MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Naturgy has revised upwards its estimates for this year 2023 and foresees a gross operating result (Ebitda) of more than 5,400 million euros, the company reported to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

In this way, the energy company chaired by Francisco Reynés improves its previous 'guidance' for this year by around 8%, which placed its Ebitda target for 2023 at more than 5,000 million euros. Until September, the group's Ebitda, which only presents results for the half-year and the end of the year, stood at 4.3 billion euros.

The company indicated that this review of its objectives is carried out based on the current energy scenario. This Ebitda growth is expected at the end of this year, as well as an acceleration of investment to around 3,000 million euros, compared to 1,900 million euros in 2022. At the end of September, the company's investment effort in Networks and Renewables already reaches the same figure as all of last year.

Meanwhile, the energy net debt target is around 12.5 billion euros at the end of this year, about 2.3 times the net debt to Ebitda ratio.

Regarding the distribution of dividends -Criteria, the holding company of La Caixa, which is the first shareholder with 26.7% of the capital, and the CVC funds (20.7%), GIP (20.6%) and IFM (14.5%) are its main shareholders - reiterates the objective of a floor of 1.4 euros per share that it already established last summer.

In this 'roadmap' for remuneration to its shareholders, the Naturgy board of directors has approved an interim dividend for the 2023 financial year of 0.5 euros per share that will be paid on November 7.

The group's dividend is paid in three tranches, with a first payment of 0.5 euros in the first half, which took place in August, these 0.5 euros in the third quarter and another of 0.4 euros after the general meeting of shareholders.

Last July, Naturgy already launched a strategic review with a horizon of 2025 after exceeding in 2022 all the objectives committed to in its 2018-2022 strategic plan.

In this update, it expected to exceed 5,000 million euros in Ebitda and achieve a net profit of 1,800 million euros. Meanwhile, investments for the 2021-2025 five-year period stood at 13,200 million euros, which implied an increase of more than 5,000 million euros in 'capex' compared to the previous strategic period. The company also estimated to close 2025 with a net debt of 16,000 million euros, 1,000 million less than the previous forecast.

On the other hand, Naturgy also reported that its board has agreed to the appointment of Jon Ganuza Fernández de Arroyabe as head of the Supply and Wholesale Markets area, following the voluntary departure of the previous head, Antoni Basolas Tena.

The council has expressly thanked Basolas for his 18 years of dedication to the group.