Naturgy has announced this Wednesday a 17% increase in the dividend between 2023 and 2025 while reiterating the validity of the Geminis project, which provides for the segregation of its businesses, according to a relevant fact communicated this Wednesday to the National Market Commission of Securities (CNMV). The measures are seen as a nod to its shareholders. Shares rose 2.7% after the announcement.
Specifically, at the meeting of the board of directors this Tuesday, the energy company chaired by Francisco Reynés agreed to a 17% improvement in the dividend over the current figures, of 1.20 euros. The payment will have a floor of 1.40 euros per title for 2023, 2024 and 2025, which gives a return of 5.4% with the current price and “compensates the thousands of shareholders of the company for the rise in costs by interest rates and inflation. The commitment is subject to maintaining a BBB rating of S
On the other hand, he has analyzed the state of the Geminis plan, the segregation of assets into two companies, one with regulated businesses and the other with liberalized ones. Its implementation would make it easier for shareholders to invest in or exit the businesses that they consider most profitable for their interests. “The Council has verified its strategic sense and has summoned the team to continue analyzing the possible execution alternatives and their associated calendars,” he states in the statement.
When reviewing its current plan, the company also decided to increase the gross profit target (ebitda) for 2025 from 4,800 to 5,100 million euros; a reduction in investments from 14,000 million to 13,200 million and moderating the net debt from 16,900 million to 16,000 million.
The new objectives accelerate growth and the search for profitability, amid proposals from shareholder funds to sign a CEO with a more financial profile to open windows for the sale of their shares. “Given the various pieces of information that have appeared in recent days, all the shareholder representatives have wanted to ratify their firm commitment to the company’s industrial project and their total confidence in the management team,” the statement concluded. The company has parked the search for a CEO, as La Vanguardia has advanced, after rejecting Ignacio Gutiérrez-Orrantia, director of Citi, the position.
The company points out that the previous plan, from 2018 to 2022, “exceeded all its promised objectives.” Thus, the annual cost efficiency is 700 million for the 500 million committed, the ebitda is 5,000 million for the 4,600 million expected and investments have risen to 8,100 million for the 7,300 expected. The net debt, for its part, is 12,100 million, 3,000 million less than expected.
Naturgy will release details on updating its targets to 2025 on July 24, coinciding with the publication of its semi-annual results.
