Acciona EBITDA rises 6.5% to 328 million euro

Net profit down 49% to 29 million euro, mainly due to the Energy division’s performance. Investment during the quarter amounts to 132 million euro.

ACCIONA Group ended 1Q2012 with EBITDA of 328 million euro, 6.5% up on same period of last year’s figure. Net attributable profit was down 49%, to 29 million euro, mainly as a result of ACCIONA Energy. Revenues saw a 9.5% rise, coming to 1,591 million euro.

The rise in Group’s EBITDA stemmed mainly from the Energy division’s performance which benefited from the higher international wind load factor and the contribution of the 591MW installed in the previous twelve months. However, ACCIONA Energy’s pretax profit figures were affected by a dip in industrial activity, increased financial costs and a slowdown in hydro production, which had a significant impact on Group net profit.

Despite a difficult economic environment, ACCIONA invested 132 million euro up to March 2012 and increased the workforce by 3%. Investment during the period includes 64 million euro to support the organic growth of ACCIONA Energy’s activities. 71 million euro went to Infrastructure (mainly the concessions business).

Net debt amounted to 7,281 million euro which compares to the 6,991 million euro in December 2011. This is mainly the result of investment carried out during the quarter and seasonal working capital and financing needs over the period. This effect is expected to improve gradually over the coming months of the year.
Performance by the core businesses

ACCIONA Energy increased revenues by 17.8% to 503 million euro, with an EBITDA of 289 million euro, up 11.5%. Generation revenues performed particularly well, increasing by 25.4% due to a 519 MW increase in installed capacity over the past twelve months, (up 8.8%) and the larger international wind load during the first quarter of the year. Pre-tax profit was down 31% due to the combined effects of a slowdown in industrial activity, increased financial costs for as a result of the long term refinancing transaction carried out in April 2011, and 33% less hydro production than in 1Q2011.

ACCIONA Energy’s total installed energy capacity increased by 8.8% to 8,211 MW, of which 6,921 MW are wind power and 2,393 MW are international.

ACCIONA Infrastructure increased its turnover by 7.2% to 769 million euro, driven by increased activity in the international construction business. As of 31 March, the backlog stood at 6,975 million euro, with an 18% reduction in the national backlog, partly offset by 6% growth in the international portfolio. ACCIONA Infrastructure ended the first quarter with a portfolio of 22 concessions, representing a total capital investment of 1,554 million euro, of which 1,229 million were net debt.

Revenues for ACCIONA Agua and Environment came to 100 million euro and the water division ended 1Q2012 with a portfolio amounting to 4,815 million euro, 3,062 million in Spain and 1,753 million abroad.

1Q2012 revenues for ACCIONA Logistics and Transport amounted to 150 million euro, of which 97 million were contributed by ACCIONA Trasmediterranea.

In Other Business and Financials, Bestinver delivered a particularly good performance with 5,582 million euro worth of assets under management as of 31 March 2012, up 6.5% on December 2011.

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