Enel, profit up 18% to 2028 and investments of 53 billion. Renewables, focus on Italia, Spain and the USA

Enel is gearing up for a new three-year period of growth, both in terms of profitability and shareholder remuneration, and in terms of investments. The board of directors approved the business plan 2026-28, which envisages earnings per share rising by 18% over the three-year period, from an expected EUR 0.69 per share at the end of 2025 to a maximum of EUR 0.82 per share. Meanwhile, the coupon for the 2025 financial year is announced, which will be EUR 0.49 per share compared to a 2024 dividend of EUR 0.47 per share. The plan is to achieve a cumulative Ebitda of 74 billion over the three-year period (which means a pace of around 24 billion per year, compared to 22.9 billion achieved at the end of 2025).

At the same time, the group is preparing to increase investments over the period by around 10 billion to a total amount of 53 billion between 2026 and 2028. Enel announced that it has maintained the targets announced with the previous plan: 15 billion was distributed to shareholders between dividends and planned buybacks. Meanwhile, on 22 February the board of directors approved a new one billion buyback plan, with the purchase of up to 150 million treasury shares. Thanks to the work done in recent years, the group has acquired financial flexibility of 15 billion to increase investments and shareholder remuneration.

About EUR 20 billion will be allocated to renewables, an increase of about EUR 8 billion over the previous plan to add about 15 GW of new renewable capacity, both greenfield (i.e. plants built from scratch) and brownfield (existing plants). The focus will be on geographies characterised by significant growth in electricity demand. Specifically, the group has planned to invest about 50% of its investments in renewables in Europe (mainly Italia and Spain), to be allocated among public auctions, hybridisation and repowering of plants, as well as brownfield opportunities. At the same time, it is planned to invest the remaining investments in the other countries defined as strategic, particularly in the United States, with projects supported by long-term contractual schemes, such as PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements), which guarantee full visibility on the group's contribution to value creation. Enel therefore plans to increase its installed capacity to over 80 GW from about 68 GW by the end of 2025. The additional renewable capacity, amounting to about 15 GW in total, will come about 9 GW from greenfield projects and about 6 GW from brownfield. In addition, more than 75% of the new capacity is expected to come from wind power and programmable technologies, such as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

More than EUR 26 billion will be allocated to the networks, of which about 55% will be in Italia and the remainder distributed between Iberia (20%) and Latin America (25%), provided there are "predictable regulatory frameworks and clear visibility of the future". Increased investment in Networks is expected to bring the group's Regulated Asset Base (RAB) to around EUR 58 billion in 2028 from around EUR 47 billion at the end of 2025 (+22%). In any case, the three-year plan hinges on three key strategies: "Accelerate growth in countries with stable environments, with a focus on networks, renewables and end customers through greenfield and brownfield investments. Maximise capital productivity through optimal allocation and efficient and effective management of economic resources. Ensure a balanced risk/return profile in order to pursue an improvement in ordinary earnings per share (EPS) while maintaining strict financial discipline'.

Enel specified that it has realised the efficiencies envisaged in the 2023-2025 strategic plan one year ahead of schedule, amounting to around EUR 1 billion compared to the 2022 cost base. With the new plan, further efficiencies of around EUR 700 million are now expected to be realised by 2028. "To maximise the productivity of its processes, the group also intends to accelerate the adoption of Artificial Intelligence tools, digitise the company's core activities and bring 100 per cent of applications to the Cloud."