Enel to invest $63 billion by 2028, with a focus on Europe and the US
Enel, the Italian energy?utility, plans to increase its capital expenditures over the next three years. It will also shift its focus towards renewables in Europe and America.
In a press release, the state-controlled 'group' said it would invest about 63?billion dollars (53?billion euro) between 2026-2028, with half going to grids and 38% to renewables.
Enel's previous three-year plan had planned capital expenditures of 43 billion Euros, with 60% of that amount dedicated to grids, and the remaining?28% for green energy projects.
Enel said that the group expects to accelerate investments in renewables by a factor of 20. The group announced on Saturday a 1 billion-euro share buyback program to be implemented by the end of July.
The company expects earnings per share to rise to 0.80-0.82 euros in 2028, from the 0.69 euros that was expected for 2025. Next month, the company will report its full-year financial results. Dividends per share are expected to increase by an average of 6% each year until 2028. In 2025, they were 0.49 euros.
Enel has said that the increased focus on investor rewards and investment will result in a net financial debt of about three times the core earnings, up from 2.5 times the core earnings at the end last year.
JPMorgan stated in a client report that "we believe the market will not penalise Enel’s multiple... because the market is focused more on growth rather than 'on balance sheet? and Enel begins from an underleveraged position."
At 0830 GMT the shares of the group had risen?3.5%, which was higher than the 0.3% rise in Milan's blue chip index.
Last week, the shares that had reached a record high price of 9.76 euros in February were impacted by a?decree on energy from Italy, which included measures to?cut energy costs for households and companies. The decree includes reimbursements of CO2 costs for gas-fired plants. This is expected to reduce wholesale electricity prices, if approved by the European Commission.
(source: Reuters)
