At the end of a long day, Enel's assembly confirmed on Thursday Patrizia Grieco president and Francesco Starace managing director and general manager for the next three years, in a head-to-head with the Funds that left the Treasury holding its breath until the end. The board of directors will assign the proxies on Friday but in the meantime the shareholders have given the green light to the nine directors. The majority list presented by the Ministry of the Economy was voted by 49,98% of those present and passed by a hair's breadth with a difference of 0,55%. In addition to Grieco and Starace, Alfredo Antoniozzi, Paola Girdinio, Alberto Bianchi, Alberto Pera are part of it. The minority list presented by institutional investors obtained 49,43% of the votes, and is made up of Angelo Taraborrelli, Anna Chiara Svelto and Cesare Calari.
Thus it was avoided to resort to the clause of the statute designed to defuse the risks of impasse if the minority of the capital, represented by the funds present in force at the meeting, "overrides" the Treasury. At the annual appointment for the approval of the budget and the dividend that rises to 18 cents Approximately (+12% compared to last year) and is expected to grow to 21 cents for the current year, 58,78% of the share capital showed up with a turnout never reached before. The lion's share belongs to the MEF which controls Enel with 23,5% and will collect 430 million, while the other shareholder with a significant stake (above 3%) is Blackrock with 5,045% and will pocket 91. The profitability of the shares, it is no coincidence that the president Grieco underlined, "it is almost 60%" considering, in addition to the revaluation of the price (+8% in 2016) also the dividend that will be paid on 24 July. Institutional investors hold 54% of the group from 42% at the end of 2013. Among the items on the agenda also the long-term incentive plan intended for management, approved with 95% of votes in favour. Green light also for the remuneration report. Enough to celebrate a 2,23% rise on the stock exchange to 4,534 euros, "the all-time high since 2011", noted Starace.
At the opening of the meeting, the group presented the balance sheet for the year to the shareholders, recalled the CEO, “by hitting all the targets we had set ourselves: Ebitda has exceeded 15 billion euros and the trend will improve over the next three years. Net ordinary income amounted to 3,2 billion and we improved our cash generation capacity”. Capitalization, added Grieco, "has risen from 30 to 45 billion in three years and Enel confirms itself as the largest integrated utility at European level". But in addition to the final balance sheet, the meeting was the time to sum up breakthrough in renewables and commitments to decarbonisation and sustainability more generally, elements on which many of the interventions of the small shareholders insisted. In addition to the programs of Open Fiber and on liberalization strategies postponed to 2019, after the final approval of the Del Concorrenza. In 2017, the summit will go ahead with the reorganization of the holdings in South America, aiming to "reduce the number of existing companies by 50%". The start of the replacement of digital meters in Italy is expected in weeks.
ZERO CO2 SINCE 2050, GOODBYE TO COAL WITHIN 15 YEARS
“In 10-15 years we will no longer have coal-fired plants”, said Francesco Starace, confirming that "in 2050 Enel's electricity production will no longer use fossil fuels", therefore neither gas nor coal. The descent has already begun and thermal production has gone from 86 to 72 TWh last year globally; in Italy the drop was even more significant (-22%). The fact remains that the group can currently count on a park of thermal power plants of around 47.000 megawatts and even if the replacement with renewable sources proceeds at a rate of +2.000 megawatts a year, it will take some time to complete the transformation.
In Spain, the coal-fired plants of Teruel and Compostilla will close by 2020, Starace specified in response to the Iberian shareholders, while the other three plants (Litoral de Almeria, Puentes and Alcudia) "will continue to operate" and "we will invest 300 million".
COLOMBIA AND HUMAN RIGHTS
There were many questions from shareholders and organizations about Colombia. Starace specified that “The supply of coal from the Cesar district has been cut off and there is no contract in place”. On the possible violation of human rights in the coal mines in the area, the CEO specified that two audits were carried out on the management of two past suppliers, that no violations of human rights were found but added that he cannot exclude that there have been in the past.
OPEN FIBER DOES NOT LIST
The plan for optical fiber is going ahead (3,9 billion) and Enel expects to achieve very important prospects for the sector but "a listing of Enel Open Fiber is not on the agenda for now". Bologna, Perugia, Turin have already been completed, Venice has entered into operation and another 70 cities will enter into production next week. The yield, between 11 and 12% in zones A and B (in competition with the other operators), "is very respectable for an infrastructure" not at risk like the one under construction. Starace ruled out the possibility of integration with Tim: “We offer everyone the new network, even Tim if he wants”.
LIBERALIZATION TO 2019, IT'S NOT NEGATIVE
All in all, the postponement to 2019 of the definitive transition to the free energy market "is positive, it goes in the direction of not creating hardship for 22 million families that they have decided not to choose so far”. In practice, more time available to understand and choose. But also more time to define how the passage to the open sea of the consumers currently in charge of the various operators will have to take place: a knot that has not yet been resolved, for a market that is worth around 15 billion euros a year, corresponding to the sale of 70 billion kilowatt hour.
