The IFM fund studies opportunities to grow in renewables in Spain "with or without Naturgy"
Biogas, batteries, green hydrogen…. The energy transition is full of opportunities and, therefore, the target of the Australian fund IFM, popularly known in Spain since its landing in Naturgy, where it concentrates 14.5% of the capital.. The idea of the pension fund manager is to continue growing in our country, with renewables as the main objective. In fact, the firm is already studying opportunities to expand in that sector, either from the gas company itself, or outside the group chaired by Francisco Reynés where it does not reach..
In a meeting with journalists held early this Monday in Madrid, the senior management of the Australian firm insisted that they plan to maintain the same investment criteria in Spain, a market to which IFM has allocated 8,000 million euros in the last five years. , namely, a purchasing plan in strategic companies with a strong renewable component. There will be technologies in which this growth can be done from Naturgy itself, for example, in biomethane, where the company is a leader.. In others, “in which Naturgy is not interested,” the fund plans to grow “on our own.”
And in the face of global uncertainty, IFM focuses on “strong and resilient” sectors, such as those already present in our country, where it participates in Aqualia (water management), Aleástica (roads) and Naturgy (gas and electricity). The same ones for which the Government maintains its protection against foreign investors, an exam that IFM once had to pass, and which it could undergo again if it decides to enter another strategic company..
It is not surprising that IFM has maintained fierce diplomacy when talking about the regulatory landscape, including the controversial income tax on energy companies that dealt a blow of 300 million euros to Naturgy in 2022.. “We do not celebrate the tax,” they said just after showing their understanding of the concern about the energy crisis that prompted the Government's measure..
“We understand the reluctance generated by our entry into Naturgy, a strategic company. We want to demonstrate with actions that we are a reliable long-term partner, not everyone is and we hope to be recognized,” they emphasized.. And they have stressed that the manager's mentality is not to complete an investment cycle, but rather its vision is “50 or 100 years in the future.”
Among those responsible for the fund who attended this Monday's meeting, in addition to the head of IFM for Spain, Jaime Siles, were David Neal, chief executive of IFM Investors; Kyle Mangini, Global Director of Infrastructure; and Deepa Bharadwaj, Director of Infrastructure for Europe. The meeting with the media is part of the celebration of the annual General Meeting that IFM holds between this Monday and Wednesday in Madrid, “for the first time in a non-Anglo-Saxon country”, an example of “the growing strategic importance of Spain” for IFM's infrastructure asset portfolio.
Investment before dividend
In July, the Board of Directors of Naturgy agreed to reward its shareholders with a dividend increase to 1.40 euros per share, almost 17% more than the 1.20 euros per share that the company distributed from the accounts of 2022. In parallel, the company cut its investment plans compared to the objectives it set in 2021 at 800 million euros.
Asked about their position regarding this dividend increase, IFM officials insisted this morning that their vision as a manager is to prioritize “reinvestment in the companies we are in”, rather than triggering the dividend.. And they have clarified that it was not an assessment “specific to Naturgy.”