Iberdrola joins the crusade against the Government’s energy tax. If last week the employers’ association of the electricity sector Aelec (in which it is included together with Endesa and EDP) announced that it had filed a contentious-administrative appeal before the National Court against the tax, now the company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán advances that it will also you have done it on your own and that you expect to win the appeal.
The company, which has presented the best results in its history on Wednesday with a net profit of 4,339 million euros, considers that the tax is “arbitrary” because it only affects certain sectors (energy and banking). “It violates the European constitution and European law,” the company remarked during a conference with analysts to report the results for 2022. Iberdrola has recorded the impact of the tax at 200 million euros, and does not expect the court ruling until next year.
“The results in Spain fell by 19%, weighed down by regulatory and tax measures and the increase in costs that the company has not passed on to customers”, the company has remarked in its annual accounts sent to the company to the National Commission of Stock Market (CNMV). Iberdrola expects an increase in its net profit of between 8% and 10% per year for the 2023-2025 period, going from 4,200 million last year to 5,400 million by the end of the cycle. However, he stressed that growth could be 5% including the energy tax.
Last Friday it was known that the National Court rejected Repsol’s request to apply precautionary measures against the order of the Ministry of Finance to impose a temporary tax on energy income and large banking entities. On February 8, one day after the order was approved, the anticipation filed an appeal urging the temporary suspension of the rule. The CEO of the oil company, Josu Jon Imaz, has captured the impact that the company will suffer from the tax at 450 million euros.
Imaz has considered that this tax is not compatible with the Spanish Constitution or with European regulations. “Populist messages only serve to hinder business activity, provoke investor mistrust, reduce investment and economic activity, decrease tax collection and put industrial employment at risk. Faced with these messages, Repsol is committed to a chamber of responsibility with society”.
For his part, the president of Naturgy, Francisco Reynés, has activated the impact for the gas company at 300 million, although he has not yet clarified whether he will appeal it or not. The tax is applied to 1.2% of the income of the liberalized business of companies in the sector that billed more than 1,000 million. It remains to know the position of Endesa, which presents results this Friday and has already calculated a blow of 400 million euros. As the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, advanced this Tuesday, it and the big energies have paid a total of 1,454 million euros in the first installment of the payment.
Montero explained that the energy tax has collected a total of 817.4 million and the bank, 637.1 million. Thus, he affirmed that after this first payment, the annual collection will exceed 2,900 million euros in line with the provisions of the Executive. On their side, the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA) and the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) have also filed two contentious-administrative appeals against the tax.
