La Jornada – Record profits for Iberdrola in the midst of an energy crisis

Madrid. In a year of the worst energy crisis on the planet, with electricity prices reaching historic levels and causing a massive increase in poverty and inequality, Spanish multinational Iberdrola posted the highest profits in its history in the first half of the year. Even much better than last year, which already represented a milestone for the company: 2 thousand and 75 million euros (44 thousand million pesos) of net profit, which is a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Of these profits, Mexico’s business accounts for about 10 percent, or about 200 million euros (4.2 billion pesos).

Iberdrola and its president, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, presented their activity report for the first half of the year, confirming what was announced at the end of last year, when this year was expected to far exceed 2021, which was the best in its history. Date.

The sales figure exceeded 24 thousand and 330 million euros (512 thousand million pesos); Net operating profit (EBIT) exceeded 3.9 billion euros (81.9 billion pesos), of which 309 million euros (6.5 billion pesos) for the Mexican company, representing a 28 percent increase over the previous year.

The Spanish multinational, headquartered in Bilbao, has divided its business into five main fronts: Spain, which posted a 26 percent drop in profits; The United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Mexico, which, on the contrary, strengthened the group with unprecedented increases on all financial, operational and sales fronts.

Despite the fact that in total global sales of 24 thousand and 330 million euros, Spain accounts for just under half, 10 thousand 198 million euros, the annual tax reimbursement of the group allocated to the Spanish state exceeded with you that proportion. That is, of the total payments to the treasury, which amounted to 7 thousand and 836 million euros (164 thousand 556 million pesos), the Iberian state allocated 3 thousand and 469 million and the rest to other subsidiaries.

According to Iberdrola, the historical profits are mainly due to “increased investments, which amounted to 4,741 million euros per semester (a 5 percent increase) and 10,200 million in the past 12 months.” Mexico, although it carries a lot of weight in terms of its operations as a whole, it barely accounts for 3.1 percent of the total investment of multinational companies. As a result of investments already made, the group has installed 3,400 new renewable megawatts in the past 12 months: 1,241 PV, 996 onshore wind power, about 1,000 hydroelectric storage units, and 116 megawatts of batteries.

“At Iberdrola we continue to increase our investments to promote energy independence and accelerate the green transition, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The projects that we implement in Spain and around the world allow us to generate economic activity and maintain 400,000 jobs in more than 19,000 resources,” said Sanchez Galán. That despite the historical results in the middle of the worst energy crisis in Europe and the rest of the world, “electricity companies have no extraordinary benefits” and that despite being accused of taking advantage of the current escalation in energy prices to increase their profits “it is the gas and oil companies” who are taking advantage.

The results in Mexico recorded an increase in all aspects, as it was reported that “the gross margin in Mexico is growing by 23.3 percent, to reach 571 million euros (12 billion pesos), thanks to the positive impact on the comparison with the cold wave. At the beginning of 2021 in Texas and higher wind power production due to wind power and solar PV load factor, which compensates for lower thermal production.”