Author: Anthony Rankin

British Airways and Lufthansa (DE: LHAG ) abruptly suspended their flights to Cairo on Saturday due to security concerns, without giving details about what motivated the decision.

“We constantly review our security agreements at all of our airports around the world and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow additional assessments,” British Airways said in a statement.

Lufthansa said later on Saturday it canceled its flights to Cairo from Munich and Frankfurt and will resume them on Sunday.

British Airways, a unit of IAG (MC: ICAG ), also said that it would never operate an aircraft unless it is safe to do so. When the company was asked for more details on the reason for the suspension of flights and what security arrangements it was reviewing, a spokeswoman responded: “We never discussed safety issues.”

Three Egyptian airport sources told Reuters that British personnel were checking security at the Cairo airport on Wednesday and Thursday. They did not give more details.

The British Foreign Ministry on Saturday updated its recommendation to travelers to add a reference to the suspension of British Airways flights, recommending affected passengers to contact the airline.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation of Egypt said in a statement on Saturday afternoon that it had contacted the British Embassy in Cairo, which confirmed that the decision to suspend flights was not issued by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs or Transport. UK.

The Egyptian Ministry added that it will add more flights between Cairo and London starting on Sunday “to facilitate the transportation of passengers during this period.”

The British government has long recommended avoiding non-essential air travel to and from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a passenger plane was shot down in 2015, but has not issued a similar alert for flights to and from El Salvador. Cairo.

Philips (+ 3%) achieved a net attributable profit of 407 million euros in the first half of 2019, which represents an advance of 223% compared to the same period of 2018, when the company earned 126 million euros, according to informed the Dutch multinational.

Philips sales between January and June reached 8,822 million euros, 7.2% more than in the first half of last year, while comparable data grew by 4%.

In the second quarter, Philips obtained an attributable net profit of 243 million euros, while its sales increased by 8.9% to 4,671 million.

Philips’ debt at June 30 amounted to 5,817 million euros, a figure that represents an increase of 997 million with respect to the close of the 2018 fiscal year.

“We continue to expect our momentum to improve further in the second half of the year, supported by the growth in sales and our productivity programs,” said Frans van Houten , CEO of Philips. In this way, the multinational hopes to achieve a growth of its comparable sales of between 4% and 6%.

US President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States will investigate Google for “treason” because of alleged collaboration with the Chinese government. He has communicated through his Twitter account, referring to statements by billionaire investor Peter Thiel.

Trump believes that Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal , is “a brilliant and brilliant guy who knows this issue better than anyone.” We must also remember that the US and China are engaged in a commercial war, which still seems far from being solved.

It is not the first time that the US president takes it with the great technology. At the end of June, in an interview with Fox, he criticized companies such as Twitter or Google for suppressing their messages and public comments. “They are totally biased toward the Democrats,” so he suggested that “they should be sued.”

Twitter accused him of being “simply terrible”, because “they do not let you spread the word”. Regarding Google, he said that one of its executives has “hatred towards the Republicans”, referring to previous statements. Trump considered that if he became “a good liberal democrat, he would get five times more followers” in his social networks.

Amazon is being investigated by the European Commission. The communitarian organism has published a communiqué this Wednesday in which announces the beginning of the formal investigation against the giant of the electronic commerce by possible monopolistic abuses of the data of the vendors of the platform.

The formal file opened by Brussels will serve to clarify whether Amazon violated European rules on competition, for example in the way in which it used sensitive data from third parties obtained through its ‘marketplace’ (or points of sale) or the treatment of the data of the winners of the ‘Buy Box’ of the platform.

This file against the company of Jeff Bezos is the last episode of the crusade led by Margrethe Vestager, commissioner of Competition, against American giants like Google and Amazon itself.

“Electronic commerce has stimulated competition in retail sales and expanded the possibilities of choosing by lowering prices,” Vestager acknowledged. Despite this, remember that ” we must ensure that large digital platforms do not eliminate these advantages.”

Next, Vestager states that “I have decided to closely examine Amazon’s commercial practices and its dual role as a seller and place of sale to verify that the company respects the EU competition rules.” The market anticipates that Amazon can face a fine of up to 10% on its turnover.

It should be recalled that this measure takes place right at the end of Vestager’s term in charge of Competition after five years in office. Five years in which she has built a reputation for not tolerating this type of situation and that led Donald Trump in late June to accuse her of “hating the US more than anyone she has ever met.”

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has joined the opinion of the Senate, the Treasury, the president and the US Federal Reserve and made it clear on Wednesday that he does not like Facebook’s cryptime: Libra . In an interview with the CNBC in the context of the meeting of the G-7 ministers in Paris has declared that Libra should not become a sovereign currency.

In the opinion of Le Maire, Libra can not be accepted without a “solid set of rules” and it is a question of sovereignty , although all sovereign states have their currencies (dollar, euro, etc.) and stick to “very strong commitments and rules”.

In this way, he points out that he can not “accept” a new currency that has exactly “the same type of power, without the same type of rules” and without the same “commitment and obligations”. To which he has added his concern about money laundering and terrorist financing.

The French finance minister has made it clear that the conditions are not in place for Facebook to go ahead with its plans to launch its digital currency and has asked the head of the executive council of the European Central Bank, Benoit Coeure, to establish a working entity to Investigate digital currencies like Libra.

THREE REJECTIONS IN THREE DAYS

Not even 24 hours have passed since David Marcus, president of Calibra, the subsidiary in charge of managing cryptocurrency, explained to the United States Senate his decision not to launch Libra , until he has resolved the regulatory doubts hanging over it.

A decision that had already advanced on Monday but that he exposed on Tuesday before the Senate, where he had to face numerous criticisms. “Facebook has shown scandal after scandal that does not deserve our trust, it should be treated as the for-profit corporation that is, like any other company,” said Senator Sherrod Brown.

The response from the Senate was clear, “Facebook may not be dangerous, but it surely will not respect the power of the technologies with which they are playing.” To which he added, “Now Facebook asks people to trust them with their hard earned salaries.” ” We would be crazy if we give them the opportunity to experiment with people’s bank accounts , to use powerful tools they do not understand, such as monetary policy, to jeopardize the ability of those who work hard to support their family. ”

Just one day earlier, on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, showed the “serious” US concerns about the risk that the pound will be used “by terrorists and in money laundering,” which makes the cryptocurrency in “a matter of national security”.

Facebook has not stopped receiving criticism since it officially announced its digital currency less than a month ago, along the way the Federal Reserve or US President Donald Trump , have also shown their rejection of Libra.

The supermarket chain DIA has announced the fulfillment of the suspensive conditions of its refinancing agreement signed at the end of last month with the creditors. The company explained that, in view of this, and with the new financing lines obtained, “the company is endowed with a viable capital structure”. DIA has soared 6.4% on the stock market this Thursday, being the most bullish value of the Spanish stock market.

In a relevant event referred to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), DIA has indicated that with “the effectiveness of the modification and recasting of the syndicated financing, the new financing lines obtained, the participative loans granted by LetterOne, and the additional funds from the projected capital increase, the removal of the cause of dissolution due to losses is consolidated, the company is endowed with a viable capital structure in the long term and the company’s liquidity needs are solved “.

“Thanks to the signing of this agreement, DIA has an adequate and solid financial structure in the long term that will allow it to meet all its obligations and commitments.The company has achieved the definitive signature of this agreement with its main creditors in very sound financial conditions. competitive . This agreement guarantees the necessary financial stability and robustness required for the company to develop its activities in the future , “said Enrique Weickert, CFO of DIA Group.

DIA has recalled that it meets the suspensive condition that established that it should receive or dispose of at least 490 million through capital increase and / or participatory loans. The company has subscribed, as a borrower, two participating loans with its majority shareholder, LetterOne, as lender, on May 29, 2019 and June 26, 2019 respectively, and for amounts of 40 million and 450 million, respectively, in accordance with which has received from LetterOne a total cash amount of 184 million. DIA will receive the remaining amount (306 million) this Friday, which will be used in full to repay the bonds that mature on July 22, 2019.

DIA has waived the suspensive condition of obtaining additional binding commitments in relation to the line of suppliers, reserving the right to collect binding commitments at any time.

The low cost airline EasyJet has risen 4% on Thursday on the London stock exchange after publishing results that have pleased the market. Revenue in the third quarter of its fiscal year increased 11.4% over the same period a year ago , to 1,761 million pounds (1,949 million euros).

In the quarter, the company transported 26.4 million passengers , representing an increase of 8% over the previous year, while the load factor was 91.7% compared to 93.4% the previous year.

” Things are improving at EasyJet , and the airline is now looking for the path to record profits in the second half of the year, after a record loss in the first half, that means that the full year’s earnings will be significantly below the last year , “explains Laith Khalaf, senior analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown.

From Hargreaves Lansdown highlight that Easyjet is transporting an increasing number of passengers and selling them more goods and services while they are on board, which is driving revenue. “It is also showing more control over non-fuel costs than in recent times,” says Khalaf.

The CEO of EasyJet, Johan Lundgren, has pointed out that the performance has been “strong” due to a “solid” Easter period and despite the difficult macroeconomic conditions.

Netflix is upside down on Wall Street … and Stranger Things is their great salvation. The popular streaming platform has plummeted more than 10% in the market after publishing results in which it added fewer subscribers than expected by the consensus of analysts. But hope is not lost and is found in the adventures of a group of eighties youth.

Why do analysts continue to recommend ‘buy’ Netflix titles despite its recent collapse? Because they still rely on the narrative of the platform of Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos . A narrative sustained, in good part, by its jewel in the crown: Stranger Things.

40 million of a total of 155 million users saw the third season of the series in the first days after its release beating all the records of the platform. And all, four days after the company’s second quarter accounts were closed, so the impact of its landing on Netflix has not been recorded in these.

From Morgan Stanley maintain their support for Netflix and ask: “Has anything changed in the last three months? We do not believe it, so we reiterate our estimates for the rest of the year and, if fulfilled, 2019 will be another record year for the platform in terms of average revenue growth per user “.

In Piper Jaffray bet because Netflix “will continue to take a good market share although the slow growth of subscribers demonstrates the importance for the company to create attractive content to attract new customers.” And part of this content will be reflected precisely in the second half of the year with the new seasons of Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, The Crown … and films directed by renowned filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Michael Bay.

One of the key dates will be to see if Netflix holds the stake of Disney + , the streaming platform that will reach the US market next November 12. The analyst Scott Devitt believes that then “Netflix must demonstrate, as it has done before, that its proposal is still one of the best in the sector”.

Expectations are high and most analysts do believe that Netflix will be able to weather the storm for the rest of the year. From JP Morgan point out that “we continue to believe that Netflix’s second semester in terms of content may be the best in its history.”

Italy and Spain are today the cross of a favorable day for European equities. The comments of the Italian government on the possibility of new elections in the country, which would put the budget that has cost so much effort to ‘control’ Brussels in a delicate situation, has today made investors very nervous, who have moved this concern to the market. Thus, the profitability of the Italian 10-year debt has shot away from maximums and, consequently, the banks of the country, which have started a trickle down and have dragged with them to the Spanish banks.

At this time, the main entities of our country are at the top of the Ibex 35 ranking , with CaixaBank (MC: CABK ) as the Ibex red lantern with losses close to 3%. Banco Sabadell (MC: SABE ) and Bankia (MC: BKIA ) lose around 2% and Santander and BBVA (MC: BBVA ) are down 0.8% and 1.21%, respectively. The Ibex 35 is, together with the FTSE MIB , the worst selective in the Old Continent, with falls of 0.3% that have already made it lose the level of 9,200 points and prevent it from closing the week in positive.

It has not been a good week for our banks. If Monday we started with a cut at the hands of Moody’s, who was suspicious of our banks and downgraded perspective, over the past five days we have witnessed price cuts and recommend the price of UBS (SIX: UBSG ) and Deutsche Bank (DE: DBKGn ). And if that were not enough, it is the sector, according to the Bank of Spain, with the lowest CET1 maximum quality capital time in all of Europe.

Next week it will be important to see what happens with the sector, which will start with the publication of results season. Thus, they will confess to the market Banco Santander (MC: SAN ), Bankinter (MC: BKT ) or Banco Sabadell.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, joined a company founded in Malta that seeks to implement a blockchain in favor of a more efficient use of energy.

Wozniak, while speaking at an event on the island last Thursday, said he had invested in the EFFORCE project – which allows investors to support projects related to the efficient use of energy around the world – and became a co-founder of this.

According to the information published in the Malta Independent , Wozniak explained that the firm aims to boost the saving of money spent on energy , while also helping the environment; a factor that he considers important.

The use of blockchain , according to Wozniak, will bring improvements in the use of energy and in reducing its consumption, without requiring users to change their habits. The computer added that the enthusiasm of the Maltese government for blockchain was a key factor for the installation of the company in this country. In this regard, the other co-founder of the startup blockchain, Jacobo Visetti, said that Malta “was the freest country they could find in the world, in relation to new technologies”.

As suggested by Visetti, the island nation located in the Mediterranean has been extremely proactive as far as blockchain is concerned. A year ago, the government of Malta approved three bills related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, in order to attract business from this niche. Such efforts took effect, since, currently, distinguished crypto-active brokerage firms, such as Binance and OKCoin, are working in this country.

Wozniak started getting involved with companies related to the use of blockchain in August of last year, when he joined investment startup Equi Capital and said he was “amazed at the technology behind (cryptocurrencies).”

From this Tuesday, China will impose tariffs on imports of some stainless steel products from the European Union (EU), as well as Japan, South Korea and Indonesia , considering that they carried out dumping practices at the same time. sell below cost, causing “substantial damage” to the local industry , as announced by the Ministry of Commerce of the Asian giant.

China had already announced these ‘anti-dumping’ measures, but provisional, to several stainless steel products from these areas in March 2019. “These measures again show the excess production of stainless steel in some Asian countries, in particular after the significant increase in production in Indonesia For Acerinox , Asia accounted for 12.5% ​​of its sales in 2018 and has already adjusted its investment in Barhu at the end of last year, “explain the Bankinter experts.

The main markets for Acerinox are the US (47.3% of its sales in 2018) , which imposed tariffs at the beginning of 2018, and Europe (34.7% of its sales) which, in turn, took measures to safeguard the end of 2018, final in February 2019. “The normalization of inventories in both areas is one of the main variables for Acerinox, although confirmation of China’s measures shows that excess production in Asia is maintained ,” they stress. from the bank.

According to the Chinese Ministry, the fixed rates will range from 18.1% to 103.1% during an initial period of five years.

Chinese trade authorities opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of stainless steel in billet and rolled steel in July 2018 at the request of Chinese producers, after which it announced its preliminary decision to set these tariffs last March , on which you have taken this final decision.

The benchmark index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng , closed its first session of the week with losses of 1.37% after 45 of its 50 values ​​ended in the red.

The British ex-colony was recovering today after the demonstrations in favor of democratic reforms led to an attack by men armed with metal bars and bamboo canes, which left 45 injured in a subway stop in the city, although some analysts They rule out that it has had an effect on the Exchange.

All the sub-indices ended up in the mud: Services (-1.11%), Commerce and Industry (-1.22%), Finance (-1.45%) and Real Estate (-1.59%).

Among the big losers of the day, the casino firms Galaxy Entertainment (-2.61%) and Sands China (-2.07%).

In the technology sector, fell the main value by price of quote of the parquet, Tencent (-1.16%), and the state telecommunications China Unicom (-2.43%) and China Mobile (-1.91%).

Cnooc was saved, although without registering changes in its quotation, while the other two public oil companies registered losses: Petrochina (-1.17%) and Sinopec (-1.34%).

Full red in the financial sector, with outstanding declines of the insurer China Life (-1.93%) and the Communications Bank (-2.01%).

It would have been the same in real estate if not for CK Asset (+0.98%), one of the few winners of the day. The rest, to the hole: Sun Hung Kai (-2.58%) or Wharf Reic (-3.17%) took the worst part.

The turnover of the day was 67,750 million Hong Kong dollars (8,678 million dollars, 7,736 million euros).

Renewable energy company Siemens Gamesa said on Monday that it will supply seven adapted terrestrial wind turbines, with a capacity of 32 MW, in the first nearshore project in Vietnam.

The SG 4.5-145 turbines will be installed in the first phase of the Thanh Hai park number 5 and its start-up is scheduled for mid-2020.

In addition, the company, which will maintain the project for ten years, said it is negotiating to supply another seven SG 4.5-145 turbines in a second development of the park.

The park, located in the waters of the province of Ben Tre, in the southeast of the country, will be at a distance of between 2 and 5 kilometers from the coast.

Openbank, the 100% digital bank of Banco Santander, has launched its pilot project in the Netherlands, within the internationalization plan that the bank announced last April and which includes the bank’s entry into ten new markets.

The first one was Germany, where Openbank has been immersed in the testing period for three months, with a format known as ‘friends & family’, which was the one that was used at the time in Spain and has just started in the Netherlands.

As explained by the Banco Santander subsidiary , users in the country can already access the bank’s website in the Netherlands ( www.openbank.nl ) and sign up for a waiting list to be customers of the bank. Then, the entity will progressively transfer groups of users to the pilot project to test and correct possible errors.

In the case of Germany, it is estimated that, once the testing stage is over, it will begin to operate normally and for the entire public in the coming autumn. On the other hand, the tests that have just started in the Netherlands will probably be extended until the end of the year, although the deadlines will be determined as the project progresses.

With regard to expansion plans in Europe, the launch of ‘friends & family’ is also planned in Portugal this year and, although there is still no timetable for this, the process of entry into Portugal may require less adaptation time than in other countries. , because the presence of Banco Santander in Portugal could facilitate the process of adaptation and customer acquisition.

The Strategic Plan of the Santander Group includes the entry of Openbank into ten new markets in the medium term . Recently, the CEO of the online bank, Ezequiel Szafir, also advanced that the entity is working for its landing in Mexico and Argentina in the year 2020.

In Argentina, the process is somewhat more advanced, as the entity has already appointed Federico Procaccini as CEO in the country.

The group’s forecasts point out that, once this internationalization plan for Openbank is undertaken , the online bank will double its client base, from the 1.2 million that it now has in Spain alone. At the end of the first quarter of the year, it had a balance of customer deposits of 8,809 million euros, 22.3% more than a year earlier.

The Singapore Stock Exchange gained the most benefits from the Southeast Asian region while waiting for export data, while the Manila Stock Exchange had a day of losses after Monday’s boom, since the investors were dedicated to collect the benefits obtained on the eve.

Meanwhile, the parks of Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur ended the day with red numbers and that of Ho Chi Minh, in Vietnam, closed with profits, while the Bangkok stock market closed for local Buddhist festivity.

In Singapore, the Stock Exchange advanced 12.08 points, 0.36 percent, and the composite indicator Straits Times closed at 3,360.03 integers.

The Yakarta square fell 16.35 units, 0.25 percent, and the JCI index ended at 6,401.88.

The Kuala Lumpur market fell 3.43 whole, 0.21 percent, and the selective KLCI ended at 1,668.94.

The parquet of Bangkok closed its doors for local festivity.

In the Philippines, the Manila Stock Exchange fell 101.72 points, 1.22 percent, and the selective PSEi stood at 8,263.57.

The Vietnamese stock exchange of Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon) gained 9.58 units or 0.99 percent and the VN index closed at 982.11 integers.

Microsoft has signed an agreement with AT & T whereby it will become the cloud service provider of the US communications giant.

According to what specialized media have reported, this alliance is valued at more than 2,000 million dollars.

Microsoft and AT & T have reported that this “strategic alliance” will allow them to advance innovation in fields such as the cloud, artificial intelligence and the 5G network, which will mean that from now on, the more than 250,000 workers of the Dallas (Texas) company , USA) use software from the Windows creative firm.

AT & T plans to integrate Azure’s infrastructure – the second most used in the market, just behind Amazon Web Services (AWS) – in the day to day of its operations in the cloud, and will use the software package in its offices for productivity and security Microsoft 365.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, said that “the world’s leading companies use our cloud and we are delighted that AT & T has chosen Microsoft to accelerate its innovation. Together we will apply the power of Azure and Microsoft 365 to transform the way AT & T’s workforce works and shape the future of communications. ”

The agreement will last several years and will allow the company from Redmond (Washington, USA) to climb positions in the dispute that it maintains with AWS for the domain in the cloud, an area of ​​great growth and strategic for the future of both companies.

In addition, both parties have committed to use Microsoft technology to complement their next deployment of the 5G network, much faster and with more capacity than the current standard.

John Donovan, the CEO of AT & T, said that “working together in common efforts around 5G, the cloud and artificial intelligence, we will accelerate the speed of innovation and its impact on our customers and our communities.”

The announcement of this agreement has been released one day before Microsoft presented the results corresponding to the whole of its 2019 fiscal year.

The prospect of scorching heatwaves leading tourists to seek refreshment in the mountains and questions from children to their grandparents about their memories of the snow makes alpine ski resorts are focusing on the implications of climate change.

Faced with a global warming that is expected to drastically reduce snowfall, especially at lower altitudes, the Swiss tourism industry is looking for ways to preserve a lucrative business but brutally exposed to inclement weather.

Come and meet Napa, the last circus bear from Serbia.

The skiing resort of Arosa in eastern Switzerland has installed a $ 6.5 million shelter to house Napa and two other bears rescued from the cages of Albanian restaurants to attract vacationers and reduce their dependence on skiers and snowboarders.

School children, families and a group of army veterans celebrating their 80th birthday visited the park on a recent day this summer, helping the goal of reaching 50,000 visitors this year, said Arosa tourism director Pascal Jenny.

It is not the first time that Arosa reinvents itself. In the 1930s, winter tourism became a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients after decades. But this time it will not be easy, given that the almost 620,000 winter nights spent last year more than triple the summer.

Jenny, who fears a sharp drop in snowfall in the next 20 or 30 years, is covering her bets.

“What gives us some hope is that artificial snow is showing great technical advances, now it can make snow at 5 degrees above zero,” he said, standing on an observation platform next to the Weisshorn cable car, which offers a spectacular view. of the snowy valley of the Alps.

Its dual focus highlights the dilemma faced by mountain resorts: how to retain benefits as they embark on what the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says should be a global rethink of tourism .

“The consequences of climate change will be felt in the travel and tourism sector in the coming decades,” said the OECD, whose member countries represent 80% of global trade and investment, in a 2018 study on the main tourism trends .

Storms, floods and tides will threaten the coastal regions; southern destinations face extreme heat waves; and those in the north will see shorter periods of snowfall, he added.

DANISH INDUSTRIAL POLYGON

Mountain resorts tend to be located higher in Switzerland than in Austria or France, so their expectations are better as snow gets scarcer.

But even at 3,000 meters, the thickness of snow on its tracks could be reduced by more than half in the year 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed, according to a report published in The Cryosphere, a specialized magazine on geoscience. that takes its name from the parts of the earth’s surface where the water is frozen.

The stations located below 1,200 meters – as happens in almost a quarter of the alpine – could be practically without snow, according to this study of 2017, whose title begins with “How much can we save?”.

Snow levels will gradually stabilize if the rise in global temperature is contained, says the report.

Arosa is 1,775 meters above sea level, but Jenny fears that the loss of snow in the lowlands will result in a loss of visitors because people will lose the emotional connection with the snow.

“That’s almost more dangerous for the sector,” he said.

Hence the interest of Arosa for an industrial estate in Denmark where he cooperates in a project to manufacture artificial snow with the expectation that city dwellers learn to ski and then perfect their skills in the Alps.

Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world, and the Swiss government says that the long-term prospects for tourism are good. “Summers in the mountains can be positioned as an alternative to the Mediterranean regions,” according to a report from 2017.

Summer tourism already accounts for 60% of overnight stays in Switzerland, but the season only contributes 18% of income, said Therese Lehmann, an economist at the Center for Regional Development at the University of Bern.

Hotels and restaurants charge more in winter, but the strength of the Swiss franc has left many people out.

The government data already show a fall of 24% in the number of skiers in the decade until 2016 due to climate change but also due to other factors.

The European population is aging and young people are less interested in skiing, while activities such as snowshoeing, winter hiking, and sleigh rides and skiing are booming, says Swiss Tourism sector management.

The consolidation in the winter tourism sector can be seen on the horizon: overnight stays at the major Swiss stations increased by 1 percent in the decade to 2015, but decreased by 17 percent in the smaller ones.

Libra co-creator David Marcus appeared before the US Congress to answer questions about Facebook’s cryptocurrency before senators. According to him, Libra is not a cryptocurrency, it does not intend to control the flow of money from the country or other countries and it could be an opportunity to access financial services for the unbanked.

On Tuesday, July 16, Marcus was questioned by a number of senators about the various implications of Libra . Issues such as privacy, financial scope, as well as the possibility that other development teams create purses to handle Libra were treated.

Marcus highlighted the technical and development work:

We have worked and developed this technology. We have invested in the best talents in the industry and engineering for their development and then we open their code. That will help their development and the growth of the network in the process.

David Marcus, co-creator, Libra

One point Marcus and the Senators insisted on several times during the hearing was the nature of Libra: the Facebook project is not a cryptocurrency, it is a means of payment . “Libra is planned to be used as cash, as a payment tool,” Marcus said on the subject.

The executive stressed that Libra does not seek to replace governments and banks in the issue of money , only to offer a tool that facilitates payments globally.

For Marcus, with Libra there can be an important economic evolution. He explained that unbanked citizens with low-end smartphones will be able to “move from the cash economy to the digital economy.” In this case, Marcus told the senators of Congress Calibra , the official purse Facebook for token Libra, will offer full support to users of the US , as well as compliance with policies against money laundering (AML) and know to your client (KYC).

In addition, when questioned on the subject and although with reluctance, Marcus assured that he would be willing to keep all his wealth in Libra. The executive also explained that the code will be open for the development of other programmers outside the Libra Association , and that, although WhatsApp and Messenger will not include other purses beyond Calibra in a predefined way , the Libra Association will be open to allow the creation of these new softwares.

On the other hand, when questioned about the confidence in the value of Libra, comparing its operation with fiduciary money, administered by banks, Marcus said that this means of digital payment will be backed by a reserve of different commodities , but not in a fraction , but as a total value, as a reserve basket.

In addition, he pointed out that in the event of a crash , similar to that suffered by banks in the United States in the past decade, they have the necessary permits and comply with the necessary shelter policies to serve US citizens.

Grupo Insur, through its Insur Patrimonial subsidiary, head of its equity business, formalized yesterday a syndicated loan of 110 million euros, with mortgage guarantee on part of its leased assets.

The Sevillian real estate group has reported that this syndicated loan, in which a dozen financial entities participate, is configured in two tranches . The first, arranged yesterday, for an amount of 100 million euros for the cancellation of bilateral bank loans that were mostly guaranteed with mortgage on the assets given as collateral in this new financing, and a second tranche, amounting to 10 million of euros, which will be available in the coming months to finance the investment (capex) of transformation of a building of 7,200 square meters in Seville capital from the current use of offices for hotel use.

The formalized syndicated loan, with a maturity of ten years and balloon of 65%, has two initial years of capital deficiency and is amortized, after the grace period, in increasing quarterly installments. The average period of the loan, considering a period of disposal of the second tranche in 18 months, amounts to 8.75 years.

With this operation, Insur Group reinforces the financial structure of its equity activity, reduces its costs, obtains the necessary financing for the aforementioned capex (10 million euros) and releases a cash of 31.5 million euros over the next five years. influence the growth of this activity. The operation has been subscribed with the following national financial institutions as creditors: Santander (Agent Bank), BBVA , Caixabank , Unicaja , Sabadell , Cajasur, Bankinter , Targobank, Novo Banco and Caja Rural de Granada.

Insur Group, which has a portfolio of assets for leases, offices and commercial premises, of 115,000 square meters and 2,500 parking spaces with a market value of 290.7 million euros , according to the RICS valuation carried out on December 31st. 2018 by CBRE, has made an investment effort in recent years to develop new assets and transform and remodel existing ones.

In this sense, we must highlight the transformation into a hotel with 45 rooms, already in operation, of the building located in García Lovera street in the capital city of Córdoba, the transformation of a building in the Argentine Republic 23 of Seville into another hotel also, with 133 rooms whose works have just begun; the remodeling already completed of a building in República Argentina 21 and the current remodeling of the buildings located in República Argentina 25 and Av. San Francisco Javier 15, all of them capital Seville.

It should also be noted, within the framework of its strategy of geographical diversification of this activity, the incorporation into its portfolio of assets destined to lease of one of the two buildings, the North building, of 14,000 square meters, of the Rio 55 business park in Madrid , a business park that develops through its IDS Madrid Manzanares, SA The South building of this complex, of the same surface area as the previous one, was sold on a plan to the German investment fund AEW, having been leased the North building in its entirety Banco Cetelem, of the BNP Paribas group.

The consortium formed by Sacyr and GCZ Ingenieros will be responsible for the construction and installation of the Moquegua 1 and 3 Hydroelectric Power Plants for 102 million euros, after winning the tender called by the Electric Power Company of the South ( Egesur ). The two plants will have an installed capacity of 34 megawatts (MW). The project will have a development period of approximately 30 months.

“We have proven experience in the construction and commissioning of highly complex energy infrastructures in Peru. We are proud to continue contributing to improve energy generation services in the country, for the benefit of citizens, “said Carlos Martínez-Almeida , representative of the consortium.

The project of the Hydroelectric Power Plant Moquegua 1 (CHM1), of 15.3 MW of power, includes, among other infrastructures, the work of connection with the current Huaracane channel, a conduit of 8,360 m, three tunnels with a total length of 1,800 m, the powerhouse, the electric substation and the transport line.

The project of the Hydroelectric Power Plant Moquegua 3 (CHM3) of 18.7 MW of power, includes, among other infrastructures, a water intake on the Sajena creek, conduction of 7.211 m, a tunnel of 2,660 m, machine room and unloading works to the Ravine Sajena. In addition, an electrical substation and a transport line will be built.

Sacyr in Peru

Sacyr operates in the Peruvian market since 2011 with its four business areas: Industrial, Engineering and Infrastructure, Concessions and Services, which contribute substantially to the economic development of the country and the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Sacyr currently has more than 3,000 people in payroll in Peru, where it brings value and experience in the 20 contracts completed and in development.

For its part, GCZ Ingenieros is a Peruvian company with 28 years of experience in the development, design, construction and operation of hydroelectric power plants, with its own workshops to carry out electromechanical, hydromechanical and diverse metal fabrication projects.

The Seoul Stock Exchange fell on another day marked by the open diplomatic crisis between South Korea and Japan due to the export restriction implemented by Tokyo in early July, according to local analysts.

The selective Kospi, the main one of the South Korean parquet, harvested a fall of 0.91% or 18.95 points, until situating in 2,072.92 units, whereas the technological index Kosdaq finished with a fall of 1.21% or 8, 14 units, to be in 666.28 integers.

It was of little use that the Bank of Korea (BoK) lowered interest rates by a quarter of a point today, leaving the benchmark at 1.5%.

The Kospi opened marked by the retreat of Wall Street on Wednesday and failed to overcome the flight, in another day marked by the open crisis between South Korea and Japan after Tokyo has imposed restrictions on exports to the neighboring country of basic chemicals for the production of semiconductors.

However, the two main producers of memory chips in the world managed to advance very slightly, after the losses of the last days caused by this crisis.

Samsung Electronics (KS: 005930 ), the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer and benchmark for the Kospi, gained 0.11% while the second global chip producer SK Hynix improved its price by 0.13%.

The pharmaceutical multinational Celltrion lost 2.17% and its competitor Samsung Biologics dropped 0.35%.

Bankia Foundation for Dual Training has signed an agreement this week with the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV), to promote Vocational Training and improve the employability of workers.

This agreement has been signed between the Director of the Bankia Foundation for Dual Training, Juan Carlos Lauder, the Business Director of Bankia for the Levant, Carlos Aguilera, the CEV president, Salvador Navarro, and the president of the Training, Education Commission and Management Knowledge of the CEV, Leonor Sáiz.

The Business Director of Bankia for Levante has said that this agreement reflects two of Bankia’s main values, the commitment to boost education and employability through better training.

Aguilera recalled that “through this commitment can contribute to the achievement of a better-formed and more cohesive society.”

So far, the Bankia Foundation in the Valencian Community has developed a series of additional training projects in foreign trade, COMEX, in digital competitions (DITEC) and where it carries out the SANEC scholarship program to bring FP to clinical research and biomedical.

For his part, the president of CEV has highlighted the importance of training as a key factor to boost the competitiveness of companies in the Valencian Community. And he added that it is necessary to “strengthen the collaboration of the world of business and academia to provide a model of professional training that responds to the needs that companies and the market requires at any time.”

Bankia has detailed that the agreement will establish four lines of action:

• Improve dissemination and assessment of VET and its dual modality.
• Support companies in innovation, in the identification of apprenticeships, the design of training programs or the training of tutors to promote dual projects.
• The implementation of training projects with learning in the workplace.
• The development of professional qualification to improve the competitiveness of the company and the stability of employment.