The president of Banc Sabadell, Josep Oliu, assured this Wednesday regarding a hypothetical merger with Unicaja that "there is nothing at all, no conversations or anything." With a half smile, he finished it off with “there is nothing, neither on top nor under the table.”
Oliu thus put an end to speculation that a merger with the Malaga entity is being prepared. He made these statements after giving the conference “Economic Perspectives 2024” of the Cambra de Commerce Club Forum of Sabadell, chaired by Ramon Alberich. "We do not have anything. There is no operation on the table. We already have enough work with our transformation, which is halfway there,” he assured.
At the conference he noted that he does not appreciate “anyone's appetite for doing corporate operations,” although he clarified that “if there was something for sale we would look at it.”
Regarding the evolution of Banc Sabadell in 2024, Oliu stated that the entity aims to be the main bank for more and more clients and companies and that they are “investing in digitalization to offer the best service.” He added that his forecasts “are absolutely positive for this year and for the following ones. “We are ready to reap the rewards.”
In addition, it reaffirmed its commitment to Mexico, a market in which the bank began operations in 2014 and in which it has a presence in several cities. “Our project in Mexico has presented an outstanding evolution that contributes more and more to the group's results every day. Banc Sabadell México is a bet with which we are very satisfied.” He assured that it is “a growing and solid market, within the American continent, along with the United States and Canada.” And he also pointed out that there are other “interesting” Latin American countries such as Colombia and Brazil, where Spanish companies can export and invest.
On the other hand, he predicted that inflation is very likely to rebound in 2024 due to the rise in salaries, the effect of the drought and the repercussions of war and geopolitical conflicts on trade and transportation. Regarding the Spanish economy, he spoke of “moderate optimism.”
Regarding interest rates, he noted that “I don't know when, but the European Central Bank says that by the end of the year they will have gone down. “The market foresees four declines this year. Our study center believes there will be three. The truth is that we are in a period of decline,” he added.
He also insisted that the prospects are quite good, because employment continues to evolve well and because the majority of families have not been affected by the increase in rates, although he has assured that control of the public deficit and productivity They will be the great challenges of the Spanish economy in the near future.
