Pampa Energia to invest around $1.6 billion in Argentina's Vaca Muerta through 2026
Pampa is betting heavily on its reserves at the Rincon de Aranda deposit in Vaca Muerta, with the earmarked funds representing the firm's largest-ever investment in a project, CEO Gustavo Mariani said in the firm's first-quarter presentation to investors.
The Argentine energy firm currently puts out 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the site, it said in a statement. In the coming months, that should reach 20,000 bpd and by 2027 will come up to 45,000 bpd, Pampa added.
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires
With its green curtain of hanging gardens, the Planeta building is one of Barcelona's most recognisable office blocks. Earlier this summer, it was acquired as part of a Monopoly board spending spree by Spain's richest man, the Zara fashion label founder Amancio Ortega. Through his Pontegadea family office, which invests his personal wealth, Ortega has also just snapped up the five-star Hotel Banke in Paris, an apartment building in Florida, and a half-share in the operator of Teesport in the north-east of England, adding to a property portfolio already worth €20bn. Why the rush? Ortega is poised to receive a record dividend of €3.1bn (£2.7bn) this year from his shares in Zara's parent group, Inditex. He is reportedly racing to spend the windfall, which would otherwise be subject to wealth taxes. Sources close to Pontegadea told the Guardian it was not investing to avoid tax, but following its mandate 'to create wealth from the original assets, maintain it, make it grow, and consolidate it over generations'. It invests all dividends from Inditex 'and any other income from its own economic activities every year, no matter the amount', they said. Whatever the reason, the Ortega property portfolio has grown rapidly in recent years, making his family office one of Europe's biggest real estate owners. As chancellors around Europe cast about for ways to repair the damage to public finances caused by successive global shocks, there is a growing clamour for more effective ways to tax the largest private fortunes. Spain is one of only three European countries (along with Switzerland and Norway) to still collect wealth taxes, and policymakers are looking to Madrid for lessons in what works – and what doesn't. In the UK, the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and the party's former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds have joined those calling for Rachel Reeves to introduce a wealth tax when she sets out her budget in the autumn. As the chancellor looks at the options, which could also include changes to inheritance tax, members of her own party are pushing for a debate in parliament about introducing a 2% annual levy on those with assets over £10m, which they say could raise £24bn. In France, a similar proposal aimed squarely at the ultra-rich with assets of more than €100m was approved by the lower house but was rejected by the senate. Wealth taxes are designed to take a percentage of a person's assets each year. Once fairly common, they have gradually fallen out of use, replaced by levies that bite when money changes hands, for example, through dividend payments, inheritance and sales of shares or property. Spain's wealth tax dates to 1978, a year that marked the transition to democracy from dictatorship under Franco. Regional governments receive the revenues collected by the levy, a system that worked well until, after a brief pause during the financial crisis, it was brought back in 2011. On its return, Madrid's conservative administration responded by discounting the rate to zero. The move benefited the high-earning footballers at Real Madrid, attracted new residents from other regions, and incomers from Venezuela and other Latin American countries, boosting property prices. In 2022, the conservative-run region of Andalucía in the south, announced that it, too, would cut the rate to zero. In a play on the Spanish term for tax haven, paraíso fiscal, Madrid's regional leader posted on X: 'Andalucíans: welcome to paradise.' Then Galicia, in the north-west, where Ortega is resident for wealth tax, joined the fray by offering a 50% discount. A source of income that had been providing hundreds of millions of euros a year to support local services, including healthcare, was under threat. The battle to save it became a tussle between the socialist-led central government, headed by Pedro Sánchez, and conservative-run autonomous regional governments. At the end of December 2022, Sánchez took action, with the solidarity tax on large fortunes. Initially for two years, to help with public spending after the pandemic, it has now been rolled over until the regional financing is revised, which is not likely to happen soon. It was designed in such a way that whatever revenue was forfeited by the regions would be collected centrally. The rate starts at 1.7% for those with net wealth of €3m, rising to 3.5% for fortunes over €10m. It is payable on worldwide assets. There are allowances: the first €700,000 is exempted, as is €300,000 for the main residence. A cap to help the asset rich and cash poor means that combined income and wealth taxes cannot exceed 60% of income. Numbers shared with the Guardian by the Ministerio de Hacienda (the Spanish Treasury) show that in the first year, 2023, the regions collected €1.25bn, and the central government €630m; a total of €1.88bn. In 2024, the regions took the logical step of keeping the income for themselves. The total take rose to €2bn. 'The solidarity tax is not a tool to collect revenues for central government, it is a way of forcing regions to collect more,' says Dirk Foremny, associate professor of economics at the University of Barcelona. In that respect, it has worked perfectly. As a revenue raiser, it is limited. The approach from Madrid has been light touch, though the rules could be changed to raise more. The sums collected are on a par with inheritance tax – already heavily discounted by the regions – which raises about €3bn a year. By contrast, income taxes bring in €130bn. But Foremny says the solidarity tax has a social value. 'This tax is a tool to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth across individuals. There are good arguments why we don't want to have a very large concentration of wealth in the hands of very few. Wealth is correlated with political influence and power.' He points to the US and its billionaire tech barons as a warning of what can happen when the scales tip too far. What is clear is that, two years on, a predicted exodus of the rich, trumpeted in endless alarmist headlines, has not materialised. Forbes counted 26 Spanish billionaires in 2021. This year, it lists 34, with a combined net worth comfortably over $200bn. 'The big fortunes mostly stayed put, filed protective appeals, and hired better structuring teams,' says Marc Debois, the founder of FO-Next, which advises family offices. 'A handful decamped to Lisbon or Dubai or any other location; enough for newspaper headlines, not enough for a flight.' Could the billionaires be made to pay more? Experts point to a big exemption: the one for 'family companies'. Originally designed to encourage small- to medium-sized businesses, these structures are also being used by the very biggest fortunes to manage their assets. There are restrictions. A taxpayer must demonstrate that assets are being used for economic activity, that is, a trade or business. Cash and shares held simply for investment purposes are taxable. Real estate that earns rents is not. If the family exemption is abolished, Debois says the billionaires won't necessarily decamp. They are more likely to lawyer up, reduce profits by leveraging (taking on debt), and create holding companies in low-tax jurisdictions such as Luxembourg. 'Some money already half‑abroad would finish the move,' he says.' The bigger issue is tens of thousands of mid‑sized family firms rely on the same rule; torching it is politically radioactive.' Estimates by Julio López Laborda, a professor of public economics at the University of Zaragoza, suggest that 80% of the assets of the richest 1% are not subject to the wealth tax. He says the family company exemption could represent a loss to the Treasury of about €2bn, while the cap on tax as a proportion of income, mentioned above, could account for another €2.5bn uncollected. Susana Ruiz, tax justice policy lead at Oxfam, which is working with López Laborda on a forthcoming report about wealth taxes, says: 'We could be raising at least two to three times more than we are at the moment.' Cutting public services in order to fund tax breaks, or simply balance the books, can create a doom loop, because it reduces the quality of provision, undermining the consensus on which taxation depends. In Madrid, declines in healthcare provision fuelled resentment among working people and created a sense that private provision was more efficient, says Ruiz. She believes the solidarity tax has helped rebuild confidence. 'There is a lot of citizen support behind it. It helps in the perception that the system is fair.' So far, there is no sign that it has affected growth. Spain was the world's fastest-expanding major advanced economy last year, outpacing even the US, with GDP up 3.2%. By contrast, growth in the UK and France last year barely scraped above 1%. On the balconies of the Planeta building, and in the country at large, the green shoots are alive and well.
Times
9 hours ago
- Times
What happened when we let Times readers bet $10,000 on stocks
If you could go back in time to the day of the 2024 US election — armed with $10,000 and everything you know now — how much money could you make in the stock market? That is the challenge we set Times readers last week. Buy and sell any stock in the S&P 500 or the FTSE 100 and jump forward in time, watching how the actions of the Trump administration have affected global markets. You can play it here. So, how did readers get on as stock market traders? The average player managed to turn their $10,000 investment into about $14,000 over the eight simulated months, meaning that they generated $4,000 profit — a return of 40 per cent. This is a pretty good return, even if readers knew exactly what would happen: $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 would have returned $10,787, and the same in the FTSE 100 would have resulted in $11,095 — although $10,000 in bitcoin, turning into $16,931, would have beaten the lot. Trump's tariffs resulted in a frenzy of trading, helping Barclays to a 23 per cent jump in pre-tax profits in the first half of the year. There are, of course, some objectively 'better' stocks to pick. The US AI firm Palantir, co-founded by the Trump ally Peter Thiel, has more than tripled its value since the election. Other US AI firms and computer chip manufacturers (such as Super Micro Computer Inc and Jabil Inc) have also experienced strong growth, as well as companies in AI adjacent sectors, particularly energy stocks such as the General Electrics power spin-off GE Vernova Inc, which has benefited from increased demand from AI data centres. • The cheap and easy way to invest (without the risk) A significant number of readers wisely put all their money into Palantir, yielding returns of 200 per cent. But the highest profits were for those who traded repeatedly at optimum times. Only two players turned their $10,000 into more than $100,000; at the time of writing, the top score was an eye-watering $441,681. The highest possible score, buying the best performing stock day after day, was well over a trillion dollars. Compounding returns, to paraphrase Albert Einstein, really are the eighth wonder of the world. For data privacy reasons, we don't know which stocks the top performer picked. However, on average, those who played did not opt for high-risk, high-reward US tech stocks. In fact, most readers put their money into recognisable UK companies that had a track record of doing well. Readers rightly focused on UK defence stocks such as Rolls-Royce, BAE and also Babcock, the best performing FTSE 100 company during the period. All those stocks boomed after Trump's realignment of global defence. • Bull or bear? Find out what kind of investor you are Other top performers picked out by readers included Airtel Africa, International Airlines Group (which owns British Airways) and the mining firm Fresnillo. For the FTSE at least, readers had a good sense of where the gains have been, with most of the ten best-performing stocks over the period being in the most-bought list. The above looks at which stocks had the most money invested. But the list of stocks that were bought and sold the most — that is, with the highest number of trades — shows a preference towards US growth firms. Top of this list is Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange, and Elon Musk's Tesla, both of which have share prices inherently tied to unpredictable and volatile entities. Readers also explored options with oil and steel stocks. Due to tariff changes, these companies were particularly volatile. Many readers bought BP, others looked at Chevron or the US steel manufacturer Steel Dynamics. There were good profits to be had with all these, but you'd need to buy and sell at specific times to really make a good profit. • I want to invest in Europe's comeback. Where do I start? These lists also feature unexpected appearances from 3M, 3i Group, AES Corporation and APA Corporation. Theses companies didn't perform particularly well over the period and their inclusion is likely to be due to their names appearing at the top alphabetically, rather than being selected as part of a broader investment strategy.
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Rodgers urges Celts to move away from bargain buys as boss admits potential doesn't come cheap
Brendan Rodgers believes Arne Engels is walking proof that Celtic have to invest substantial sums of money even to buy players with potential these days. The Parkhead club have been quiet to date in the summer transfer window with the manager making it clear in recent weeks that there are areas of the team which require strengthening. Despite the lack of investment, Celtic still cruised into the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup with a 4-1 over Falkirk. Afterwards, though, Rodgers cited the example of the Belgian international — a record £11million signing from Augsburg last year — as a reason why they club can't always expect to make first-team players from bargain basement signings. 'His attitude is great,' he added after the comprehensive win. 'He tired a little bit so there was a little bit of looseness towards the last five, 10 minutes. But his quality from his set piece and his general work rate and intensity was great. So, no, he's a boy that gives everything. 'And there's a lot on his shoulders as an expensive player. But we bought potential. The club has bought potential many times. And a lot of them aren't here. 'This is a guy who has potential, but it costs a little bit more. 'He's nowhere near the finished article. We've just had to pay more for potential. You can buy potential at a million quid and two million quid. 'And a lot of the time, it doesn't work. Sometimes it does. I will tell you a lot of time it doesn't. 'But him, we've had to pay a little bit more to get the athleticism, to get the physicality that this team needed. And now I've got great options in there. Guys that are physical, but guys that are technical. So, I don't complain.' Although the deadline for signings players for next week's Champions League play-off against Kairat Almaty has passed, the Northern Irishman remains hopeful that he might yet be able to add two wildcards ahead of Wednesday's first leg at Parkhead. 'Hopefully, it would be great,' he said. 'We've obviously named a squad, but right up until just before the game, we can do that. So that would be really good if we can.' Rodgers was delighted with the way his side dismantled the Premiership newcomers with goals from Daizen Maeda, Alistair Johnston, Dane Murray and a Liam Henderson own goal doing the damage before Kennan Adams scored a spectacular consolation. 'I thought the performance was very, very good from the first whistle,' he said. 'You've seen the hunger in the team and the intensity in the team. The first half we were good with the ball, but not so good without it. 'It gave Falkirk a couple of wee opportunities to break through. We weren't aggressive enough and tight enough. When we correct that at half-time, we really dominated the second half. 'So, yeah, very, very pleased. The goals were excellent and I thought we played really, really well.' Rodgers was delighted for defender Murray who netted his fist Celtic goal on the day he signed a new contact until 2028. 'There's areas of the game that he needs to, obviously, work on,' said the manager. 'But he's six foot four. He's quick. He can take the ball. 'He has a comfort with the ball, which aligns with top players. And he just, again, has to work ion concentration as it's something that's key for defenders. But I really, really like him. 'And that's hence the reason we've tied him down. And I think he's got a great future.'
