• The company meets its targets for the eleventh consecutive year
• Enagás reaffirms its commitment to increasing its dividend by 5% per year until 2020
• In their yearly review, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch confirm their long-term rating for the company at A-
• National demand for natural gas grew by 9.2% in 2017. It is the third consecutive year of growth in natural gas consumption in Spain
Enagás made a net profit of 490.8 million euros in 2017. This figure includes the accounting impact produced by the full consolidation of GNL Quintero since January 2017. Taking this impact into account, net profit increased by 17.6% on the same period last year.
Standalone net profit was 437.7 million euros, reflecting 5% growth on 2016, in line with the targets set for the year. This increase was mainly the result of the contribution from affiliate companies, which accounted for 19.6% of the total.
Investments
Enagás invested a total of 328.5 million euros in 2017 in assets in which the company already had a presence. Of this figure, approximately 175 million euros were destined for the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a project in which Enagás holds a 16% stake, and which is key to guaranteeing the security of Europe’s energy supply.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has recently approved finance for the project to the amount of 1.5 billion euros, an important decision in the process for financing the TAP, for which financial closure is expected to be achieved in 2018. Start-up of this infrastructure is planned for 2020. Construction currently exceeds 65%.
Financial structure
Standalone net debt reported by Enagás at the close of 2017 was 4.364 billion euros, with more than 80% of the debt at a fixed rate. Also, in 2017 the cost of the standalone net debt was reduced to 2.2%, compared to 2.4% reported in 2016.
Financial resources stood at 2.484 billion euros, enabling the company to maintain high levels of solvency and to comfortably meet forthcoming maturities, which will not become significant until 2022.
Net standalone debt was reduced by 725 million euros in 2017, compared to the previous year, and the leverage ratio was improved. This was influenced by the strong performance shown by the national and international businesses and the transfer of the collection rights for the accumulated gas tariff deficit to 2014, an operation that was successfully completed owing to the economic and financial stability of the Gas System.
In their yearly review, the rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch confirmed their long-term rating for the company at A-.
