A solid year ended with a net profit of 441 million euros in 2022, reflecting a rise of 32.7% from the prior year. This growth was driven by the expansion of Acciona Energía, a favorable spike in energy prices, and strong performance in the infrastructure business, which again set a record portfolio of projects at 22,000 million euros.
Total revenues for the period reached 11,195 million euros, marking a 38% increase. The gross operating result, or EBITDA, climbed by 39% to 2,068 million euros as reported in the income statement.
Even as profits advanced, 35 million euros were affected by impairment losses on the energy assets. Excluding the negative contributions from Ukraine and Nordex, which totaled 194 million euros, the growth would have been even more pronounced.
On the financing side, the group closed the year with net financial debt of 5,253 million euros and a notably improved net debt to EBITDA ratio, which eased from 2.93x to 2.54x. Investments reached 2,004 million euros, up 22.5% excluding divestitures in 2021 as a result of the Acciona Energía IPO and related activities.
In ESG terms, Acciona advanced in gender representation with women occupying 22.2% of management and executive roles, compared with 26% for Acciona Energía itself. The company also expanded its social impact projects by 24%, reduced the accident frequency rate by 9.5%, and cut overall emissions by 3.3% (39.5% for the Energy segment). Notably, 98% of investments aligned with the European Union taxonomy for sustainable activities.
Power Energy
Power Energy delivered a net attributable profit of 759 million euros, supplying 79% of the group’s EBITDA, and more than doubled the prior year to 4,351 million euros, with revenue rising by 76%.
The favorable performance is attributed to a robust energy price environment, where the average price of generation rose by about 51% to 114 euros per megawatt-hour, aided by lower financing costs and strong risk management throughout the year.
As of December 2022, total installed capacity stood at 11,826 megawatts, up 5.2% with a net gain of 581 MW. This increase reflects new capacity additions (706 MW) and a modest perimeter reduction in Spain of 124 MW.
Reported consolidated production reached 19,657 gigawatt-hours, a 2.2% decline, primarily due to weaker water resources in hydropower and some assets facing lower availability due to leaks and technical incidents.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The Infrastructure division, covering construction, concessions, water and urban services as well as environmental works, generated 6,016 million euros in revenue in 2022, with notable growth in Brazil, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
New awards totaled 9,142 million euros, lifting the portfolio to an all-time high of 22,020 million euros, up 21.7% year over year. Geographic distribution places Australia and Southeast Asia at 29%, Spain at 18%, Latin America at 27%, Europe, the Middle East and Africa at 20%, and the USA and Canada at 5%.
The Infrastructure business closed the year with an EBITDA of 369 million euros, yielding a margin of 6.1%, up 14.2% driven by improved profitability in international construction activities.
Other activities
The group’s remaining operations detracted from pre-tax profits, contributing a negative 200 million euros. The Energy segment accounted for 1,000 million and Infrastructure for 87 million in that decline.
This segment includes real estate activities, which saw revenue rise by 30% after delivering 617 homes, a 39.3% increase. Bestinver faced a 21% drop in turnover due to adverse conditions in fixed income and variable markets. Services posted a 9.4% activity increase, and Silence reported a 43% rise in vehicle sales to 12,826 units in 2022.