Record investments of Euro 10,730 million will enable Iberdrola to achieve a net profit of Euro 4,339 million

Iberdrola continues to take firm steps in its commitment to accelerate the energy transition and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The company made historic investments of EUR 10.73 billion, 13% more than in the same period of the previous year, despite inflationary pressures and supply chain challenges. 90% of the investment went to renewables and smart grids to accelerate electrification and promote energy autonomy. The record amount of investment has allowed the company to obtain an overall net result of 4,339 million euros, despite a 19% drop in net profit for Iberdrola Spain, as reported to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Some 38% of the investment was earmarked for the European Union - close to 3 billion in Spain, the country that received 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. The remaining 4% went to other countries, such as Australia.

As a result of the investments already made, the group has closed 2022 with an installed renewable capacity of around 40,000 MW worldwide, consolidating its installed capacity as one of the cleanest in the world, as 80% is emission-free. The company also has 7,675 MW under construction that will be operational in the next four years. Of these, almost 3,500 MW correspond to offshore wind projects in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

The network asset base increased by 19% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 39,200 million euros. This asset base is evenly split between the US, with 31% of the total, the UK and Spain, with 24% each, and Brazil, with 21%. Global gross operating profit (Ebitda) has increased by 10% to 13,228 million euros in 2022, thanks to growth in the US 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. Iberdrola's Chairman, Ignacio Galán, said: "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".

The company has continued to anticipate its procurement needs, making purchases worth 17.8 billion euros from its more than 20,000 suppliers by 2022, giving visibility and certainty to a supply chain that supports 400,000 jobs worldwide. It has also made 4,700 additions in 2022 worldwide, increasing the number of nationalities it welcomes in its workforce to 90 (10 more than in 2021). In addition, it has continued to increase its training efforts, with a record 68 hours per person per year. 

In terms of tax contributions, in 2022 the group contributed 7.5 billion euros to the public coffers of the various countries in which it operates, of which 2.6 billion euros went to Spain. Iberdrola is one of the three companies that pays the most taxes to the Treasury.

During the year, the group continued to reduce its emissions to just 59 grams CO2/kWh in Europe, four times less than the sector average, and has improved its decarbonisation targets, with the ambition of having net zero emissions in its generation plants and own consumption by 2030 and in all its activities by 2040.

In view of these results, the Board will propose to the General Shareholders' Meeting a supplementary remuneration of EUR 0.31 gross per share, to which must be added the interim dividend of EUR 0.18 gross per share paid in January, benefiting hundreds of thousands of savers who invest in Iberdrola. 

Iberdrola increased its operating cash flow by 25% to EUR 11,123 million, improving the cash generation to net debt ratio by 2.4 percentage points to 25.4%.

Despite the difficult macroeconomic environment, Iberdrola continued to strengthen its balance sheet with more than EUR 12,700 million of new financing at competitive market conditions. Of this amount, EUR 10.7 billion met ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria, bringing the group's total green and sustainable financing to EUR 48.6 billion.

The group's liquidity stands at 23.5 billion euros, which would allow it to cover 26 months of financing needs without resorting to the market, and the average life of its debt exceeds 6 years.

The company expects to invest 11,000 million 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 39,000 million euros. With this, it expects net profit growth of 8-10%, or around 5% including the new income tax in Spain.