Dinero

Repsol obtained a net profit of 2,201 million euros in the first half of the year, which represents an increase of 265% compared to the 603 million euros of the same period of the previous year. The geopolitical environment derived from the war in Iran and the escalation of crude oil prices have boosted the value of its inventories, which has had a positive equity effect of 823 million euros, according to the information the company submitted this Thursday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Spanish gas grid operator Enagás announced this Wednesday the acquisition of 20% of Osaka Gas in the Saggas regasification plant for 31 million euros. Specifically, it has acquired the Sagunto plant, in the Valencian Community, which has a liquefied natural gas storage capacity ⁠of 600,000 cubic meters and a regasification capacity of 1 million normal cubic meters per hour. This is equivalent to 18% and 15% of Spain’s total, respectively. The operation would raise Enagás’ stake in Saggas to 92.5%, while Oman Oil ⁠Holdings Spain would retain 7.5%. The operation is expected to close before the end of 2026, as announced by the company during the presentation of its first-half results.

The battle to dominate the global market for obesity drugs has moved from laboratories to courts. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has sued Eli Lilly in the U.S. for alleged misleading advertising, claiming that its promotional campaigns present “false and materially misleading” comparisons between the treatments of both companies, to make it appear that its product yielded better results.

Europe is entering the era of hyperconnectivity driven by artificial intelligence, but this transformation will only be possible if investments are made in solid, resilient, and high-quality infrastructures. That is the central message of Cellnex’s new videopodcast, Ready to Connect, a series of strategic conversations specifically designed for investors and analysts in the digital infrastructure sector.

The payment processing company Stripe and the private equity fund Advent International announced yesterday a $53 billion – or €46 billion – takeover bid to buy the digital payment service PayPal, a pioneering firm in online transactions. The bidders offer $60.50 per share, with a premium of about 28% over the previous closing price. Its shares rose 15% yesterday.

The court overturns part of the layoffs due to the ERE carried out in 2024 by the Leitat technology center, in which the employers’ association Cecot and the public company Acció, among others, participate on the board. About sixty workers filed a lawsuit claiming that the process was carried out without proper information during the negotiation. They are now given the reason and their dismissal is declared null, according to a ruling by the Social Court No. 1 of Terrassa dated last July 6 and issued by Judge Rosa Milán Hernández, which La Vanguardia has accessed. The decision, which can be appealed, could have a million-euro impact.

Delivery Hero, the multinational owner of Glovo, confirmed this Tuesday that it is in advanced negotiations with Uber Technologies regarding a possible acquisition offer, thus confirming the information reported by Bloomberg News which indicated that the talks between the two last-mile delivery companies are in an advanced stage, to the point that they could be made public this very week.

The housing problem is driving the search for alternative solutions, such as the promotion of properties managed by cooperatives, following the experience of countries like Switzerland, Denmark, and Uruguay. Catalonia, the main community implementing the model in Spain, has 71 cooperative housing projects in use transfer in the last decade, more than half of which are currently in project or under construction. The total amounts to 1,218 apartments, most of them protected.

The music industry has raised alarms over the alleged fraudulent use of copyrights by artificial intelligence platforms. Large groups like Anthropic or OpenAI generate millions of songs daily, inspired –or perhaps copied– from the works of flesh-and-blood artists. While it is true that musical plagiarism has existed forever, in this case, the technological advance is of such magnitude that record labels and artists believe they are losing millions daily.

End of an era for Atrápalo. The Ávoris group, owned by Barceló, announced this Thursday an agreement to buy 100% of the online travel and leisure platform. The operation is subject to approval by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) and is part of the hotel company’s growth strategy to strengthen its position in the online travel agency business. Neither party has made the purchase amount public.