Madrid. Mexico is one of the favorite markets for Spanish companies, not only because of the attractiveness of its profits, but also because on many occasions it means direct entry into one of the richest regions in the world, North America. Among the 6,000 Iberian companies that are estimated to operate in our country, which include everything from large banks to electricity and energy operators, it is estimated that their turnover would exceed 25 billion euros per year (600 billion pesos), which It is equivalent to what the Spanish State would spend in a year on two essential and very expensive public services: health and justice.
According to the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX), which regularly publishes and updates its reports on the activity and presence of Spanish companies abroad, there are around 6,000 Spanish-owned companies in Mexico. To which should be added, although they are difficult to identify, those that are founded and registered in Mexico, but have Spanish origin and shareholders.
The easiest to recognize are the Spanish multinationals, which in recent years –especially as a result of the coming to power of the governments of the National Action Party (PAN), that is, from 2000 to 2012, and to which was added the period of PRI government Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) – have been positioning themselves as the benchmark companies in some of the country’s strategic sectors, such as banking, energy, tourism and infrastructure works.
It is estimated that last year Spanish companies recorded revenues of more than 25 billion euros, with four companies leading the way in terms of turnover and profits: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Santander, Iberdrola and Naturgy.
In the financial sector, Spanish companies are very present in Mexico, not only with Santander and BBVA, but also through specialized and selective banking, the case of Sabadell, or insurance operators, Mapfre for example. In this sector, which will now experience a new upheaval with the sale of Citibanamex, the annual profits of Spanish operators have exceeded 5 billion euros per year (120 billion pesos) in the last five years, placing BBVA as the most profitable, whose subsidiary in Mexico represents almost half of the group’s total profits, more than 2.5 billion euros in profits (60 billion pesos). Banco Santander, which is usually around between 700 and one billion euros in profits, has less presence in the country, but at the same time it has specialized in specific services such as loans for car purchases, where it is the country’s leader. and represents one of its great sources of profit in the country.
The Catalan bank Sabadell, after several previous adventures, resumed its banking operations in Mexico in 2016 and that of private banking this year. It has 61 offices and more than a thousand employees. In 2017, he earned 89 million in the country, 6.4 percent of the global profit. Mapfre, for its part, earned 26.5 million last year in its North Latam unit, where its Mexican unit is integrated.
The Spanish energy companies with the greatest presence in Mexico are Iberdrola, Repsol, Naturgy and Acciona, and for Iberdrola alone, Mexico represents more than 2 percent of its gross operating profit, while for Naturgy it is just over 4 percent.
In terms of profits between the large infrastructure works and their stable businesses in Mexico, it is estimated that between Iberdrola and Naturgy alone they generate an annual turnover of more than 4 billion euros.
Iberdrola has become the first private generator in Mexico and has more than 7,000 megawatts (MW), of which 5,900 MW are gas and cogeneration combined cycles and the rest are renewable.
Large presence in telecommunications
In accordance with its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, Iberdrola invested 2.4 billion in Mexico, with which it will add up to 2,000 more MW and will produce around 20 percent of the electricity consumed by the country. It is currently building four combined cycle plants and four renewable facilities. Other energy companies with important interests in Mexico are ACS, Acciona, Abengoa, Técnicas Reunidas (which has just signed two public contracts worth 600 million euros), Elecnor and Duro Felguera.
Among these finance and energy multinationals, the Spanish operators with the greatest presence in Mexico, Telefónica stands out, which has positioned itself as a massive operator in the country and generates revenues of over one billion euros per year. The large Spanish company in the textile industry, Inditex, is also very present in Mexico since 1992, but which actually expanded significantly from the year 2000. It currently has more than 400 establishments distributed among its flagship brands, Zara, Bershka , Pull & Bear and Oysho.
Deficit of more than 500 million euros in the trade balance
In the motor and automotive sector, the Spanish company with the most presence in Mexico is Gestamp, with five production plants in nine cities in the country.
In the tourism sector, activity is also great, especially in the most lucrative destinations, such as the Rivera Maya, Los Cabos and Mexico City, where Spanish hotel chains such as Meliá, NH, Barceló, Iberostar and RIU have facilities. .
The trade and business exchange between Mexico and Spain can not only be measured by their trade balance, which in the case of exports from Mexico to Spain would add up to just over 4 billion euros per year, while imports exceed 4.6 billion. of euros. That is, a trade balance deficit for Mexico of more than 500 million euros. But what actually reflects the true dimension of the importance of Mexico for Spanish companies is what they generate annually in our country, just over 25 billion euros.