IGNACIO GALÁN GIVES OVERVIEW OF 2011 FOR IBERDROLA GROUP EMPLOYEES
During the Chairman's traditional annual meeting with employees at the Iberdrola Tower
- A new interactive event is held with multimedia connections with the Company's main headquarters around the world
- The Chairman thanks IBERDROLA professionals for their hard work in a difficult environment
IBERDROLA Chairman Ignacio Galán met today with IBERDROLA Group professionals at the 10th annual meeting with employees.
This time around, Galán wanted to thank the entire IBERDROLA team for their hard work in 2011, as well as their clear dedication and commitment to the company.
The meeting was held at the Iberdrola Tower in Madrid, opened last week by the King and Queen of Spain. Nearly 200 employees attending the meeting, which was held simultaneously at the company’s main working centres around the world.
The Madrid, Glasgow (Scotland), Rochester (New York, US) and Campinas (Brazil) offices held simultaneous meetings, with more than 700 professionals attending in person.The annual meeting was carried out at the same time in five cities, with live satellite connections.
Other IBERDROLA employees -nearly 33,000 in all- in dozens of countries were able to attend online.
This unprecedented initiative provides direct contact between company employees everywhere and the Chairman, who answered questions by IBERDROLA employees in real time.
During his speech, Galán noted “we have an international and diverse team, and this diversity is one of our biggest strengths to reach higher”.
The IBERDROLA Chairman stated that this strength, coupled with the company's industrial model, enabled the company to meet targets last year amid an “extremely adverse environment”, achieving milestones such as the integration of Brazilian company Elektro, the takeover and merger of Iberdrola Renovables and the integration of the liberalised and regulated businesses.
Galán also highlighted IBERDROLA'S commitment to innovation, with investment in 2011 of nearly €140 million in 150 projects in the areas of smart grids, the electrical vehicle and offshore wind power, ranking among the top four European utilities by investment in innovation.
Projects for 2012
At the meeting, Galán also discussed the projects to be carried out in 2012. Highlights here included ongoing deployment of smart grids in Spain, which will be extended to a further 11 areas in 2012, and will entail the replacement of a million meters and upgrades to 7,000 transformer stations.
As for the UK, the Chairman singled out the construction of the first subsea line between Scotland and England spanning a total of 420 kilometres, the completion of work to upgrade the Whitelee wind farm, which will become Europe's largest on-shore wind farm, and the start of construction on the 400 MW West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm.
In the US, the company will continue work on the 800 km high-voltage power line in Maine, and finish implementing smart grids throughout the state.
For Brazil, Galán highlighted the works of several hydro plants and the construction of four wind farms, with combined installed capacity of 108 MW.
Commitment to people
IBERDROLA has a firm commitment with the people that make up the company. They are its main asset and the keys to its success. The company has a social model committed to the professional excellence and quality of life of its employees.
In this respect, IBERDROLA will continue to encourage quality employment going forward, maintaining target-related variable compensation. It also intends to keep the social policies in place for years now, employing advanced work-life balance and professionals measures backed by the group’s senior management.
IBERDROLA will also endeavour to ensure that its workforce continues to receive excellent training. Group employees received 1.2 million hours of training in 2011, with 87% of the workforce taking part in a course last year.
The IBERDROLA Chairman also underscored the social and community initiatives carried out through the IBERDROLA Foundation, e.g. its scholarship programme for students in Spain, the US and the UK, which will be extended in the future to other countries where the Group operates.
Galán wrapped up his speech by stressing the company's huge role “in helping to overcome the crisis we are currently embroiled in”, encouraging IBERDROLA workers to “continue developing our independent industrial project for the benefit of all shareholders, employees, customers and the societies in which we work”.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This communication does not constitute an offer to purchase, sell or exchange or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, sell or exchange any securities. The shares of IBERDROLA, S.A. may not be offered or sold in the United States of America, except pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act or pursuant to a valid exemption from registration.