companies

The management of Barcelona-based Almirall pharmaceutical multinational and trade unions have signed an agreement on Monday, reducing the initially planned number of laid-off employees from 250 to 180. The document, which has mostly been ratified in production and research centres in Greater Barcelona as well as by the marketing network, also provides specific compensations for the workers aged 55 years and over, and the maximum compensations set by the law for the rest of the laid-off staff. According to the General Workers Union (UGT), 30% of the laid-off employees will correspond to voluntary redundancies, which will be proportionally distributed among the different groups of workers.

Barcelona-based CaixaBank, Spain’s largest bank, has earned €503 million in 2013, representing a 118 % increase on 2012. The private bank mostly owned by La Caixa has left behind a 4-year-long downward trend in profits which can be traced back to December 2009, towards the start of the economic crisis. This result was successfully reached by trying to maintain a similar provision volume than in 2012, which resulted in consuming €7.5 billion, meaning 4.81 % less than what was spent last year. The integration of Banca Cívica and Banc de València have contributed to a growth of the market share to 27.4 %. The bank’s core capital, which is the main solvency indicator, stood at 12.9% according to Basel II regulations and at 11.7% according to Basel III regulations.

In the coming weeks, the management of Volkswagen Group should decide where to produce its latest SUV model, designed in the SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell (Greater Barcelona) and featuring two versions, one for the Catalan brand and the other one for Skoda. The President of the SEAT Workers Committee in Martorell, Matias Carnero, argued that the Catalonia-based factory was the most competitive to produce the vehicle. These past weeks, some sources have asserted that Martorell’s main rival, the Skoda plant in the Czech Republic, would ultimately be chosen. Indeed, it is believed that the President of SEAT Jürgen Stackmann hinted at such a fact in several internal meetings. However, Matias Carnero insisted that the Martorell factory had never been completely ruled out.

Barcelona-based SEAT, which is part of the Volkswagen group, sold 355,000 vehicles last year, representing a 10.6% increase on 2012 figures. The Catalan brand has not sold so many cars since 2008. The SEAT Leon car model was the company’s strongest asset, with 102,000 cars purchased in 2013, which is a 44% sales increase on the previous year. SEAT’s President, Jürgen Stackmann, highlighted “the commercial impetus” that the company currently has, “especially in Europe, when in a market context of sales drop, SEAT is growing faster than its competitors”. In Western Europe, which is the brand’s main market, the Catalan company increased sales by 9.4%, selling 273,200, 23,500 more cars than in 2012.

Antoni Abad, the Chairman of the Terrassa-based employer’s association Cecot, forecasts “a small growth” of Catalonia’s GDP in 2014. However, Abad also warned against “the fragility” of the current situation since economic recovery is just starting and indicators are posting positive data but still with manifold limitations. When asked about the possible consequences of the political situation in Spain, Abad insisted the Cecot members “are not afraid” of the self-determination consultation vote. He reminded Spain that consultations are “structural elements” of democratic life, adding he was hoping for “rationality” and “dialogue” to impose themselves in the political sphere. Abad also denied the words of the Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, stating that the independence issue had not created any “conflicts” in Catalan families.

Fira de Barcelona - the Catalan capital trade fair organisation - expects to end 2013 with revenues of €117.2 million, meaning 10.9 % more than targeted, 1.7 % more than last year and 2.2 % more than in 2011. The institution’s management stressed that such good results came from the “ability to attract major international events”, such as the Mobile World Congress or the EVS27, dedicated to the electric vehicle. The foreign sector already contributes to 50% of the Fira de Barcelona revenues. Indeed, the institution, apart from welcoming professionals from all around the world, has also created other trade fairs in foreign countries and next year it will open new fairs in Qatar or Japan.

Catalan pharmaceutical company Almirall has announced on Tuesday it will buy Aqua Pharmaceuticals, an American company specialised in dermatological treatments. The $328 million transaction reflects the Catalan multinational’s strategy to diversify its activities, by establishing itself in a sector that will be a “key platform for growth”. Aqua Pharmaceuticals has a portfolio of well known brands for treating acne and skin rashes. This year the total sales of the American company’s products are expected to generate $127 million. According to a statement to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Almirall intends to continue employing the same Aqua management team, to benefit from their experience in the U.S. market.

Juan Rosell, the current Chairman of Spain’s main association of employers (CEOE), and who used to chair the main Catalan employers association, stated that Catalan businesspeople are shifting towards pro-self-determination stands. Rosell, who is openly against Catalonia’s independence, stated that “business people are not aliens” and “if society has changed its views in the last few years, so have businesspeople”. The top representative of Spanish business-owners stated that the current moment is “extremely serious”. Rosell demanded to “bridge the gap, put all the economic data on the table and analyse the pros and cons for one side and the other one” regarding Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Rosell asserted that companies have not left Catalonia due to the self-determination process.

The Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols and Barcelona’s Alzheimer Treatment&Research Center of Fundació ACE – a family charity – have announced that they will run tests of a vaccine against this neurodegenerative illness from January 2014. It will target 365 Alzheimer’s patients at mild and moderate stages of the illness. The first investigation project that ACE’s centre will host is called Ambar. The 365 participants will be randomly divided into three treatment groups plus a fourth control group. The patients will come from 17 Spanish hospitals and 20 United States’ medical centres. From 1996, the ACE Foundation has evaluated more than 14,000 people, 47% of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It has the largest bank of genetic data in Europe.

Next February, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s most important event in the mobile industry, will open its doors in Barcelona for the 9^th consecutive year. The major companies in the sector will introduce new products or give conferences on applications designed for many innovative uses. By hosting the fair each year at least until 2018, Barcelona, named Mobile World Capital, is looking to become an international leader in this industry. The city has also created a HUB to develop the sector even further. The 2014 edition of the fair expects to break all records. The Director of the MWC, John Hoffman, stated that 75,000 visitors were expected, meaning 3,000 more than last year. Besides, once the fair will be over, it is estimated the local economy could have gained €340 million from it.

Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols has purchased 21.3% of Belgian biotech company TiGenix for €12 million through the subscription of a capital increase. TiGenix is a leading company in the field of cell therapy. The agreement settled on the appointment of two Grífols Members on TiGenix’s Board and a preferential right to negotiate the development and commercialization of all TiGenix products, with the only exception of advanced-medicinal product ChondroCelect. Earlier this month, Grífols had already strengthened its therapeutic arsenal by buying part of the Diagnostics unit of Swiss multinational Novartis for $1,675 million.

Vueling will launch 14 new routes from Barcelona El Prat Airport in the summer of 2014, reaching a total of 117 destinations from Catalonia’s main airport. Starting next summer, the Barcelona-based airline will favour German and Russian destinations. The company has also bought 7 new aircrafts, to make the total number of Vueling planes based in Barcelona El Prat reach 50. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, said these new routes coincided with the Catalan Government’s tourism strategy. Vueling currently holds 34% of the market share of the El Prat Airport and the company wishes to control 50% of this infrastructure’s air traffic within the next 5 years. With a total of 240 routes and 14 million passengers a year, Vueling is expected to become the leading airline in Europe for short- and medium-distance flights.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has travelled to Israel heading a delegation including businesspeople as well as the Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, and the Catalan Minister for the Economy, Andreu Mas-Colell, among others. On Tuesday Mas met Shimon Peres, President of Israel, and on Monday the Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, who is also the Chairman of Yesh Atid (the second-largest party in the Knesset) and ‘number 2’ in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government. With Peres, Mas talked about a federal European Union and Catalonia’s process of building its own state. With Lapid, who is a clearly emerging figure in Israel’s political landscape, Mas talked strictly about economic matters. The Catalan delegation also signed several agreements regarding scientific research and visited the Holocaust Memorial as well as the Wailing Wall.

Car manufacturer SEAT, based in Martorell (Greater Barcelona), has set up 53,000 solar panels on the roof of its main factory and on top of parking spaces. The company has just completed the third stage of a €35 million project, which started in 2010, and occupies 10% of the 3 million square metres of its Martorell facilities. The solar panels occupy an extension equivalent to 40 soccer fields and can generate 15 million kWh of clean energy per year. This is equivalent to 25% of the energy needed to produce the Seat Leon or to the “annual consumption of 3,500 households”, said President Jürgen Stackmann. With this eco-friendly project Martorell is now the automation factory with the largest solar plant in the world. Furthermore, the panels were installed over existing facilities and do not occupy additional space.

The Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols, based in Greater Barcelona, has bought part of the diagnostics unit of Swiss multinational Novartis for $1,675 million. Grífols has acquired products and ‘in vitro’ technology applied to diagnoses in the fields of blood transfusion and immunology, along with a production plant in California and offices in the US, Switzerland and Hong Kong. With the acquisition, the Grífols Diagnostic Division will represent $1 billion, 20% of the Catalan group’s total revenues. Grífols is the world’s third largest company in the production of blood-plasma derivatives. In the first half of 2013, Grífols registered a profit of €182.2 million, an increase of 36.9% on the same period of 2012.