Milton Financials: Iberdrola, the world’s largest wind farm owner sees 9-month profit climb.

Oct. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Spanish utility and renewable energy giant Iberdrola SA has managed to increase nine-month profit by 2% due to higher electricity generation from hydropower plants and wind turbines, Milton Financials was informed.

The firm’s net income increased from $2.833 billion (€2.03 billion) to $2.85 billion (€2.07 billion) a year according to a recent regulatory filing, exceeding the $2.77 billion (€1.984 billion) expected by analysts.

The Bilbao, Spain based firm’s CEO Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan said he was confident of continued earnings growth.
“I hope and trust that results at the end of the year will maintain or improve the line we have had in these nine months,” Galan told Milton Financials on a recent conference call.


Iberdrola, Spain’s biggest utility generates over half its power from outside the country’s borders after major expansion abroad aimed at cutting reliance on the domestic market where , in 2009 demand dropped and Spanish regulators only allowed it to recoup a portion of its costs.

The utility giant is currently trying to sell a number of assets after its 2008 acquisition of U.S. utility, Energy East Corp. and the 2007 purchase of Scottish Power Ltd.

Recently Iberdrola increased its holding in Spanish wind-turbine producer Gamesa Corparacion Tecnologica SA.

“We think the stock is cheap,” the firm’s CEO told Milton Financials sources. “We have bought it and we will very probably continue buying. We have no interest in exceeding the limit of 30” percent.

The Spanish utility has a total installed capacity of 44,455 megawatts, of which natural gas-fired plants account for 30%, renewable energy 27 %, hydropower 22%, and nuclear plants 7.5%.

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