Acciona adds LatAm capacity, grows backlog in Q1

Acciona brought 228MW of solar PV capacity online in Chile in the first quarter, accounting for the biggest chunk of overall capacity growth, which was 323MW, in the period.

The Spanish energy and infrastructure firm also broke ground on the 168MW El Cortijo wind farm in Mexico, which will be the company's fifth in the country, where it has 557MW of wind capacity installed. The project is Acciona's first resulting from Mexico's electric power auctions, two of which were held last year, in March and September.

The company's Latin America backlog swelled 26% year-on-year in Q1 to 2.63bn euros (US$2.87bn), accounting for 33% of its global backlog.

Acciona reported a 60mn-euro net profit in Q1, up 20.8% year-on-year, as a result of broadly good business performance and a 26.4% reduction in financial expenses.

Energy business revenue declined 19.1% year-on-year.

Acciona Energía saw power generation revenue rise 7.7% to 361mn euros and Ebitda 5.6% to 226mn euros during the quarter. However, energy revenues and Ebitda declined overall as a result of deconsolidating Acciona Windpower. The company's full-year expectations for its energy business remained unchanged.

Consolidated revenue increased 15.2% to 1.63bn euros, driven by a 70.4% increase in revenues from construction, Acciona said in an earnings report.

The company's net interest-bearing debt was 5.50bn euros, up 7.1% on 1Q16, mainly because of ongoing investments, while gross capex was 272mn euros, including 139mn euros to acquire Australian engineering group Geotech.