The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, indicated this Wednesday that he does not see “clear” the future of the tax on energy companies that the Government promised to reformulate a year ago to make it permanent along with that borne by banks, in a procedure that It is encountering strong opposition from the PNV and Junts, necessary to carry out this measure.
“A very long process has to be carried out and also with some uncertainties in Parliament,” said Galán, when asked by analysts after the electricity company’s quarterly results. The Executive has indicated that the group has not included the tax in its projections for 2025 and 2026. It has made it clear that its effect “must be very minor” compared to the total business of the Basque multinational.
For now, “absolutely nothing has been approved” and “our projections for the coming years will be based on what is real.” At the moment “there are only rumors and noise but nothing concrete.” “When it is carried out we will introduce it into our projections. It is not clear that this will occur. “It is a long process and we have to pay attention to what happens.”
The largest Spanish electricity company earned 5,470.7 million euros in the first nine months of the year, 50.4% more, driven by the 1,165 million in capital gains from the sale of assets in Mexico. It has once again improved its forecasts for 2024 in which it points to new record profits and dividends. Excluding capital gains from Mexico, the energy company’s net profit was 4,305.5 million, 18.4% more. In recurring terms (also excluding the recovery of the United Kingdom tariff deficit and the provision for taxes in Mexico in 2023) it grew by 22%.
The gross operating result (Ebitda) increased by 23%, to 13,269 million, mainly driven by a 25% increase in organic investments, with the electrical network asset base already reaching 47,600 million. This figure includes the British ENW, whose purchase was closed this Tuesday, awaiting approval from the United Kingdom Competition authorities.
Ebitda was also driven by renewable production at historic highs thanks to new investments and results from asset rotation. Recurring Ebitda grew by 11%, up to 11,551 million. The United States and the United Kingdom drove the result, with increases of 25% and 15% in Ebitda, respectively.
The group has set the profit forecast for the entire year at 5.5 billion, 14% more than in 2023, excluding any capital gains from asset rotations, thanks to the new network tariff frameworks, the increase in installed capacity and to the increase in long-term contracts. It already supplies 10 TWh annually to technology companies and is finalizing a joint venture to set up data centers in Spain.
Galán has endorsed the recent words of the director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, about the arrival of the “age of electricity.” “I have been saying for many years that this will be the century of electricity,” he noted. He has said that Iberdrola would feel “comfortable” in the event of Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections, and has stressed that its main business is the networks, which are regulated by the federal states there. “It doesn’t matter what the resulting scenario is. “We are comfortable with any Administration.”
Regarding the use of nuclear power to feed the growing demand for data centers, he recalled that these facilities “are 24/7”, operate all year round, and this source can be a solution, which explains why “some countries” are expanding the life of the reactors. But he has been skeptical about the minireactors, known as SMR: “Most of them in the demonstration, project phase.” Galán has relied on an improvement in distribution remuneration in Spain to facilitate the deployment of these data centers, for which there is a “huge appetite.”
Iberdrola’s investments reached 8.6 billion until September, with a record of 12.3 billion in the last twelve months, 13% more, mainly in networks and renewables in the United States and the United Kingdom. Adjusted net debt stood at 46.7 billion. The electricity company expects it to reach 51,000 million by the end of the year if the purchase of 100% of the American company Avangrid is completed by then. Liquidity reaches 22.1 billion, enough to cover the financial needs of 20 months.
The company has increased its interim dividend by 14%, to 0.23 euros per share, after already reaching the dividend floor for 2025 this year, set at 0.55 euros – this year it has distributed 0.558 euros per share.
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