Change of stage at Criteria Caixa. The board of directors of the La Caixa group investee holding yesterday agreed on the appointment of Ángel Simón as the new CEO, replacing Marcelino Armenter. Isidre Fainé continues as chief executive and president, who, as expected, has been re-elected for a new four-year term.
Àngel Simón will continue as president of the Agbar water management group, although he will leave the executive functions and waive the remuneration. He will also leave the position of vice president of the French group Veolia, the owner of Agbar. It remains to be seen who will assume the position of first executive of the Spanish company.
Simón’s entry is a strategic move for Criteria, which faces several weighty challenges, including the shareholding changes of Naturgy and Telefónica, and the sale of Saba, which has been in the works for some time.
Armenter, for many years Fainé’s confidant, renewed his position as Criteria’s director and first executive less than a year ago. He has served as CEO since 2019, although he was CEO since 2013, a position in which he replaced Gonzalo Gortázar, currently CEO of CaixaBank.
At yesterday’s council meeting, it was also agreed to propose the appointment of notary Juan José López Burniol as first vice-president of Criteria. López Burniol, until now a member of Criteria’s board, also holds the position of vice president of Fundació La Caixa, an entity that is also chaired by Isidre Fainé. Javier Godó, count of Godó, editor of La Vanguardia, continues as second vice-president.
Another of the agreements adopted was the renewal as directors of José Antonio Asiaín, Marcos Contreras, Jean-Louis Chaussade, Isabel Estapé, Josep-Delfí Guàrdia and Francesc Homs.
Armenter’s resignation will be effective on January 31, but the appointments will not take place until February 15, when they are ratified by the La Caixa Foundation’s board of trustees. “We are opening a stage and giving new impetus to the Criteria Caixa project, with the aim of securing the financial resources that Fundació La Caixa will need in the coming years to carry out its social work”, Fainé emphasized in a statement. He also highlighted the increase in the budget of the La Caixa Foundation, which this year will reach 600 million euros, which means an increase of 12% compared to 2023 and the highest figure in history.
“The approval of a budget of 600 million for 2024 represents a very important step in the history of the entity”, insisted Fainé, who added that “in a highly complex world, with increasing levels of inequality higher, the La Caixa Foundation maintains its commitment to social and human development, especially to that of the most vulnerable people”.
It is the largest foundation in Spain and one of the first in Europe. In the last 15 years, it has allocated around 7,000 million euros to social, scientific, educational and cultural initiatives to contribute to a society that gives more opportunities to those who need it most, as the entity recalled yesterday. Of the total investment planned for 2024, 58.7%, more than 350 million, will be allocated to the development of social programs. The investment earmarked for this type of program will grow by more than 10% compared to the previous year.
The increase in the budget has been possible thanks to the increase in dividends from its major investees, in particular CaixaBank and Naturgy, in line with the improvement in results.
The gross market valuation of Criteria’s holdings is 26,400 million, according to the calculations contained in the press release made public yesterday by the La Caixa Foundation. The largest holdings are 32.2% of CaixaBank, 26.7% of Naturgy, 9.1% of Grup Financer Inbursa, 19% of Bank of East Asia, 4.3% of Cellnex and 2 .55% of Telefónica.
In Telefónica, CaixaBank also has another 3.5% additional to that of Criteria. CaixaBank came to have more than 5%, but has been reducing the percentage in accordance with the indications of the European Central Bank (ECB), contrary to banks having industrial participations. And as CaixaBank reduced it, Criteria increased its weight in Telefónica. When the State Industrial Participations Company (SEPI) executes the purchase of 10% of the telecommunications company, there will be two companies in which Criteria will share shareholding with the State, after CaixaBank.
