Spanish utility giant Iberdrola has reported a 64% increase in net profits, reaching €4.1bn for the first half of 2024.
The surge was attributed to the sale of its Mexican business operations. In June 2023, Iberdrola completed the divestment of a 55% stake in its Mexican business, including 8.5GW of gas-fired plants, to Mexico Infrastructures Partners.
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The deal, which exceeded €5.4bn, led to €1.2bn in capital gains, as detailed in the company’s interim financial results.
Without the capital gains from this sale, Iberdrola’s net profit would have been under €3bn.
Despite the impressive profit figures, the company experienced a 13.8% decline in revenues, down to €22.6bn from €26.26bn in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Gross margin saw an improvement, increasing to €12.49bn from €12.12bn.
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By GlobalDataIberdrola attributed its strong operational performance to its networks and renewables divisions, which contributed to a rise in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from €7.56bn in the first half of 2023 to €9.61bn in the same period of 2024.
The company’s global green energy production also saw a 5.3% increase, totalling 45.2 terawatt hours (TWh), with hydropower generation climbing by 9.2% to 16.4TWh.
In Spain, Iberdrola’s renewable energy generation surged by 21.4% to 18.5TWh, with hydropower experiencing an almost 50% increase to 12.1TWh, following a severe drought in the region in 2022 to 2023.
The company’s global green capacity is now more than 43GW, with more than half of this capacity, approximately 22GW, located in Spain.
The majority of the 2.2GW of green capacity developed by Iberdrola in the past 12 months was in Spain. The company connected 1.5GW, predominantly solar, in the country.
Following favourable second-quarter results, Iberdrola has raised its outlook for the year, now anticipating double-digit net profit growth, a revision from the single-digit growth previously forecasted, excluding capital gains from asset sales.
Iberdrola executive chairman Ignacio Galán stated: “Record renewables production and robust performance in our networks business helped to deliver a strong set of results for the first half of 2024.
“We have also invested more than ever before in the first 6 months which will drive benefits in the second half of the year in terms of new renewables capacity and a higher rate base in networks. This allows us to increase our profit guidance for the year.”
