The energy company, which blames the 19% drop in profit in Spain on regulatory and tax measures, has already appealed the extraordinary tax for which it will pay 200 million this year
Iberdrola has closed 2022 with an overall net profit of 4,339 million euros, which is 12% more than in the previous year. However, the company points out that its result in Spain has fallen by 19%. The group attributes it to regulatory and fiscal measures, such as the new extraordinary tax on energy companies and banks, as well as the high energy costs “that have not been passed on to customers,” says the company.
For this year 2023, Iberdrola foresees a growth in net profit of between 8% and 10%, although it admits that if the extraordinary tax that is levied on sales continues in force, that increase in the result will be practically half, in the environment of 5%. The new taxes on the extraordinary profits of banks and energy companies have already raised 1,454 million euros and the Executive expects that they will exceed the 3,000 million forecast for the entire year. In the case of Iberdrola, it will pay some 200 million, as its annual income from last year is taxed at 1.2%.
Given this situation, the president of the company, Ignacio Galán, has announced that the group has already filed a complaint against the new tax on energy companies applied in Spain. The executive considers that the tax violates both the Constitution and community law. “We have appealed these arbitrary and discriminatory measures that only affect some sectors (energy and banking), sectors that are not in a comparable situation,” he indicated. Although Galán admits that it probably will not be until 2024 when the Justice will rule definitively on the matter.
In addition, Galán has aligned himself with the proposal of countries such as Germany, Finland, Sweden or the Netherlands in their rejection of the Spanish Government’s idea based on greater intervention in the community electricity market. The president of Iberdrola agrees to continue improving the system, although he warns that this market has been “working well” until now, despite the volatility.
The Chairman of Iberdrola stated that “in a year marked by the energy crisis and difficulties in global supply chains, we have increased investments by 13% to almost 11,000 million euros to continue growing solidly, generating more activity and employment and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
The group has made historic investments of 10,730 million euros, which is 13% more than the same period of the previous year, despite inflationary pressures and the challenges of the supply chain. 90% of the investment has been allocated to renewables and smart grids to accelerate electrification and promote energy autonomy.
38% of the investment has been allocated to the European Union -close to 3,000 million in Spain, the country that received the most investment, and 1,200 million in other countries such as Germany, France or Portugal-. 25% of the investment was made in the United States, 20% in Latin America, and 13% in the United Kingdom. The remaining 4% has gone to other countries, such as Australia.
As a result of the investments already made, the group has closed 2022 with a renewable installed capacity of around 40,000 MW worldwide and consolidates its installed capacity as one of the cleanest in the world, since 80% is emission-free . The company also has 7,675 MW under construction that will be operational in the next four years. Of these, almost 3,500 MW correspond to offshore wind projects in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
For its part, the network asset base increased by 19% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 39.2 billion euros. Said asset base is distributed evenly between the US, with 31% of the total; United Kingdom and Spain, with 24% each; and Brazil, with 21%.
During the year, the group continued to reduce its emissions to just 59 grams of CO2/kWh in Europe, four times less than the industry average, and has improved its decarbonisation goals, with the ambition of having net zero emissions at its generation plants. and own consumption already in 2030 and in all its activities before 2040.
In view of these results, the board will propose to the General Shareholders’ Meeting a supplementary remuneration of 0.31 euros gross per share, to which must be added the interim dividend of 0.18 euros gross per share paid in January, which benefits hundreds of thousands of savers who invest in Iberdrola.
Despite the difficult macroeconomic context, Iberdrola has continued to strengthen its balance sheet with more than 12,700 million euros of new financing under competitive market conditions. Of this amount, 10,700 million comply with ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria, with which the group has reached a total of 48,600 million euros in green and sustainable financing.
The company expects to invest 11,000 million euros in 2023, which will allow it to increase its renewable installed capacity by 3,000 MW and continue to increase its network asset base, which already exceeds 39,000 million euros.
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