The United States and the United Kingdom, with almost 60% of the investments, the main markets for energy
Iberdrola foresees gross investments of around 41,000 million euros in the period 2024-2026 to achieve a net profit of between 5,600-5,800 million euros at the end of the period, according to figures presented on the occasion of its Capital Markets Day that is being held this year. Thursday in London.
Of this investment figure, which includes the purchase of 18.4% of Avangrid for around 2,280 million euros to acquire 100% of its US subsidiary, the company’s partners in renewables – such as the Norwegian sovereign fund Norges or Masdar – will contribute 5,000 million euros, bringing Iberdrola’s net investment to 36,000 million euros.
85% of the investments will be destined for markets with an ‘A’ rating; The United States being the main investment focus for energy, with 35% -about 14,350 million euros-; followed by the United Kingdom (24%) -about 9,840 million euros-, Iberia -Spain and Portugal-, (15%), Latin America (15%) and Germany, France, Australia and other countries of the European Union (11%) . 70% of the group’s investment will be focused on growth.
This investment effort allows the group to aspire to a gross operating result (Ebitda) of between 16,500-17,000 million euros in 2026, with the network and renewable businesses contributing around 50% each.
Iberdrola has also set the goal that 70% of its Ebitda is not linked to the price of the wholesale electricity market in 2026.
IT WILL DISTRIBUTE 11,000 MILLION IN DIVIDENDS IN THE PERIOD.
With these results, Iberdrola plans to distribute among its shareholders some 11,000 million euros in dividends in the period through a remuneration policy for its shareholders by which it will allocate between 65% and 75% of the ‘pay out’, in English -, which will allow reaching a dividend of between 0.61 and 0.66 euros per share in 2026.
In addition, the group sets a dividend floor of 0.55 euros for this period, within the Iberdrola Flexible Remuneration program, which includes the repurchase of securities.
THE INVESTMENT FOCUS ON THE NETWORKS.
By business, electrical networks will be the main segment of these investments, with 60% of the net figure, around 21.5 billion euros, dedicated mainly to expanding and strengthening networks in the US, United Kingdom, Brazil and Spain.
The president of the group, Ignacio Galán, highlighted that this new ‘roadmap’ of the electricity company is based on organic growth focused on the development of networks in markets with high credit ratings and on selective growth in renewables, which allows the substitution of fossil fuels and the growth of energy storage.
Thus, he stressed that electrification “is unstoppable” and that forecasts indicate that “this trend will increase exponentially in the coming years as the only alternative to respond to the current challenges of the energy industry.”
“This will require more electrical networks to connect demand, more clean energy to replace fossil fuels and more storage, which provides stability to the system and prices. Iberdrola is already well positioned in these areas, and has experience and opportunities to grow organically in our key markets,” he said.
Within this commitment to networks, more than 6,500 million euros will be destined for transport networks, which will allow Iberdrola to increase its asset base to 54,000 million euros by 2026, 12,000 million euros more than in 2023 and 38% more than in 2022. Meanwhile, assets in transport networks will exceed 15,000 million euros.
85% of investments in networks are directed to markets with closed frameworks for the coming years and 80% of the gross profit of this business is protected from inflation and interest rates.
15,500 MILLION TO RENEWABLES AND BOOST STORAGE.
Another of Iberdrola’s growth levers in the next three years will be renewables, where it plans to invest 15,500 million gross euros – including the 5,000 million euros that the company intends to reach with strategic partners in ongoing projects.
Of this amount, more than half will focus on offshore wind in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany; 28% in onshore wind and 18% in solar. In addition, 100% of the investment is allocated to projects already under construction.
Likewise, it will promote its commitment to storage as a strategic technology to stabilize prices in the market and avoid volatility in margins, thus allocating 1,500 million euros with the objective of reaching 120 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of storage capacity. storage through pumping, which represents an increase of 20%. In addition, the group will have a portfolio of 150 million kWh.
Regarding the customer business, it will allocate 2,500 million euros, having between 70% and 80% of the energy sold from long-term customers -mainly PPAs and regulated generation-.
In addition, 85% of sales with assured margins are closed by 2026, when they will reach between 140,000 and 150,000 gigawatt hours (GWh).
On the other hand, Iberdrola has improved its estimate for 2025, raising its net profit forecast to the upper part of the range, up to 5,300-5,400 million euros.
REAFFIRM PERSPECTIVES FOR 2030.
Likewise, Iberdrola has reaffirmed the perspectives for 2030, driven by the need to accelerate electrification, with the goals of having network assets between 65,000 and 70,000 million euros, of which 30% will be in transportation and reaching the 100,000 GW of renewable portfolio for future development.
As of 2027, the company will already have 3,000 new megawatts (MW) of offshore wind operational, thus reaching 5,000 offshore MW and plans to commission 6,000 MW of wind and solar.
CREATION OF 10,000 JOBS.
The company’s activities will create 10,000 jobs globally over the next three years, increasing to 500,000 jobs across our supply chain.
Likewise, within this new strategy, Iberdrola intends to make its growth compatible with the goal of zero emissions in its own generation and consumption plants by 2030 and in all its activities by 2040.
It also maintains its commitment to gender equality: women already represent 34.5% of management positions and this percentage will rise in the immediate future and will continue to lead the governance, ethics and compliance rankings.
