Iberdrola will invest 8,000 million in Spain in the next four years

Iberdrola will invest 8,000 million in Spain in the next four years

Raises this forecast 40% by updating its strategic plan, in which it anticipates that its benefit will be 20% higher in 2022

  Iberdrola has redoubled the bet materialized in its Strategic Plan 2018-2022 with an increase in investments that will be made and, in the case of Spain, will grow 40% compared to the initial forecasts of the company chaired by Ignacio Galán . In this way, the volume of investments will reach 8,000 million euros. Of that amount, 4,200 million will go to renewable projects. The corporation takes advantage of the momentum given by the Executive to the energy transition plans to lead this process towards a sustainable economic model.

  In the presentation of the update of the Strategic Plan that Galán has made to investors in London, the president of Iberdrola has indicated that "with this plan, we accelerate the investments in Spain and give a strong impulse to the transition towards a low carbon economy » But at the same time it has indicated that it will be necessary to consolidate a long-term regulatory framework that provides certainty and stability to investments.

The company plans to develop at least 10,000 new megawatts (MW) of solar and wind energy in Spain by 2030, which is almost three times its current capacity in the country with these two technologies. By 2022, moreover, it will have already launched 3,000 new renewable MW in the country, 52% more than its current wind and solar capacity. To date, the company already has more than 700 MW under construction, 2,500 MW in development and a portfolio of more than 7,000 MW.

At a global level , the company will invest 34,000 million euros in the period between 2018 and 2022, which increases the investment effort initially envisaged in its Strategic Perspectives for this period, amounting to 32,000 million euros, by 2,000 million euros. The company has made this revision upwards thanks to the progress made in fulfilling its objectives and the new opportunities that have arisen in the different countries where it operates.

This update of the Strategic Perspectives 2018-2022 occurs after the company exceeded for the first time the 3,000 million euros annual net profit -3,014 million euros in the year 2018- and in a favorable context to grow organically in the main geographical areas where Iberdrola operates: Continental Europe, especially in Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the United States and Mexico.

Specifically, of the 34,000 million euros of investment, 86% will be allocated to regulated activities or with long-term contracts , according to the company's strategy of focusing on business with stable and predictable returns. Thus, 47% of the total amount -16,000 million euros- will be invested in Networks and 39% -13,300 million euros- in Renewables. The Generation and Clients business will receive 11% of the total -3,800 million euros-. As a result, Iberdrola will have increased its installed capacity by almost 40% during the execution of its outlook.

The new investments foreseen will allow Iberdrola to accelerate its growth and improve its results estimates for the end of the period. Thus, the company expects to close 2022 with a net profit of between 3,700 and 3,900 million euros -which represents an increase of up to 30% compared to 2018- and a gross operating profit (Ebitda) of more than 12,000 million euros . In this way, the maximum growth targets at initial 2022 are now converted into the lower part of the updated target ranges.

These results will allow the company to fulfill its commitment to increase the remuneration to its shareholders in line with the evolution of the results. Iberdrola will set annual minimums that will reach a gross floor of 0.40 euros per share in 2022.

The execution of the Strategic Perspectives updated today in London also contemplates the continuous improvement of the levels of efficiency and the impulse to the plan of rotation of non-strategic assets, whose value will amount to 3,500 million euros in the period.