Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA, Spain's biggest construction company, said it may complete the sale of some renewable power plants in the first half of the year and negotiations on the disposal of its solar- thermal generators are at an advanced stage.
The company expects to complete the sale of six bundles of clean-energy plants including solar generators and wind farms by the end of the year, General Manager Angel Garcia Altozano said on a conference call with investors today.
Selling the plants may bolster ACS's case to win a seat on the board of Iberdrola SA (IBE), the power company in which it controls a 20 percent stake. Bilbao-based Iberdrola has refused to grant ACS a slot on the board, arguing that the builder's clean-energy holdings make the two companies competitors.
ACS also expects to increase its 43 percent stake in Hochtief SA to 50 percent by the end of the first half of the year.
Net income at the Madrid-based company fell 31 percent to 204 million euros ($293 million) compared with the year earlier because Iberdrola's dividend payment fell in the second quarter, ACS said yesterday. On a like-for-like basis, profit increased 36 percent.
The company's plan to boost profit by 10 percent this year remains "fully achievable," Altozano said today.
ACS is selling clean-energy power plants with about 1,800 megawatts of capacity. It may earn about 1.76 billion euros from the sale after paying off debts linked to the projects, said Olivia Peters, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada in London.
ACS also expects to make an after tax capital gain of about 250 million euros from the sale of its cleaning services unit, known as Clece, Altozano said.
