MADRID, 17 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Iberdrola appears this Friday at its general meeting of shareholders, which will be held in Bilbao, with the support of the proxy advisors and with the company’s stock reaching all-time highs.
The energy company’s big annual meeting with its shareholders thus comes backed by the support of the two largest international voting advisors, ISS and Glass Lewis, who have blessed all the points that will be submitted to the general meeting.
Specifically, both American voting advisors, who have a share of more than 70% in advising large investors, such as fund managers, pension companies and insurance companies, advise the more than 600,000 shareholders of the energy company to vote in favor of each one of the 22 points on the agenda of the energy company’s assembly chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán.
The influence of these advisory firms is especially relevant for foreign shareholders, who accounted for 70.07% of the capital of the largest European electricity company and one of the two largest in the world at the end of last year. The following by weight were the minority entities, with 22.20%, and, finally, the Spanish entities, with the remaining 7.73%. The usual practice is for large managers to follow the recommendations of these two large ‘proxy advisors’.
Iberdrola’s main shareholders are Qatar’s sovereign fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with 8.69%; followed by the largest investment fund manager on the planet, BlackRock, with 5.39%; and the Norwegian sovereign fund, Norges Bank, with 3.116%, according to data from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
The support of these two ‘proxy advisors’ to the leadership occurs despite the moment of great mobilization of shareholders, especially with regard to executive remuneration.
In addition, the company also arrives at a sweet moment on the stock market, trading at 12.36 euros and touching the historical levels of 12.505 euros that it marked on January 8, 2021.
This momentum in the company’s market has been supported by the applause of analysts, after presenting its roadmap for 2024-2026 at Capital Markets Day a few weeks ago.
On March 21, Iberdrola announced a plan to invest 41 billion euros during this period to promote the electrification of the economy in all the countries in which it is present. Of this amount, 21.5 billion euros will be allocated to investments in networks in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and Spain, which represents 60% of the net investment.
The company will allocate 15.5 billion gross euros to the renewable business to selectively grow in flexible technologies and storage.
In fact, since the presentation, nearly 30 firms have revised their forecasts for the coming years and the average target price is 12.75 euros. Likewise, more than 95% of analysis houses advise buying or holding their securities.
At this Friday’s meeting, Iberdrola will submit to its shareholders the re-election of three of its directors – Nicola Mary Brewer, Regina Helena Jorge Nunes and Iñigo Víctor de Oriol Ibarra – and will maintain, for the third consecutive year, the participation dividend. Likewise, it is proposed to maintain the number of members of the company’s governing body at 14.
Among the proposals to be voted on are also modifications to the corporate statutes, with the objectives of reinforcing the continued and permanent involvement of shareholders in corporate life and promoting their effective and sustainable involvement in society.
Updates related to Iberdrola’s position as the group’s holding company and the directors’ remuneration policy are also included, since it has met the deadline established for its review by the general meeting of shareholders. Among the items on the agenda of the assembly is also the re-election of KPMG Auditores as auditor of the energy company.
In addition, the approval of the annual accounts, the management report, the non-financial information statement, the application of the 2023 result and two new editions of the ‘Iberdrola Flexible Remuneration’ optional dividend system is proposed, as well as the re-election of three members of the board of directors.
