- The company plans to invest about €600 million in 2016 in line with the evolution of its business divisions while maintaining a solid balance sheet and comfortable debt/EBITDA ratio
- Two-thirds of the investment will be in wind and photovoltaic power projects in international markets, where ACCIONA will increase installed capacity by approximately 300 MW
Following 2015, a year of transition, ACCIONA expects to take advantage of a number of opportunities in international markets to consolidate growth in 2016, with approximately €600 million earmarked for investment.
This capital expenditure will be linked to the evolution of ACCIONA’s business divisions, and has some degree of flexibility, in order to maintain the Company’s solid balance sheet and to keep the net debt/EBITDA ratio below 4.5x.
The Energy Division will account for two-thirds of the planned outlays, linked to about 300 MW of new capacity to be installed in 2016. The investment will be split 50/50 between a PV plant at El Romero, in Chile – the largest in Latin America - and two wind farms at San Román in the United States and Bannur in India.
The Energy Division is basing its strategy on the expected worldwide growth in renewables. These technologies have become highly competitive in price, and ACCIONA Energy has identified interesting short- and medium-term opportunities linked to markets in Chile, Mexico, India, the USA and Australia. It is also actively studying new countries that are embracing renewables in their energy mix. In addition, the Energy division has launched a new operational efficiency drive and will seek to develop new business models linked to the needs of clients.
With regards to the Infrastructure Division, ACCIONA expects to see a recovery in international construction and is in the process of identifying medium-term opportunities in industrial installations. This new business area, focused on turnkey projects for industrial and energy generation plants, transmission and distribution networks, and gas infrastructure, will begin to report results starting this year after experiencing strong growth in 2015. In the last financial year, the Industrial area was awarded contracts for €453 million euros against €47 million in 2014.
The Construction business aims to extend its international reach in 2016 by opening new offices in the Middle East and South-East Asia. The Concessions business continues to identify good prospects around the globe. Its priority this year is to enter the US market, where it is studying opportunities in Texas, Florida, Virginia and Colorado. ACCIONA is also looking at concession opportunities in the United Kingdom and Norway.
Other businesses
In 2016, changes in ACCIONA’s perimeter will take place with the integration of AWP into Nordex, and the consolidation of ACCIONA’s majority stake in ATLL, a water concession in Catalonia. ACCIONA also expects to define its value proposition for the property sector and the growth model for ACCIONA Real Estate.
During 2015, ACCIONA Real Estate completed the integration of assets composed, in the main, of residential property rentals. The assets also include commercial real estate, shopping malls and hotels, and land for the development of new residential rentals. As a result, ACCIONA Real Estate now concentrates assets that are showing much dynamism in the Spanish real estate market. A number of options are being considered for this business unit, among them the entry of private investors or a public listing, if conditions prove attractive.