Goldman Sachs becomes the second shareholder of Repsol, with 5.7% of the capital

Repsol logo at a service station. Marcelo del Pozo (REUTERS)

The US investment bank Goldman Sachs has reported to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) a stake of almost 5.2% in Repsol through financial derivatives.

Adding to that stake the almost 0.5% that it controls indirectly, the firm chaired by David M. Solomon becomes the second largest shareholder of the Spanish oil company with almost 5.7%, only behind JP Morgan Chase (6.6%).

At current market value, Goldman Sachs' stake is worth approximately €1 billion.

After the definitive departure of the construction company Sacyr from Repsol's shareholding, last June -after several sales that had decimated its participation in the energy company-, the first positions in the capital of the oil company chaired by Antonio Brufau remain in the hands of banks and investment funds, mostly of US origin.

Following JP Morgan Chase and a short distance from Goldman Sachs is the world's largest fund manager —Blackrock (with almost 5.5%)—, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank (3.3%) and the French management firm of Amundi assets (3.2%).

The communication from Goldman Sachs to the CNMV has arrived, paradoxically, on the very day that the Spanish Government has confirmed that it will be able to implement a temporary tax on the extraordinary profits of the large energy companies —including Repsol—, with which it intends to collect 2,000 million euros per year.

Like the rest of the large European and world oil companies, Repsol is going through one of its best moments in years from the point of view of its income statement.

Last week the Spanish reported a very substantial improvement in the refining margin, which tripled between April and June compared to the previous three months and multiplied by 15 in annual comparison.

This is not the only line of business that is going from strength to strength: with oil at around 100 dollars per barrel, exploration and production activities are experiencing one of their sweetest stages in the last decade.