MADRID, 26 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Iberdrola registered a net profit of 1,485 million euros in the first quarter of the year, which represents an increase of 40%, driven mainly by its improved results in Spain and the United Kingdom, the company reported.
The group’s gross operating result (Ebitda) grew by 38% in the period from January to March, to 4,064 million euros, mainly due to the recovery of the SVT regulated tariff deficit in the United Kingdom, the best performance in the countries of the European Union due to the normalization of production and lower energy purchases at lower prices than last year, as well as the growth in Renewables and Networks.
For its part, the energy company’s sales figure also skyrocketed in this first quarter to 15,460.6 million euros, compared to 12,150 million euros in the same period of 2022.
This increase in the company’s numbers occurred despite the increase in the tax item in the period, which reached 591.9 million euros, compared to 311.5 million euros at the end of March 2022, as a consequence fundamentally from the higher profit before taxes, the inclusion of the 1.2% tax on sales in Spain and the recording last year of the capital gain from the reorganization of offshore wind assets in the US whose result was net of taxes.
For the whole of 2023, the group forecasts a growth in net profit of a medium/high digit (‘mid to high single digit’), without considering additional extraordinary items.
The company’s investments reached 10,400 million euros in the first quarter of 2023, which is 9% more than the same period of the previous year.
91% of the investment was allocated to renewables -4,600 million euros, of which 30% corresponded to offshore wind- and to smart grids -4,800 million- to accelerate electrification and promote energy autonomy.
This boost to investment, together with a normalization of production in the first quarter of 2023, allowed renewable generation to increase by 11% in the period and reduce energy purchases made last year at high prices. In this way, the company already has 40,344 renewable megawatts (MW) worldwide.