaked that Spanish banks might need €40 billion.

The multinational chemical company explains that they would invest more money if the Mediterranean Railway Corridor were already a reality. This infrastructure is being delayed by the Spanish Government and it would enable the transportation of freight on international standard width railway from Catalan ports to Central Europe, and vice versa.

Sixty Catalan companies work out of the country and more than 2,400 export to the Argentinean Republic. “The lack of legal certainty in Argentina is not new, […] so the firms that do business […] have learnt to coexist with constant changes in the legislation”, stated AIS Sales Director.

The Catalan company counterbalanced its fall in the Spanish market with benefits from international sales. Foreign market activity contributed 42% of the profit from the first quarter to Gas Natural Fenosa, in contrast to 36.6% in 2011.