The CEO of Merlin, Ismael Clemente, has assured that “the communists of Sumar”, together with the PSOE, “opened the doors of hell” to the SOCIMIs, by proposing last Monday the elimination of this tax regime from which they benefit. these types of companies.
This was stated in a conference with analysts, who are normally convened to explain the company’s accounts but who this Friday began by giving their opinion on this political agreement, which caused a fall of more than 7% in the stock market for Merlin Properties on Tuesday. , after knowing the agreement.
Clemente has assured that the Ibex 35, the index in which Merlin is listed, has been affected by this “populism” and that, although the elimination of the Socimis is only a proposal and has not materialized, its price has not yet been has recovered from that fall.
The manager has defended that the law in which this proposal is framed, a transposition of a European directive to apply a minimum rate of taxation to multinationals, already left SOCIMIs out of that minimum, something that the PSOE initially respected.
However, Sumar, a party that Clemente has referred to as communists, later agreed with the PSOE on this measure, despite the fact that the manager has stated that the socialists “have always stated that they understand the social and economic motivation of the socimis.”
According to Clemente, the agreement has not yet had sufficient consensus to be approved, “since it was not consulted or supported by the technical bodies of the Government or the economic office of the presidency, nor by the Catalan and Basque conservative parties.” , in reference to Junts and PNV.
Impact of 8.5% of operating profit
In any case, the company has calculated that, if finally approved, the impact in 2024 would translate into a maximum reduction of 8.5% in operating profit, which would reduce the dividend in the same proportion.
The manager explained that the tax credits that he still has on his balance sheet since the acquisition of a series of Metrovacesa assets in 2016 would allow the impact to be limited “for a few years and until common sense is recovered.”
He has also admitted that there would be no difference between the company remaining in Spain or moving to another country, since its Spanish assets would be subject to Spanish taxes, although he has pointed out that, with its current Portuguese assets and those it has in development in that country, the percentage of its portfolio outside Spain would reach 20%, which would reduce the impact.
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