Alex Trelinski
POWER firm Iberdrola reported a record annual net profit of €4.3 billion last year across the globe but its domestic operation in Spain saw a 19% profit fall.
The company said on Wednesday that the Spanish figure was down to ‘regulatory and fiscal measures as well as not passing on increased costs to customers’.
Another factor was lower hydroelectric generation from reservoirs caused by droughts last year.
The Spanish company’s profit line were boosted by its outlets in the United States and Brazil, compensating for slowdowns in Spain and Mexico.
Iberdrola said it raised investments to a record €10.7 billion of which 90% was allocated to renewable energy, with Spain accounting for 28% of green projects.
The company is projecting net profits to rise by up to 10% this year, but will be tempered down to a 5% increase once it factors in Spain’s new windfall tax on excess profits.
Spain’s electricity utilities association- the AELEC- of which Iberdrola is a member, lodged an appeal against the tax before the National Court last week.
Iberdrola chairman, Ignacio Sanchez Galan, said: “We hope to win the appeal as the tax contravenes EU law.”
A ruling is not expected before next year, with energy companies having their paid their first levy instalment of €817 million on Monday.
Finance Minister, Maria Jesus Montero, admitted on Tuesday that the windfall tax, which also includes banks, could bring in more than the predicted €3 billion this year.
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