Intanto anche Iberdrola, altra utility spagnola di grandi dimensioni, si accinge a varare una politica di gestione finanziaria molto conservativa, ridimensionando il capex rispetto a quanto stabilito in precedenza, con il proposito di evitare una crescita dell'indebitamento, mentre manifesta l'intenzione di rivolgersi al mercato dei capitali con nuove emissioni mentre rifinanzia le linee di credito bancarie di cui dispone attualmente al fine di allungarne le scadenze.
UPDATE 1-Iberdrola sees 2009 capex at 4-4.5 bln euros
Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:23pm GMT
* Likely to tap debt markets again in coming months
* Rules out buy-back of Iberdrola Renovables stocks (Adds investment in Douro dams in paragraphs 4-5)
By Ruben Bicho
PORTO, Portugal, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Spanish utility Iberdrola plans capital expenditure of 4.5 billion euros ($5.83 billion) this year, down from 13 billion euros in 2008, and is likely to issue more debt in the coming months, Chief Executive Ignacio Galan said on Friday.
The energy giant, which is also one of the world's biggest wind power generators, had an investment plan for 2008-2012 envisaging a capital expenditure of 25 billion euros, but it said in October the bleak macroeconomic setting could reduce the investment by 2 billion a year.
"We don't have a definitive position yet, but probably this year we will have an investment around 4-4.5 billion euros and next year it will be at cash-flow levels to maintain current debt levels," Galan told reporters.
The investment includes 450 million euros in a combined cycle thermal power plant near Portugal's coastal city of Figueira da Foz. As for longer-term investment in Portugal, Iberdrola should spend 1.7 billion euros on four dams in the Douro River basin, higher than the previously announced 1.3 billion.
Iberdrola won the concessions with a total projected capacity of 1,134 megawatts last July. The construction is scheduled for completion by 2018. Galan did not provide the reason for the spending increase.
He said Iberdrola had its financing needs covered at the moment, but was likely to issue more debt after it raised 1.6 billion euros in November and 1 billion euros and 500 million pounds earlier this month.
"It is very likely that in the coming months we will have an additional issue ... Our financing needs are totally covered, we have liquidity around 8 billion euros to 9 billion euros in available lines, but we want to extend maturities," he said.
Galan also dismissed market speculation that Iberdrola may buy back shares in its renewable energy unit Iberdrola Renovables, which lost 46 percent of their value last year. Iberdrola's own shares shed 37 percent in 2008.
"We have no such plan, our resources do not serve to artificially maintain the value of shares, they are meant for investment and future growth," he said.
Galan also said Iberdrola had no plans to alter its 9.5 percent stake in Portugal's main utility, Energias de Portugal (EDP), and that it had not made a loss on its stake, in spite of a near 40 percent drop in EDP's share price in 2008. ($1=.7719 Euro) (Reporting by Ruben Bicho; writing by Andrei Khalip; editing by Simon Jessop)