The Diplomat
Iberdrola posted a net profit of 4.339 billion euros in 2022, up 11.6% on the previous year, in a year in which geographic diversification offset a 19% drop in profit in Spain, the company told the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) yesterday.
The company made historic investments of 10.73 billion euros, a 13% increase, despite inflationary pressures and supply chain challenges. 90% of the investment was for renewables and smart grids with the aim of accelerating electrification and fostering energy autonomy.
Some 38% of the investment went to the European Union – nearly 3 billion in Spain, the country that received the most investment, and 1.2 billion in other countries such as Germany, France and Portugal. Some 25% of the investment was made in the United States, 20% in Latin America and 13% in the United Kingdom, while the remaining 4% went to other countries, such as Australia.
Global gross operating profit (Ebitda), meanwhile, increased by 10% to 13,228 million euros in 2022, thanks to growth in the United States and Brazil, which offset the lower result in Spain, due to regulatory and tax measures and high energy costs that have not been passed on to customers.
“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”, said Iberdrola’s chairman, Ignacio Galán.
Looking ahead, the company expects to invest 11 billion euros in 2023, which will allow it to increase its installed renewable capacity by 3,000 MW and continue to increase its network asset base, which already exceeds 39 billion euros. With this, it expects net profit growth of between 8% and 10%, or around 5% including the new income tax in Spain.
The board of directors proposes to the general shareholders’ meeting to pay Iberdrola shareholders a final dividend of 0.31 euros gross per share, in addition to the 0.18 euros paid in January, for a total remuneration of 0.49 euros per share.
