Acciona profits tumble on Endesa divestment

Net profit at Acciona fell -91,8% to € 101 million in the first nine months of 2010 - a sharp drop that the company said was down to its decision to sell its 25% stake in Spanish electricity utility Endesa in June last year.

Acciona said the net profit of € 1,2 billion it recorded for the nine months ended 30 September, 2009, included a one-off € 1,1 billion boost linked to the sale of its Endesa asset to Italy's Enel.

Stripping out this effect, Acciona said net profit from continued operations decreased by a far less dramatic -3,3 % year-on-year.

And the Spanish contractor reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased +17% to € 813 million during the nine-month period.

Despite this, Acciona reported a -2,8 % drop in revenues for the nine-month period to € 4,5 billion, a fall primarily driven by declines in infrastructure, the group's largest division.

Lesser activity in domestic construction business resulted in a -12,7% year-on-year slump in infrastructure revenues to € 2,3 million at 30 September, the company said.

EBITDA in the infrastructure division decreased in line with the revenues to € 117 million.

Offsetting this, Acciona said its concession business showed "significant growth" regarding revenues.

Earnings before taxes in concessions were € 60 million, with a margin of 2,6%.

And the growth of Acciona's energy division continued. The unit reported a +23,9% increase in revenues during the period to € 1,1 billion.