Naturgy Energy Group, S.A. ($NTGY)

Earnings Call Transcript · March 24, 2026

BME ES Utilities Gas Utilities Shareholder/Analyst Calls 86 min

Highlights from the call

In the earnings call for Naturgy Energy Group, S.A. held on March 24, 2026, management reported a record profit of EUR 2.2 billion for the fiscal year 2025, a 46% increase from 2024. The company maintained a robust financial position with net debt at EUR 12.3 billion and a credit rating of BBB. Guidance for 2026 indicates continued focus on risk management and investment in renewable energy, with expectations for stable cash flows despite market volatility. The company announced a supplementary dividend of EUR 0.57 per share, contributing to a total dividend of EUR 1.77 per share, reflecting a 10% increase from the previous year.

Main topics

  • Record Profit: Naturgy reported a historic profit of EUR 2.2 billion for 2025, which is a 46% increase compared to 2024. Management stated, "We have once again over met all the commitments we had with the shareholders and the market regarding the EBITDA or operating profit, the net results, the debt and the dividend per share."
  • Dividend Announcement: The company declared a supplementary dividend of EUR 0.57 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2025 to EUR 1.77 per share, a 10% increase from the previous year. Management emphasized their commitment to a strong dividend policy, stating, "We will be increasing by 10% the dividend that we paid out in the year 2024."
  • Debt Management: Naturgy's net debt stood at EUR 12.3 billion, maintaining one of the lowest debt-to-EBITDA ratios in the sector. Management noted, "We have reduced our debt by making our company more solvent," indicating a focus on financial discipline.
  • Investment in Renewables: The company plans to continue investing in renewable energy projects, with over EUR 2.1 billion allocated for 2025, primarily in energy distribution networks and energy transition activities. Management stated, "We continue to grow selectively, especially supported in certain important levers, such as the possibility to repower all the operating plants."
  • Market Volatility Concerns: Management acknowledged the potential for increased market volatility in 2026 due to fluctuating energy prices and currency valuations. They stated, "This will translate into growing uncertainty," indicating a cautious outlook for the upcoming year.

Key metrics mentioned

  • Revenue: EUR 2.2B (vs EUR 1.5B in 2024, +46% YoY)
  • Net Debt: EUR 12.3B (vs EUR 12.5B in 2024, stable)
  • Total Dividend: EUR 1.77 (vs EUR 1.61 in 2024, +10% YoY)
  • EBITDA Margin: 55% (stable YoY)
  • Operating Expenses: 25% (down from 36% in 2018)
  • Credit Rating: BBB (stable)

Naturgy's strong financial performance and commitment to dividends position it favorably in the utilities sector. However, market volatility and shareholder concerns about liquidity and share price performance present risks. Investors should monitor the company's execution of its strategic initiatives and the external economic environment as potential catalysts for future growth.

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Unknown Executive

Executives
#1

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. If you allow me, before I officially start this AGM, I would like to share with you a video that summarizes joint and in-depth work that we have done this year and after being shared and approved by the AGM has to do with our corporate purpose. Our corporate purpose has been defined as a goal that aims to facilitate the relationship that we all have with energy on a daily basis. By trying to improve the relationship with our employees, collaborators, public authorities, regulators, suppliers and especially so with the over 20 million customers that we have distributed through our geographies. So without further ado and before we officially start, allow me to show you this video that summarizes our commitment. [Presentation]

Francisco Reynés Massanet

Executives
#2

Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, just like in previous years, I'm honored as the Chairman of the Board of Directors to welcome you to this ordinary AGM that the company holds, as we have in the past, both remotely and in person simultaneously. I would especially like to thank the presence of the members of the Board of Directors who are here present and also the representatives of the most significant shareholders. Especially this year, I have the honor of welcoming the representatives of Sonatrach, Mr. Noureddine Daoudi and Mr. [ Adalah, ] who are also with us here today. One more proof of that commitment and the fruitful relationship and long-lasting relationship we've had for over 40 years. Therefore, we officially open this session. The holding of the meeting was convened on the 24th of February on the website of the company, the CNMV and in several daily newspapers. The agenda was made public both in the publications made and in the attendance card you have with you. So let's consider it read. Yes. Now I'll give the floor to the Secretary, who will give you the data on the quorum of attendance.

Manuel García Cobaleda

Executives
#3

The summary of the list of those present that is is the following: present shareholders, 165 holders of 660,169,932 shares accounting for 68.09% approximately of share capital; represented shareholders, 450 holders of 104,070,250 shares that account for 10.7% of the share capital. In total, 750 shareholders, holders of 764,240,182 shares, all of them with voting right and accounting for 78.8% of the share capital. In this figure, we also include the treasury stock shares. However, they do not have voting rights. These figures may change depending on the latest shareholders that may join us remotely until 4:00 a.m. -- until 9:00 a.m., sorry, in the website. The final quorum will be published on our website. According to Articles 193 and 194 of the Companies Act and #9 of the regulation of the AGM, we have the legal requirements to declare this AGM duly formed. Regarding the attendance rights, I declare this AGM duly constituted in a first call. The presiding panel of the AGM will be made up by the directors who are here in this room and also by the Secretary and myself. I would also like to inform you that according to Article 203 of the Companies Act and also as we published in the call, we have asked the presence of the public notary of Madrid, Mr. Fernando de la Camara, who will take the minutes of the AGM. I'll give the floor to the public notary.

Fernando de la Cámara García

Attendees
#4

Thank you very much, dear Chairman. I'm Fernando de la Camera, public notary of Madrid. I have been asked to take minutes of this AGM. And according to the regulation, I would like to ask if there are any questions or comments made regarding the quorum of the AGM. If you'd like to make any comments, we will register that in the minutes. Therefore, I would like to thank the shareholders. Those who wish to take the floor after myself and the Secretary's presentation, if you haven't done so, please make sure that you hand in a form with your question to the people in the room. Also those who are present remotely, you can send your questions and ask for the floor via the form that is available to you. Once the Secretary and myself carry out our presentations, we will jointly answer any questions you may have. If any shareholder wishes for the public notary to take little note of the question, please make sure that you give us the text that you will be using or please state so in the online form that we have. Once all the interventions are finalized, we will vote the proposals for resolutions and the secretary will give you some instructions on how that will proceed. I'll read it quickly because these are the same rules that we've had in previous AGMs. First, the voting of proposals for resolutions included in the agenda will be done using a negative substruction system. All shares present or represented will be deemed in favor of the motion after substracting votes corresponding to shares whose shareholders or proxies declare themselves to be voting against it or abstaining or he leaves before the end. The same for those who participate remotely if they leave the room without exercising their voting right. The voting of proposals for resolutions not included in the agenda will be done using a positive substruction system. That means that all shares present or represented will be deemed against the motion after substracting votes corresponding to shares whose shareholders or proxies declare themselves to be voting in favor or abstaining even if you leave the room before the vote takes place. And the same for those remotely, if they leave the room before exercising their voting rights. I would also like to inform you that for those shareholders or proxies who are present in the room or present remotely, please make sure you inform us of your desire to vote. I would also like to inform you that the shareholders or proxies present in the room, if you wish to leave in record that they left the meeting or your voting decisions, please do so by informing those at the table outside this room. And also for those attending online, please make sure that you let us know before leaving the room, those -- your direction of vote. We will first vote the proposals for resolutions presented by the Board of Directors and afterwards, those presented by others. We will also consider approved all those that cannot be voted because they go against one -- are incompatible with one that's already been approved.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#5

Okay. So now let's move on to talk about the report for the year 2025. My presentation will have 4 sections. And at the end, we'll have the proposals for resolutions that will be voted as explained by the Secretary. First, I'll talk about the results of the year 2025, then we'll look into the transformation process that we started in 2018. Obviously, we will also talk about the current situation of the company and what to expect for year 2026. And finally, we will update the shareholders on the new shareholding structure of the company. As for the results, we have experienced an energy market, and I would like to remind you that this chapter ended on the 31st of December 2025 because unfortunately, afterwards, many things have happened, as I will mention on the Section 3 of my presentation. Until the 31st of December 2025, we had an energy market that come down in the second half of the year as we can be seen in terms of the raw material markets and the forecast for the CO2 market and electricity markets. In this same environment, we have also, due to the devaluation of the American dollar versus the euro, we have seen effects on all the other currencies where we have activities present, especially in Latin America. Despite that environment, we can say that today, the company -- we can say in 2025, we were able to reach the best results and the best metrics after our 183 years of history. I would like to underline that the level of investments was higher than the profit achieved that the contribution in terms of taxes and fees was over EUR 12 million. And that the dividends to the shareholders, including the complementary shareholder, will nearly be EUR 1.7 billion. All of that with a clear policy of financial discipline that has allowed us to withhold our net debt. The P&L account, you can see it in the documents that were given to you or the information that you've had on the website. And on the website, you'll also have the summary of this as well as in the website of the CNMV. I would like to say that we have given to the EBITDA or to the operation margin, in terms of gas and electricity, a combination of 55%, 45%, and they are quite balanced in terms of the origin of those businesses. Part of our businesses are related to infrastructure, what we call the network business, and another part of our business is related to energy markets businesses. In terms of currencies, 3/4 of the business is related to activities in euro and dollar, and the weaker currencies account for about 1/4 of our P&L. As for the balance sheet, we have a net debt of EUR 12.3 billion. And you can see that when we look at the included debt, we have included some treasury stock that were acquired with the self take of EBITDA that we did in the second half of the year. That allows us to say today that our level of debt in terms of net debt over EBITDA is one of the lowest in the sector. Our credit rating is BBB according to Standard & Poor's. And also the company has a level of liquidity of approximately EUR 10 billion in order to face potential eventualities or investments that we may wish to carry out. In terms of the cash flow, we had a powerful cash flow this year that allowed us to make investments for over EUR 2.1 billion. The destination of those investments mainly focused on 2 areas: our energy distribution networks for gas and electricity; and everything that has to do with energy transition activities with renewable generation. Less than 20% of the investments were made on other businesses. All those investments have been done, obviously, as should be, following a strict financial discipline rule that ensures value creation. Net debt had ups and downs, obviously, as in any other financial year. We have included nearly EUR 1 billion of the buying of treasury stock. The average cost of debt has been contained. In fact, it has been reduced from 4% to 3.9%. And in terms of the rating agency metrics, mainly S&P, we have about 9-point-something points versus the minimum required to maintain our BBB rating, which is our goal. As within all of those items, I would like to talk about the dividends. As I said before, we require your approval in order to close with the complementary dividend. The company has also carried out important financial activities, especially refinancing loans or credits that were to mature or bringing forward those that could mature in the near future with operations that accounted for a total of approximately EUR 11 billion. In the strategic plan 2025, 2027, we promised to make an attractive dividend policy, establishing a floor for each of those years. For 2025, the floor was EUR 1.7 per share, of which the shareholders have already -- I'm also a shareholder, we have already received EUR 1.2 so far. And we would have to add to that the EUR 0.57 that, together with EUR 1.2, would mean that we will receive EUR 1.77 per share. With this payment of dividends, we will be increasing by 10% the dividend that we paid out in the year 2024. We can say that with the closing of 2025, we have once again over met all the commitments we had with the shareholders and the market regarding the EBITDA or operating profit, the net results, the debt and the dividend per share. If you remember, those 4 metrics were communicated to the market in June last year, and they were updated in September. Therefore, we gave a guideline to all shareholders of how we expected the year to end. The year has ended above all the figures expected and with the aim to fulfill all the objectives that we had set. To sum up, we have had good results. The profitability has improved. The reason for that improvement is our constant improvement policy for operations and our way of operating. Also we've had capital discipline that has allowed us to maintain a robust balance, the proactive management of risks that hasn't affected our achievement of our goals and serving in our commitments despite a complex environment. In the year 2018, if you remember, we started a transformation phase that we communicated to you on the AGM of that year. And it was focused on several action levers. I would like to talk about what we have done since then because as you can imagine, an industrial company with this inertia requires some time in order to take stock of whether the changes have been fruitful or not. First, we spoke about working to make the company -- to make sure the company was ready for a more responsible future in terms of energy transition. During this period, we have decided several things. First, we have closed down our coal factories, and we have increased our renewable sources. We have done so by maintaining the flexibility required with our CCGT fleet, that is what we call flexible generation and give flexible generation to the system that has been so important since the blackout on the 20th of April. In this period, we have increased by 80% our operational capacity in terms of renewable energies, and we have reduced by 30% the emissions. The second axis was constant improvement. We wanted to make sure the company would be more efficient and more -- would be more prepared for whatever could happen in the future. First actions took place on the OpEx, our daily activities. In the year 2018, when we compare versus the margin of the company, our OpEx accounted for 36%. Now after a significant reduction, we can say that our OpEx has been reduced to 25%, which means a recurrent saving of over EUR 500 million per year. If we compare that to our peers, we could say that we are very well positioned. When we talk about improvement, we also talk about reducing volatility by hedging all the operations that could be exposed to the market. At the time, our volumes exposed to market indexes accounted for less than 30%. We have finished 2025 with a hedging of 100%. And the last axis of action has to do with a balance between the energy that we sell and the energy we generate so that in terms of intramarginal generation, we can be at peace when we have fixed price contracts. This obviously had a deviation in 2018 from 10 to 20 terawatts hour of energy. We can say that we have managed to balance this out in 2025. And therefore, we can give predictability, peace of mind and stability to our results and commitments. The third axis had to do with efficient use of our capital. At the time in the plan, we said that we wanted to strengthen our commitment with financial discipline or investment discipline. In this sense, we can say that nearly the EUR 41 billion that we have generated in cash, of those, over EUR 16 billion have been devoted to investment; EUR 11.7 billion have been devoted to remuneration to the shareholders as dividends; over EUR 8 billion have been devoted to our tax obligations. We have also reduced our debt by making our company more solvent. At no point have we lost sight of that investment discipline with which 4 basic criteria, investing only in projects that give us industrial control, investing in those assets that give us returns higher to our capital cost, prioritizing our investments on the 2 businesses that will be the spearhead of our future, which is energy networks and renewable gases and always within the perimeter of making sure that we wouldn't put at risk our credit rating. This has to do with the solvency required by the credit rating agencies when they analyze our company. Within this effort, I would like to say that just like we started 2018 with the level of debt that was 4x EBITDA, we now have a debt level that has been reduced by half in terms of comparative ratios. And so during this period, we have said 2 times in our history where we have looked at specific matrix -- patching system what we call specific strategic plans. We had a strategic plan in 2018, and we set another strategic plan in 2021. Each of them, as you can see, with different metrics because at the time in 2018 and then in 2021, we considered or the Board of Directors considered that these were the metrics that should be aimed at. Each of them have been fulfilled and even exceeded, giving a lot of credibility to the management team, which are, in fact, the ones who achieved all these metrics. And this has been reducing to -- can be summarized into different ratios, what we call, in general, value creation. We have improved, clearly improved everything that has to do with the return on invested capital, ROIC. And that return, as you can see in the graph, we are today the company that has a return on invested capital higher than the average of our sector. Going beyond the return on -- for the shareholders, which allow us to look at the profitability that a shareholder would obtain when we look at the generated profit. We have gone from having an ROE of 9.2% to 21.5%, above our sector's average. And finally, if we look at the performance of our share since the first strategic plan in 2018, we can see that even when we look at difficult times like the pandemic or the beginning of the war on the Ukraine, a shareholder who had invested on the 1st of January on 2018 by the 31st of January 2025 would have obtained 10.4% net annually without considering, obviously, the tax obligations and also without considering if this was leverage on debt. Another important axis of the strategic plan was the improvement of customer care. We set the customer as the core, as the main asset that any company could have, increasingly so in this sector that has seen how we have gone from more happy customers, the customers that are increasingly demanding. And we can see how the team has worked a lot in order to lead to improvements. For instance, if we look at the customer satisfaction when they call the call center that has improved significantly. Also the resolution of incidents after the first call, that has improved, in fact, has doubled. In terms of digital customer care, this has really made it easier for our customers to contact our company and also the average time of activation that has been reduced by half. We know we need to continue working. We know there's a lot left to do, but everything that we are doing in terms of the customers is -- not only can be seen in these figures, but also in the feedback that we have given what others make of us. As the video said, the other important pillar in our management has to do with people. Our commitment with people are what makes our company have received -- we have, in fact, been considered one of a Great Place to Work, not only in Spain, but also in all the other geographies where we operate. For the first time -- it's the first time the Spanish company has achieved this. In terms of ratios, I would like to say, for instance, I would like to talk about the employee satisfaction that has increased significantly, and that is measured objectively in an independent and anonymous manner. We have also increased training programs for our employees. For instance, we've increased -- and we have now 99% of our employees participating in training programs. We have increased our ratios of women in management positions, exceeding the recommendations by the government of a minimum of 40%. And we have reduced the frequency of accidents at work. Maybe this is the area where we are not so proud because would like to stop having accidents at work. In fact, over the last few weeks, as you have seen, it wasn't enough to employees, but employees of 2 of our collaborating companies have had 2 deaths. We are not happy about that, and we will continue to work a lot on that area, not only to make sure our contractors are more -- offer more caution, but also to improve this index. This index has improved, but not as much as we would like it to. Also, the company has continued having programs that demonstrate their commitment with society, both in terms of strengthening our commitment with supplier. And in this case, I would like to talk about our -- the importance of our long-term contract and our long-lasting relationship with our friends from Sonatrach who are present. Also, the company has carried out special support programs and has carried out actions. For instance, during COVID, all our commercial actions also due to the war in the Ukraine and more recently, we have made efforts to resolve to make sure that we move ahead in the reconstruction plan after the DANA storm in Valencia. We also want to strengthen our support with the site focused on 2 axis: education and digital training. I would like to say, and these are the figures up to the 31st of December, we have over 1,500 volunteers amongst our employees that show our company's commitments, not just with the company, but also with those who need it the most. If it's okay with you, I'll move on to Section 3 that has to do with the year 2026. I think no AGM in any other energy company such as ours, we all need to talk about what's going in the world, including oil prices, gas prices and why not, also the performance of the currencies, especially the dollar. We have seen that in the year 2025, the U.S. dollar behaved well, depreciated and was devalued, and lately, we've seen also valorization or greater value to the dollar. In this environment, this will increase volatility in the energy markets and also in financial markets. This will translate into growing uncertainty. What does Naturgy do in such a situation? First of all, I would like to say that our gas supply commitments are not originated in the Middle East, which means we do not have suppliers in that area of the world. And therefore, we are more protected. We are protected, thanks to several things. First of all, because we have long-term LNG contracts until 2042 that do not originate from that -- from the Middle East. So we have -- we can be [ calm ] about that. Also, we have a very robust, strong full relationship with Sonatrach since 1969, and we hope this will continue to be the case. I think the presence here of the CEO of Sonatrach is a clear proof of that commitment in the long term. And I would also like to remind you that just like Sonatrach, we also have a stake in the Medgaz, which is the physical exclusive connection between Spain and Algeria, and that allows us to continue receiving gas in a stable manner. Moreover, the company will continue to capture opportunities wherever we can, but without putting at risk the comfortable situation that we have. I'd like to say that in terms of Naturgy, our customers nowadays in this context have other supply guaranteed. Year 2026 will also be a year of hard work, hard work in all the areas of the company, in the businesses and in the corporate areas. And here, I have tried to summarize the 2 main axis of action, which are the 2 -- our 2 main goals and leaving 2025 behind. In terms of networks, we hear a lot about it lately. Over the next few weeks, we will start discussing the new regulation for gas distribution in Spain for the period '27-'32, an important milestone for the company. And in Latin America, we will be discussing the extension of concessions or new public tenders that could take place. In terms of energy management, we will continue to proactively manage risk, not only in the year 2026, but also in the forthcoming years because our philosophy of avoiding uncertainties and having peace of mind has meant that we have been proactively managing risk. We will also continue to assess new supply opportunities. We need LNG diversification, and we need to give greater visibility to this privileged relationship that we have with our supplier and our Algerian shareholders, Sonatrach. In terms of thermal generation, we will continue, and we already have the most important fleet of CCGTs in Spain to give peace of mind to -- and stability to the system whenever needed. And we will maintain that fleet with flexibility, efficiency and in a perfect state of operation. And we also have our CCGTs in Mexico where we had to start renegotiating the terms and conditions for the next few years. In terms of renewable generation, we continue to grow selectively, especially supported in certain important levers, such as the possibility to repower all the operating plants and to create hybrid projects or even adding battery storage capabilities to make them more competitive. Also, we will have to finalize the execution of the ongoing developments that add 1.2 gigawatts of operation. In terms of trading, and we said so in the video, we continue to highlight that. We are a company that's especially focused on customers, nearly 20 million customers that we have distributed across the globe, and we would like to continue improving their satisfaction and our service. Therefore, we'll continue to improve our operating model. And thanks to new tools such as the installation of the new commercial [indiscernible], we'll continue to improve advancing in the use of technologies to continue improving our customer satisfaction. And finally, renewable gases, they are [ practically ] in fashion. We've always believed on them. But given the latest events, this gives greater importance to energy self-sufficiency. We know we won't be able to replace everything, but we will be able to have more renewable gas. So we have over 75 projects of biomethane in development at different degrees of the licensing, and we will promote those projects and their connections to the network. We have the ones that have connected most of those projects to the network, and we will continue to do so. So we face the year 2026 with many challenges ahead. But we have a company that's very well positioned to capture improvements, and we hope that in the next AGM, we will be able to ratify that with our figures. In the past month, there have been changes in the shareholder structure, which I'll explain now. But before that, I would like to talk about the share price. The price share this past month has changed due to external factors, the first one being the so-called liberation day and tariffs, it caused the first drop in our price and later events such as placements of shares, packages, share packs by some shareholders. Obviously, the size was relevant. So there was a discount that it caused relevant drops such as the one in December and the one in March. The good news is that the company was able to face these changes while holding the share price above the price that it had at the beginning of 2025. The current shareholder structure has significant changes compared to the one we had a year ago. The stake of our shareholders has changed. And as a consequence of that, I would like to highlight 3 things. Today, our company has more relevant free float compared to what it had. And if we look back, the free float is the highest in the past 25 years. And thanks to the takeover bid in 2025 plus later changes on the 25th of November, we were back to MSCI indices. And therefore, we were part of the indices that prove liquidity in our company. And as you can see on the screen, today, there are shares being traded in the market on a daily basis 9x more compared to last year. Our company has more liquidity. It is easier to buy and sell shares compared to the past. So we've managed to be a truly traded company. We are at the service of the market and the nonrepresented shareholders. Regarding the Board of Directors, as a consequence of the exit of GIP, the 3 seats in the Board were waived and the Board, considering the events that will take place in the future and prove more uncertainty moving forward, thought it fit to create a committee that we call strategic view or vision committee, to analyze details that at the end, the Board makes a final decision. So as a consequence of the changes in the shareholders in the proposals today, you would see individual proposals according to the law. The first one is the appointment of Mr. Lars Bespolka on behalf of IFM as Proprietary Director. The second, the renewal of Board members, Ramon Adell and Jaime Siles that have been Board members for the past period of 4 years. On the last one with my abstention, the proposal to renew my mandate until 2030. So with this report, this is the end of this part of the AGM. I hope I was able to properly explain the most relevant milestones of our company that are shown in our P&L and the balance that were made available to you and that will be necessary to make the decisions here. So now the group will open the floor. I remember your Secretary said earlier that shareholders that want to request the floor haven't submitted the question form, they're kind of invited to do it now. And if you're taking part in this AGM online, this is the end of the deadline to submit the questions. The Secretary will give the floor following the order of request.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#6

We have 4 questions. I think the 4 of them are on site. And this is the following -- this is the order. First of all, Mr. Enrique [indiscernible] He's present in our AGM, and I read the question on his behalf, but this year I paid attention. I apologize.

Unknown Shareholder

Shareholders
#7

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, dear shareholders, representatives of the media and general public in general. I'm here as a shareholder and in particular, as the holder of preferred shares issued by Union Fona today, it's part of Naturgy. More than 20 years have gone by since the products were placed, in particular, since 2005. We are preferred shareholders. Back then, we trusted the company and we gave it -- we lend our money 20 years have gone by. 21 years during which many of us have trapped without a solution to recover our investment, 21 years of lack of liquidity, uncertainty and very often frustration. I think that it's reasonable to say that this situation is not something we like. In particular, many of us are getting older. We would like to have that money at our disposal enjoyed and recovered while we're still alive, which is normal. We have to remember that other large companies such as Repsol, Telefonica, Endesa, they also issued preferred shares -- preferential share. And with time, they ended up amortizing them. That meant an exit for the shareholders. So we are struggling to understand that the situation is maintaining indefinitely. That's why if it's just as an act of kindness to those of us who trusted the company more than 2 decades ago, yet to act with kindness, I request a clear and convincing answer by the Board. Is there a real intention to amortize these shares? And what's the deadline? Preferential shareholders deserve a dignified solution. We're not requesting privileges, just this and a reasonable exit to a situation that has lasted too much. I would like to urge you to deal with this issue urgently, and please don't postpone this decision, which has a direct impact on the shareholders' trust after 21 years. We're not giving up. We continue to insist. We'll continue to come to the AGMs and request a fair solution until we're given an answer and a solution. Thank you very much.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#8

Thank you, Enrique. Second, Mr. Jose Antonio del Variojo.

Unknown Shareholder

Shareholders
#9

Good morning Mr. Francisco Reynes, Chairman, Board members, officers and Naturgy Energy Group S.A. employees. I would like to congratulate you for the great job you did in 2025 and which the company obtained a historical profit of EUR 2.2 billion, 46% higher than 2024. I hope that part of this profit goes to your salaries so that you're entitled to continue to do a great job. Recently, GIP Fund controlled by BlackRock sold 11.40% of the share capital at a price of EUR 25.20, which is below the EUR 26.50 of the takeover bid, and it's far from the EUR 29.58 per share that other companies achieved, companies such as Iberdrola and Endesa, they work in the same industry. And my question is as follows: is this sale impacting the current prices of our share, which is trading at -- I think it's EUR 20.20 or EUR 20.06 today, I'm not sure. There are rumors saying that Roga CVC and Cruporinalia are considering to sell their stake more or less at the same price, EUR 25.20 because they came in at EUR 19. If this happens, how do you think the share price would behave in the stock market? I'm sure you know this and you can let me know. Why cannot reach a maximum price? What do you think is slowing down Naturgy's share price? Cr and Caixa close to 30%. And IFM, they want to increase the stake. An agreement by both entities would enable the takeover bid. Mr. Francisco Reynes, Naturgy Energy Group is a bubble gas group. And given since the beginning of the war between EU and Israel and Iran, the gas price in Europe has increased 60%. Our gas comes from Algeria. A, this has not been impacted by the war. And our exports to Europe have increased the price. How will this impact the results in 2026? This debt of EUR [ 12.637 ] billion, is this a comfort zone? Can it be reduced? It could be increased by corporate purchase? If 2026 ends up being a record year, would the Board consider increasing dividend up to EUR 2 per share for the profit of all its shareholders if it doesn't hinder solvency? We're going to see each other for 4 more years. I don't know if the Board is considering you have the CEO and the Chairman. I don't know if the Board is considering a CEO. Otherwise, we'll see each other for 4 more years. I would like to request our Chairman that for next year's AGM, we can have a venue that matches the company's image and a time for the AGM which is more around midday because this time of the day, there are traffic jams everywhere. And we're doing so well, we could have a regular cocktail for shareholders.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#10

Thank you. You see that we are improving year after year. We have a breakfast. We've started at 10 instead of 9, but there's always room for improvement. Now we have Sonia [indiscernible].

Unknown Shareholder

Shareholders
#11

Good morning. Mr. Reynes, last year, in April your appointment as Vice President of the Board of Caixa was communicated. As a shareholder, I would like to know which are the implications of this appointment in terms of dedication and commitment regarding your responsibilities of Naturgy's CEO. That's my question.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#12

Thank you, Ms. Sonia. Fourth, Mr. Pedro Maria Fernandez is going to ask 2 questions.

Unknown Attendee

Attendees
#13

Sorry, I submitted the papers and I wanted to get them back. Thank you very much. I would like to request the Board to explain which measures are being implemented by Naturgy to prevent a complete blackout such as the one we had last year. And could you also please explain if there was any responsibility by Naturgy and if this event has caused casualties in Spain? And also regarding the installation of solar farms. Are these being installed in farmlands? What kind of installations are you having? Are you removing crops, plantations, et cetera. So how are you dealing with this type of installations?

Manuel García Cobaleda

Executives
#14

No more questions, Mr. Chairman.

Francisco Reynés Massanet

Executives
#15

So no more questions. So now the Secretary and myself will answer your questions. Don't we have questions online?

Manuel García Cobaleda

Executives
#16

No, only these 4.

Francisco Reynés Massanet

Executives
#17

So I'll start with Mr. Moreno's question. Unfortunately, he's not going to get what he wants. But I can assure you that the company, as the Secretary will explain later, has an important fiduciary obligation, which is equal treatment for [indiscernible] shareholders.

Manuel García Cobaleda

Executives
#18

Mr. Chairman, the question, as the shareholders said, is similar to the ones asked in previous AGMs and in the talks we've had in the past. To give some context to the other shareholders, preferential shares are debt securities issued perpetually. They're not considered to be amortized. It means that they cannot -- they don't have liquidity because as shares, they can be sold in the regulated market. In exchange for this perpetual nature, they have preferential conditions. They receive interest even the shareholders don't receive a dividend. That's why they call it preferential. And second, the interest rate is usually higher than the market rate. In particular, this issuance, we need to pay interest at Euribor 3 months, we were a differential of 165 basis points, 3%, 6%, 7%. In 2024, it was 5%, 6%. Regarding liquidity, they do have liquidity, but like other traded products, they could go up and down compared to the initial acquisition price. Therefore, they could be sold. A different issue would be having capital gains or not like with any traded product. And regarding your particular question, the Board has not agreed the amortization or a repurchase process as we did many years ago. The Board, however, has considered this when we knew that he wanted to be here and has not made any decision regarding this.

Francisco Reynés Massanet

Executives
#19

So Mr. [indiscernible] question, you asked so many questions that I would need a long time to answer them all, but you said mainly 2 things. You thanked us. You thanked the team as a whole for our job, and I really appreciate that on behalf of everyone. I can assure you that this is not an easy job. It's not easy to get it right. And this is a joint effort. This is a team sport. And second, a minimum of 4 years, I made a good decision. I think you've made a good decision. I would stay for 4 years in the company, even 40 years more. You asked many questions. So I'm going to answer in general. But if you need more details, we could do this privately after the AGM. If I knew what's going to happen tomorrow, I would probably be here with a different face. That's the market, right? Things happen. And these past months, even years, we've seen things that were quite unexpected. But you're right, our share resisted. And probably it does not reflect its full potential today. There could be many reasons behind this. But we know that we need to give better explanations. And probably this is one of the challenges we have, not missing out on the party that other shares from other companies had. In the meanwhile, I have to tell you that you didn't miss anything as a shareholder if you're not going to sell because you had a profitability per dividend, which was more relevant compared to other shares without the risk of other executions that could be entailed but riskier investments. I have to tell you, to be honest, that the company is prepared to do things, but to do things that make sense, to do things where it's best to invest that -- not to invest. And we have a department which is highly interested on this, on making it happen, but making it happen in the right way. And even though the balance allows us, as you said, to do things, we're not under that obligation, and we're not going to do this at any price because something, as you mentioned in your question, is important. We don't want to risk the company's solvency. The company needs to be solvent. If you ask me what's my main concern personally, I don't want to be the last top 10 in 183-year history. And for that, we need to continue to do reasonable things. Shareholders can decide to come in or go out. I could mention thousands of shareholders that can be here or not. This is the advantage of being a listed company. You can buy and sell shares. Everyone that comes here will be more than welcome. And those who leave, well, I'm sad for them because they're going to miss on several things, but that's their decision. In the case of Credelia, you said it yourself close to reaching 30%. And therefore, as you know, the Spanish law forces companies to launch to take a bid if you're above 30%. If you get the stake and distribute the treasury stock on the shareholders, this is where they are. The rest of our shareholders, if they are present and they're engaged in the Board, I'm sure that they see more potential than they say. So don't listen to rumors, I would say, pay attention to the figures, to our results, to our communications, where we try to stay far from any speculation. We focus on facts and events. This period, 2018 to 2025, many things have happened, and we've met all of our commitments. And I think this is what should be highlighted. I know that I haven't answered many of your questions, but I'll be happy to get into detail later on. Otherwise, it would be too long. I hope you're happy with my answer. Regarding your suggestion regarding the cocktail and the venue. If you remember, we started to come here when we lost traction of shareholders because our floating capital was lower. Obviously, you've confirmed what we've discussed internally. We need to go back to what we used to do where when we were a company that allowed shareholders to come for a longer period of time and we gave a breakfast before the AGM and a cocktail after it. So we take due note. I think I'm not forgetting anything, but I'll be happy to answer your questions with more detail. And regarding Ms. Pedro's questions, I would like to give you 3 key messages. First of all, my role, and I'm proud and satisfied to say this and also thankful because being here working in Naturgy, besides being a great opportunity for any professional, I'm really thankful that they consider me for this role. My role is exclusive, my dedication is exclusive. I only have an executive role in Naturgy, as I said earlier. Criteria has a CEO with delegated roles from the Board and the shareholders. So no doubt there. But in case you have doubts, I can tell you that I voluntarily decided not to receive any remuneration regarding my role in Criteria's Board so that there were no doubts about it. And I gave the remuneration in that Board to Caixa Foundation. It's a very good place to make a donation. I would like to encourage you if you want to make donations to donate to that entity. So these were the 3 main reasons why the Remco unanimously and Naturgy Board unanimously allowed my appointment as Nonexecutive Director in Criteria's Board. I wouldn't be there if it wasn't in these conditions. And I have to tell you, since I have the opportunity here, I mentioned earlier a proposal about my renewal. If you approve it, I'll be honored to continue to work for this company until 2040, and this confirms my total devotion to this company. There are many challenges ahead of us until 2030, and that dedication will allow me to take them. And then we have Mr. Fernandez's question. The installation of solar farms and the incident back on the 28th of April. Solar farms, obviously, Naturgy complies with the legislation. It submits the proposals for their environmental impact assessment. This is what the regulations say. What do we do? We go beyond it? First of all, because of social -- model, we consult with the tenant. We don't usually buy. We lease long term. And we consult with the holder, but also the neighbors and the town council or local associations. We have different initiatives. We try to use solutions based on the area customs, which is usually cheap and not really cars because for that, the panel should be higher. In [ Andalucia ], we need to transplant some olive trees. They've been transplanted, and we've had our first harvest. And in Extramadura, they usually requires with a 1:1 ratio. If we install panels in 1 hectare, we need to implement compensation measures in 1 hectare. It's usually best conservation. So neighbors tend to be very happy. Usually, the price is not the same compared to some panels, but they're usually happy with it, and the regional government is happy because we protect different species of birds that would otherwise be exposed to some risks. So we go beyond the legislation. And regarding the blackout, you're asking about 2 things, now and then. Currently, the first recommendation of the 300 pages of the document published last year, the first one, the most important one is to have real-time monitoring of tension. The National Grid, [ without ] a phone call, they tell the machines, the power plants, what they need to do. So they follow the voltage in real time. This existed technically, but really National Grid didn't implement this back then. Now it's implemented, and that is the first one. Electricity, we're like 15%, 16%; client generation, we're sixth with that market. But in real-time monitoring, power plants that are enabled to do this, out of the 10,000 megawatts that we have now, 58% of them are ours, which proves that we are spearheading this process because the security of supply is something greater for us with our CGTs. What happened back then? None of the report makes a decision. CNMC has declined to study the cost exclusively focusing on proposals moving forward. The same goes. Some operators and generalists wanted to see this report and [ causes and copers. ] The first page says that this is not its goal, and you won't find it anywhere in the document who -- who is responsible for it. It focuses on recommendation. What can we know about who caused it? As I said, we have a partial view. We don't know the whole system, just our part, which is approximately 1/6. So we can speak about that 1/6. And about that, we can say categorically that none of our facilities, conventional or renewable generation facilities or distribution facilities were triggered due to internal causes that were all triggered, disconnected due to external factors, usually an excess of voltage. And this is what the regulations say: to prevent any damage, they're disconnected before causing a damage because otherwise, the machine will be burned. All of them were triggered because of external factors. And although people speak about that instant, 12:33, it is important to know what happened in previous hours or days. And I can tell you that Naturgy has a fleet of 17 CGDs. The operational were properly maintained. That evening, 10 were functioning according to the National Grid request. 3 4 continued and others from other operators continue, they continue to work that morning. Whether they were enough or not, we don't have the global view of the system. So I cannot give you a full answer on this. The causes will be established by court. Unfortunately, this will take a long time, first of all, because this is scattered throughout Spain. And only when this reaches the Supreme Court, a final decision will be made, but I can already tell you that these 2 reports explicitly say they're not trying to find a culprit. They just try to make suggestions for the future.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#20

I hope that with the explanation of the Secretary about the last question, we can consider concluded the part that has to do with the shareholders' participation. And now we go to the next part of the AGM, which is the voting of the agreements or the resolutions proposed. But before that, the Secretary will present to you normally the level of compliance that we have in the company when we look at the recommendations made by the CNMV for all listed companies.

Manuel García Cobaleda

Executives
#21

Yes, it's something that I have to say in application. I would like to say that of the 64 recommendations that the CNMV includes 6 of them are not applicable to Naturgy in terms of subsidiary that doesn't apply. Of the 58 that apply, we fully complied at the 31st of December 2025 with 48 of them, 6 partially complied with and the other 4, we have given an explanation because -- why we consider it's better not to fulfill them. Obviously, there will be reasons for that. The last 2, those that we partially fulfill and those who we think is better to fulfill in a different way, you can find explanation to why in the last few pages of the corporate governance annual report. For those that we have given explanation, the Board considers still that it doesn't apply to Naturgy, for instance, recommendation 17 on the number of independent directors. We consider that rather than fulfilling a recommendation, we have to fulfill the law, which talks about proportional representation of shareholders. And therefore, by default, we cannot have a majority of independent directors. So we cannot fulfill the recommendation, but we fulfill the law. With regard to the recommendations that we partially fulfill, for instance, 52 53, they have to do with the shareholder configuration and the number of independent directors I mentioned or also 48 that talks about separating the Appointment and Remuneration Committee into 2 committees. We think that this is not effective. And we believe that the Appointment and Remuneration Committee can fulfill its duties. And therefore, given the low amount of independent directors that we have, if we were to split them, there will be problems on representation. So therefore, we decide to maintain the Appointment and Remuneration Committee as it is.

Unknown Executive

Executives
#22

Okay. And now the Secretary will read the proposals that are subject to approval one by one, obviously, and we will explain how to speed the process and how we will execute it in order to speed the process.

Manuel García Cobaleda

Executives
#23

In order to speed the process, if there are substantial majorities, we will indicate if each proposal has been approved depending on the votes already considered. Basically, those that have already voted in favor or against or abstentions, all those will raise their hand in the room or will leave us with the vote as they wish. We'll only say that we will look at those votes already on the table without having the need to detail those in favor, against or abstentions. I also propose that those who are present in the room and wish to vote against or abstain, simply raise your hand after the reading of each proposal. And I also propose that at the end of the vote, you can come close to the voting table together with me and the notary in order to take detailed note of your name, number of shares and how you wish to vote. For those who wish to vote remotely, they can do so through the online form that is available and your votes will be counted and will be communicated to the public notary so that it's included in the minutes. At the end of the voting, the result will be made public on the website from tomorrow in the section of the AGM 2026 entitled quorum Voting and Resolutions. I would also like to say that according to Article 11 of the AGM's regulation and the items of the agenda, given that -- I will make a summary given that the full text has been available before the convening of the meeting. First proposal approving the annual accounts, the management report of Naturgy Energy Group for the year closed 31st of December 2025. Approved? It's considered approved. Second proposal: To approve the consolidated annual accounts and the consolidated management report for Naturgy Energy Group S.A. for the year 2025. Approved? It's considered approved. Third proposal: To approve the nonfinancial information statement, the consolidated one according to the management report of Naturgy Energy Group. Considered approved. Fourth proposal, this one regarding the dividend, approving the following proposal for the result of the capital share closed on the 31st of December 2025. The dividend, this is an amount of global gross amount that will be equal to the sum of the 2 amounts. Those that have already been in the interim dividends have already been paid out and the supplementary dividends. We've already paid [ 1 trillion 99 billion 936 million 366 ] corresponding to the 2 interim dividends of the period 2025 at EUR 1.20 per share with a number of shares that were not considered treasury stock. And second, supplementary dividends that are proposed now, which is the amount the result of multiplying [ EUR 2.57 ] per share for the number of shares that do not have the condition of treasury stock at the date where the holders were registered in order to receive the supplementary dividend. Of that dividend, we have already paid EUR [ 969 ] million on the 30th of July and the 5th of November. The payment of the supplementary dividend of EUR 0.57 will be paid on the 31st of March. The Board is empowered with the power of a replacement in order to carry out wherever it needs and all the necessary actions in order to make sure we distribute and including, but not limited to, appoint an entity that should act as a payment agent. And then we have the remnant, which is the amount that comes from deducting those dividends from the total distribution, which is [ 3 trillion 273 million 201,502 euros ] Is it approved? Approved. Fifth proposal: To approve the management carried out by the Board during the year 2025. Approved? It's considered approved. Sixth proposal. This is a vote that has been done by this consultation, not binding. Approving the annual report on the remunerations of the directors of Naturgy Group approved by the Board of Directors on the 17th of February 2026 and the text has been at the disposal of the shareholders together with the other documentation. Approved? Considered approved. Seventh proposal related to the Board of Directors' composition. 7.1 to reelect and appoint the Board after the report of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee, Mr. Ramon Adell Ramon. Approved? Approved. 7.2, reelect and appoint the proposal of the Board and with the approval of the Appointment and Remuneration Committee for 4 years, Mr. Jaime Siles Fernandez Palacios. Approved? Considered approved. 7.3, reelect and appoint of the Board's proposal and the Appointments and Remuneration Committee proposal and Mr. Francisco Reynes Massanet. Approved. 7.4, to ratify an appointment through cooptation and appoint the proposal of the Board and the Appointment and Remuneration Committee, Mr. Lars Bespolka for 4 years. Considered approved. Given that the 4 directors are present, will you fulfill the requirements? And is there any conflict of interest? No? Perfect. Approved. Eighth proposal: To authorize and approve according to Article 515 of the Companies Act that the extraordinary AGMs will be called with a minimum notice of 15 days as well as soon as the company offers the shareholders the effective possibility to vote remotely until the holding of the next ordinary AGM. This is something that we ask for every year, even though we've never had to do it. Approved? Considered approved. Ninth, this is not for voting. This is just to inform you. We inform the AGM of the amendments to Article 20 of the regulation on the organization and operation of the Board of Naturgy. We have included in the second paragraph of [ third ] section the duties of the coordinated Board so that it has the same wording as the recommendations of the CNMV guidelines because part of the text was not the same. So the full text effect of this section is at the disposal of shareholders in the proposal of resolution and can be read on our website. Tenth and last proposal: To delegate to the Board with express power of replacement granted to the Chairman, Secretary or director or directors whenever it is deemed fit in order to execute, complement, develop, interpret or formalize any of the resolutions approved by the AGM, being allowed to carry out any modifications needed in order to in order to have it -- make it effective, and to delegate and empower vastly as allowed by the law to the Chairman, Secretary of the Board or any of them indistinctively so that they can -- they are able to sign as many documents as needed in order to carry out these resolutions. Approved? Considered approved. Given that all the proposals have been approved, we consider this AGM duly closed. Before we say goodbye, first of all, I would like to thank again on behalf of the Board and of the management team, the trust that you have given us all as the management team will continue to work as much as we can in the best manner possible to fulfill our commitments for the year 2026. And as the Board of Directors, we will make sure that all this work is supervised. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

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