The Diplomat
Iberdrola’s general shareholders’ meeting yesterday re-elected Ignacio Sánchez Galán as chairman of the company, in addition to ratifying Armando Martínez as the company’s CEO, with an average of 98% support for all the items on the agenda, reports Europa Press.
In his speech, Galán defended the company’s strategic plan, in which record profits are expected to exceed “well” 5,000 million euros by 2025, 25% more than this year, with an increase in dividends in line with the results. The same applies to staff recruitment for that year, which he expects to reach 12,000 new hires.
In addition, he assured that the 2023-2025 strategic plan, presented in November, represents a “giant leap” and will allow the company to accelerate its record investment commitment of 47,000 million euros for this period.
In this regard, the re-elected president estimated that global electricity demand could double in the next 20 years, which will require investments of more than 25 billion euros, “consolidating” the electricity sector as a “key” agent for economic activity and job creation.
On the other hand, Galán defended Iberdrola’s commitment to the Basque Country and sent a message of calm, because they are going to continue in the territory.
“You can be sure that this company has been committed to this land for 120 years and will continue for at least 120 years more. So rest assured that we are going to continue here”, Galán confirmed.
He also assured that the contribution to the Basque economy represents around 2.5% of the Basque GDP, with around 2,700 million euros through investments, purchases and tax contributions.
Galán’s statements on the company’s permanence in the Basque Country come after Ferrovial’s shareholders’ meeting approved its relocation from Spain to the Netherlands, a decision that has led to controversy with the Spanish government.