...Once again, we're holding this shareholders' meeting at our corporate headquarters. Thanks to everybody's hard work, I'm pleased to report that after setting up all the possible channels for participation and accreditation, we have reached the necessary quorum to be able to constitute and hold this shareholders' meeting. Consequently, we can begin. The Secretary, Santiago Martínez Garrido, has the floor.
Thank you, Mr. President. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. This meeting is held at the corporate headquarters with the attendance of the shareholders and their representatives, besides all the by-proxy and remote votes received through the different channels that have made possible to have a shared capital participation of over 74%.
Already 98% have voted, as you can see on screen, which once again shows the trust vested upon the board of directors. In this sense, I'd like to inform you that since the previous meeting, we have kept in touch with all of you through the different transparency and engagement measures that have been implemented. We show the clear will to be in constant touch with all our shareholders.
That has meant that we have received over 388,000 to our website, and hundreds of meetings with both national and international shareholders, as well as with voting advisors, and we have been in constant touch through the OLA Club of the shareholder channel.
And besides, for the call of this general shareholders meeting, one more year, we have organized the Shareholder Month digital immersive space that has had an all-time high participation of over 23,000 visits, and we have held several meetings to get to know the company better, such as the Shareholder Day in the corporate headquarters. We have also implemented the mechanism necessary, so all shareholders can exercise, in the easiest possible way, the right to information, intervention, and vote.
We have also allowed interventions to be done on the subjects of the agenda to be received, as mentioned in the call of the meeting, till the meeting starts. I'd like to inform you that the president and secretary of the meeting are those persons who are present as secretary in the board of directors.
We have requested the presence of Notary Public, Mr. Ramón Múgica Alcorta, who will draw up the minutes of the meeting. The call of the meeting, the proposals made by the board, all the reports and documents approved by the board, all the modification or amendments included in the Sustainability and Governance System, and all the other information required by law, bylaws, all such system have been available in the corporate website.
We have also carried out an external assessment, among all the procedures, the by-proxy, remote voting, quorum calculation, and seat reservation systems. Pending final legal review, we can say that we have met all the legal and regulation measures, as well as for the governance system.
Since they were published several weeks ago, you have been able to review the annual accounts of the management reports and the non-financial information for the year 2023, which were made available to you on the website of the National Securities Market Commission and the company,
where you have been able to see them together with the audit and verification reports, and have so far received tens of thousands of visits, which have been covered at the various meetings held with national and international shareholders, and with the voting advisors.
Therefore, the report from the board of directors, as last year, consists of an audiovisual section explaining the main milestones for the year, and I will later elaborate on some additional aspects related to this information, as well as our future outlook, both economically and socially.
At Iberdrola, we had a pioneering vision: to improve the world through electrification with renewables, networks, and energy storage. Two decades later, through our investment of EUR 160 billion, we are generating progress and prosperity for all. We are the energy that moves the world.
Year after year, the 42,000 women and men who make Iberdrola, along with our hundreds of thousands of partners, give a new boost to that life cycle to continue making the world advance. And we do it by driving forward decarbonization and self-sufficiency with more renewable energies.
In 2023, we have once again led the installation of new clean generation capacity with new investments, such as the first offshore wind farm in the United States. We also continue to expand and reinforce our networks, the true backbone of the transition towards clean energies.
Transportation and distribution infrastructures, equipped with the latest digital technologies and artificial intelligence, through which we deliver clean, safe, and competitive energy to our customers, always with the best quality of service. If we were to lay out our entire network in a straight line, it would reach a length of 800,000 miles, 30 times the circumference of the Earth. ...
And to harness the full potential of the sun and wind, we have continued to promote storage and manageable renewables. With large infrastructure, such as hydroelectric gigabatteries, capable of storing clean energy during periods of low consumption, and making it available to each customer when most needed. We brighten and energize the lives of over 100 million people in every corner of the world.
We are offering them more services to meet their needs, and improving the environmental footprint of all energy consumption through electrification and solutions based on green hydrogen. We stand by our customers 365 days a year, to always offer them a safe and quality service, while together, we're taking care of the planet.
Support is to promote already to increase the electricity demand.
To continue accelerating this cycle, we work with other companies, institutions, and organizations, with whom we share the same truly sustainable development model.
Our desire is to continue collaborating with Mexico.
One that creates value for all. That is the dividend we leave to society every day, by creating more and more jobs in our company, and sustaining hundreds of thousands of positions through our supply chain, including thousands of companies of all sizes that grow and internationalize alongside us.
And we are proud to contribute, through our activity, essential resources to support the public services for everyone. And because we want to continue building a better world, we foster talent and professional development in a sector with an important future.
A future that, moreover, we are helping to create today by investing and generating an innovative ecosystem to turn every challenge into a solution. Helping to combat climate change, protecting each of the ecosystems in our surroundings, promoting diversity and inclusion, because sharing our differences makes us better. And championing equality within and outside our group.
A company of individuals who unite together to dedicate their time and work to other people, and who apply in every task the best practices in ethics, transparency, and corporate governance. Generating resources to reward investments made by our hundreds of thousands of shareholders. Working every day to contribute together to the achievement of the sustainable development goals.
This is Iberdrola, the largest European utility, and one of the two largest in the world by market capitalization. To accelerate and make this virtuous circle even larger, Iberdrola achieved a new record of investments, assets, and results in 2023.
Our future outlooks look strong because the world is moving in the same direction as us, towards more sustainable forms of energy, with which to continue creating industry, economic growth, and new jobs. Improving the lives of each one of us, so that with each turn, the world continues to progress for the benefit of all.
Ladies and gentlemen, our shareholders, as you will have seen during the past financial year, we have continued to pursue our strategy of profitable growth, with which we generate value for our employees, our customers, our suppliers, for all the companies we provide services to, and of course, for you, our shareholders.
Thanks to the EUR 11,400 million invested in electricity grids, renewables, and storage infrastructures, in 2023, we have further promoted energy autonomy, protection of the environment, competitiveness, and employment worldwide. We have positioned ourselves as the leading Spanish company in all sectors in terms of investment volume, with more than double the next highest. This unprecedented effort has led us to exceed EUR 150,000 million in assets, and to also beat our record profits, with a net profit of EUR 4,803 million.
Allowing us to propose to this shareholders' meeting to allocate a total of EUR 3,500 million to remunerate all of you shareholders with a 10.8% increase. This means 0.55 EUR per share, the highest dividend ever paid by the company.
Ladies and gentlemen, 2023 has meant a real turning point in the world on the path towards an energy matrix less dependent on fossil fuels. The social and political consensus reached last year on the need to accelerate this transition outlines a new scenario and ratifies the success of the strategy we put in place more than two decades ago.
The last climate summit in Dubai, marked by a global context of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, resulted in the commitment signed by nearly 200 countries to undertake a progressive abandonment of fossil fuels and triple renewable generation capacity in the next 6 years. This is a historic milestone that comes barely a decade after the Paris Agreement, and whose origin has been, as it was then, the mobilization of civil society to stop environmental pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Driven by this clamor, governments around the world are approving energy policies and regulatory frameworks that will bring huge investment opportunities. These include the electricity market reform and the Net Zero Industry Act in Europe, various regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, the new renewable targets recently adopted in the United Kingdom, or the electrification plan and reduction of emissions started up in Australia.
We are proud to be able to say from here, from our headquarters in Bilbao, that thanks to our pioneering commitment, Iberdrola is going to face all these opportunities firmly established as a world leader in the sector, the largest electricity company in Europe, and one of the two largest in the world by market capitalization.
A position from which we want to continue to be a driver of social, economic, and industrial progress in partnership with thousands of suppliers, large companies, financial institutions, and investment funds that share our vision. In this regard, I would like to sincerely thank His Excellency, Saud bin Mohammed Al Thani, representing the Qatar Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, for his presence, which, as you know, has more than 9% of the Iberdrola share capital, which means over 9 million shares.
Ladies and gentlemen, technological progress, coupled with choosing electricity as the preferred mode to cover more and more energy uses by millions of consumers from around the world, make electrification an unstoppable process. According to the International Energy Agency, electric consumption in industry will increase by close to 60% by 2040. In road transport, demand will increase 4-fold by 2030, and almost 20-fold by 2050.
In air-conditioned buildings, electricity will gradually replace oil, coal, and gas to account in just 15 years for more than 60% of this energy consumption in both Europe and the United States. This increase in demand is accelerating even more with the new electricity requirements for data processing and the management of cloud-based applications in the so-called data centers.
According to various estimates, the electricity consumption of the four major technology companies in the world in 2022 was already similar to that of more than 40 million people. And the development of tools linked to artificial intelligence will cause the demand by the data centers to double by 2026 to 800 terawatt-hours, to give an equivalent figure to the total consumption of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy combined, in a process of exponential growth that will continue in the following years.
Clearly, to serve all this demand will require large investments and proper network planning by regulators and system operators. As you have just heard, ladies and gentlemen, thanks to our vision, the right, strategy, and, an excellent, execution over decades of work, the wind is now blowing in our direction.
We are in the best position to continue to set in motion a virtuous circle of growth, financial strength, and value creation for all. We have just presented just a couple of months ago the largest investment plan in our history with EUR 41 billion to 2026. Clearly, beating the record of the last three years, which were EUR 32 billion.
The United States will be the top destination with 35% of the total, followed by the United Kingdom with 24%, the Iberian Peninsula with 15%, Mexico and Brazil with another 15%, and Australia and other EU countries with the remaining 11%... thus increasing the weight on our balance sheet of markets with great financial solvency and high credit ratings.
By businesses, almost two-thirds of the investments will go to expansion, increasing capacity, and the digitalization of our electricity grids. As a result, in just 3 years, our regulated assets with assured remuneration will exceed EUR 54,000 million, with an increase of 38%. Almost a third of this amount will correspond to very high transmission grids, and the rest to medium and low-voltage distribution grids, further extending the 1.3 million kilometers of lines we currently have.
In renewables, we plan to invest EUR 15,000 million, of which more than half will go to offshore wind in projects that we already have under construction. We're not talking about dreams. These are projects that are already being built, projects like Saint-Brieuc in France, Baltic Eagle and Windanker in Germany, Vineyard Wind in the United States, and East Anglia Three in the United Kingdom.
Together with those we already have in operation in the United Kingdom and Germany, these wind farms will bring our total accumulated investment in offshore wind to more than EUR 17,000 million, with an annual production of more than 20,000 million kWh, energy that we have already sold for the next 15 years through long-term contracts on very attractive terms.
In addition, with our sights set on the end of this decade or the beginning of the next, we are currently bidding in new auctions for wind farms in the United Kingdom and the United States, and we have been recently awarded a new project in Japan and CEFC to build another one in the future in Australia.
All of this will reinforce our leadership position in a technology with an immense future, and in which we have technological capacity, global presence, and access to supply chains in different markets. In addition, to this increase in investments in grids and in renewables, we are firmly committed to energy storage in order to optimize the use of renewable energies.
To this end, in the coming years, we will add a storage capacity of 20 million kWh in three projects, already underway on the Tajo, Duero, and Sil rivers, in addition to the 100 million kWh we already have at present.
Thanks to this plan, and I'm speaking now in economic terms, we expect to reach in 2026 a gross operating profit or EBITDA of between EUR 16,500 million and EUR 17,000 million, and a net profit of between EUR 5,600 million and EUR 5,800 million,
With a growth of around 20% in just three years, and improving, at the same time, our financial strength and increasing the dividend in line with these profits to between EUR 0.61 and EUR 0.66 per share in 2026. That is 20% more than at present. Which will result in dividends totaling EUR 11,000 million over the period.
These positive economic forecasts will be accompanied by a further boost to our social commitment over these three years by adding 10,000 new hires around the world, with purchases of goods and services for close to EUR 40 billion from suppliers who employ more than 500,000 people, with a contribution of about EUR 25 billion to the public coffers,
Helping in this way to support the social services in all countries in which we are present, and of course, by further promoting care for the environment, which will lead us to invest nine out of every ten euros in activities classified as sustainable by the authorities in the European Union.
As a result, we will further reduce our emissions, which today stand at just 60 grams or somewhat less per kilowatt hour, 80% less than our European competitors, until we achieve climate and neutrality in our generation plants by 2030. That same year, by 2030, we will also achieve a net positive impact on biodiversity, with initiatives such as planting 20 million trees during this period.
In gender equality, we have continued to make great strides inside and outside our company, with a 40% increase in women hired so far this year, and strengthening our support for women's sport, which now reaches more than 800,000 women in 35 different federations. We continue to make progress in the diversity of backgrounds, races, and ethnicities in our workforce.
Moreover, as a company of people working for people, we continue to be committed to the great social work of our foundations and, of course, to our thousands of volunteers who dedicate their free time to improving the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of men and women around the world.
This social commitment has led us to receive, once again, in 2023, various international recognitions, such as being among the 100 most sustainable companies in the world, according to the ranking published last year during the Davos Forum.
Winning the award for Leadership in Sustainability, awarded to us by the Foreign Policy Association of the United States, or being the only Spanish company amongst the most ethical on the planet, according to the U.S. Ethisphere Institute. And we have been selected for yet another year to form part of the most shareholders.
Thanks to the effort and dedication of a great team of 43,000 men and women of more than 90 nationalities, who combine youth and experience, Iberdrola is a larger group every day, not only in size, but also in its commitment to people. For this reason, I would like to thank each and every one of our employees for their invaluable contribution and their involvement with this project, and I would like to ask for a round of applause for them.
I would also like to thank all the members of the board of directors for their constant commitment and support, and for the great work they do, both on the board and on its committees.
The will to continue with this magnificent work leads us to submit today to the approval of this general shareholders meeting, the re-election of three directors, Nicola Brewer, Regina Nunes, and Íñigo Víctor de Oriol. Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pride that I stand before all of you today to give you an account of Iberdrola's performance in 2023.
Once again, a record year, in which we have continued on the unprecedented path of growth and creation of value of the last two decades. Built from here, from our headquarters in Bilbao, which was our birthplace over 120 years ago. Our vision, our strategy, and the execution carried out throughout these years, allow us to present to all of you today an Iberdrola that is more solid, more sustainable, and more committed than ever.
And also better prepared to take advantage of the best growth perspectives in our sector in its entire history. We thus face an enormously promising future with a record investment plan of EUR 41,000 million in just three years, which will put us in the best position to continue growing in size and in results.
Contributing even more to all the energy transformations demanded by our citizens, generating more quality employment and more industrial and technological development, improving the environment. And we will do this based on the ethical values, the dedication, and the commitment that characterize all of us who work in this company.
To conclude, I would like, once again, to convey to you, ladies and gentlemen, on my own behalf and on behalf of the board of directors, my most sincerest thanks for your trust, your encouragement, and your involvement in enabling us to carry out this task. In response to your support, I would like to reaffirm today my personal commitment to reach new heights of solidity, size, and profitability every day.
Building from this, which is your company, a fairer, more fraternal, supportive, and of course, sustainable world, and with people always at the center of our activity. Many thanks. I now hand the floor over to the secretary.
I'd like to inform you that once the necessary decisions were taken and implemented in 2024 to meet recommendation number 64 of the Code of Governance of Public Companies, the company now meets all the recommendations applicable to it, except recommendation number 1, for which an alternative is included in Article 29.2 of its bylaws, pursuant to Capital Companies Act.
Again, I hand the floor over to the secretary to explain the quorum.
The share capital amounts to EUR 4,817,474,250, and is represented by 6,423,299,000 ordinary stocks, or shares. All of par value of EUR 0.75 and belonging to a single class and series. A total of 99,000 in the meeting, with 4,851,100,316 shares, that represent 75.52% of the share capital. Out of those shareholders, in person, 220 shareholders with 571,146,729 shares, that represent 8.90% of the share capital.
Also, at present, given that they have voted remotely, we have 23,278 shareholders with 1,602,413,848 shares that represent 24.95% of the share capital. And by proxy, 75,528 shareholders with 2,676,740,139 shares that represent 41.67% of the share capital. Notwithstanding the changes required after processing the by-proxy and votes still to be counted, I'm happy to convey that as I'm informed, given the by-proxy and cast votes up to now, all the blocks of the proposals have received support of between 95% and 99%.
The treasury stock, which is 162,522,833 shares, that represent 2.53% of the share capital, happily neither in the calculations of the percentages needed to constitute and adopt resolutions, although in accordance with the provisions of the law, the voting rights of those shares are suspended. The valid constitution of this meeting is therefore confirmed.
A first call to discuss all the items comprised on the agenda. The notary has the floor. Pursuant to Article 1 or 1.1 of the registry regulations, I'd like to express that I have been requested to attend this meeting to elaborate the minutes of such meeting. Meeting runs smoothly, and to make sure that all those who want to participate are able to.
So I'd like to mention that you should limit your interventions to the subjects included in the meeting's agenda, and not exceed the time required to ensure your, the exercise of your right of information following the regulations of the shareholders' meeting. I'd like to mention that in accordance, according to applicable legislation, all the questions made will be answered verbally during the meeting, or will be answered in writing in the seven days pursuant to the celebration of this meeting, and they will be provided to the notary public so they can...
So the interventions of those shareholders that have requested can be included in the meetings. Six shareholders have requested to participate. I give the floor, first of all, to Miss Susana Vera, representing 544,768 shares. Miss Susana Vera, please. Good morning.
I just wanted to comment that in other shareholder meetings, you, normally talk about, well, you talk a lot about the past and less about the commitments of the future. But I can see that in this case, we keep on talking about plans and how these plans are being met. Maybe that's why I see that financial analysts still recommend to buy and, keep, their shares, and we are those--
They even mentioned that we are set an example. And I believe that in an environment such as the one we're going through today, this is not easy task, and that's why I would like to congratulate you and the board.
You recently showed the strategic plan for the period 2024-2026, and I wanted to go a bit beyond, so you can tell us which are your forecasts beyond the company and beyond the term included in the strategic plan. Thank you. I'll now give the floor to Mr. Francisco Castañares, owning 2,008 shares.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, members of the board, dear shareholders. I'd like to start my intervention by congratulating the president and the board of directors for the financial and investment results, and for the forecast of the company. And as shareholder concerned by the profit already of our shares, I can only express my satisfaction, and that's why I would like to start by: thank you, Mr.
Galán, and all the directors. But besides the profitability of the company, Mr. President, I'm also interested in our territory, how it looks, and how the actions and the management of the company impacts the territories in which it operates. I come from territory that many of us believe as to be a hard-working land, the Extremadura, where Iberdrola has many of its assets.
Around 2,000 hydroelectric megawatts, 3,000 PV, and a nuclear plant with almost also 2,000 megawatts, although that ownership is shared with other companies. But you're about to lose or could lose two wind farms that well, because well, two citizen organizations have fought against it.
And now another wind farm in Usagre with 550 megawatts that's been deemed illegal after a sentence by the courts in Extremadura. Another PV farm of over 550 megawatts in Cáceres has also been deemed illegal by the court of Extremadura as well. 1,100 megawatts of the nuclear plant in Almaraz that will have an expiry date.
They will have to close by 2027 for reactor 1, and 2028 for reactor number 2. So adding all up, and we've also got another 1,100 megawatts that I will mention at the end of my intervention that have been declared not to be compatible, and so illegal, because they are in the Monfragüe National Park, and they been declared incompatible.
3,100 megawatts, lost or that are being sued, and some others are in a path to be lost. Given the lack of empathy of a company that nobody believes it or feels as their own, in Extremadura, despite all the investment made in the region, an attitude that has been kept since 1956, and that with all due respect,
I'd like to bring your attention to. 54% of hydro assets in Extremadura are, or have been threatened for their future existence, and we should think about it, and the board of directors should probably reflect upon it. I believe that there are many things that are in the hands of the decisions of the government and the decisions of regional governments as well.
But there are many other things that are in the hands of the management of the company. You have power enough to have executives or managers or people close to the president that can take care of the territories in which they operate. Because unless you're nice, if indigenous peoples of the territories feel marginalized and in many cases expelled from the territories, you have an enemy.
You create an enemy that will end up winning the battle, no matter how present you are or how close you are to the governments. Civil society is important. In many cases, they are tired of politics. They are tired of politicians who win and lose the elections according to what isn't belief of them.
Some civil society platforms are created to defend some rights in some territories. In my region, there are many such associations, and many are linked to energy policies, and Iberdrola is the main company operating in Extremadura. I don't want to. I'm not here to say anything bad about the management of the board of directors or the executive team.
I'm here just to call your attention, so you can feel closer and increase your sensitivity towards the problems created in the territory, because in many cases, unless you are part of it, very hard to understand. It is true that you could probably, you can probably answer to me that you are not paid, or the company does not pay you to be nice.
I, I'm sure you could say that, but, but given that I won't have another turn, I, I'll provide my answer: But we are not paying you not to be nice and, and, and to be, arrogant in those territories. Please, make an effort to, get to, get on well with the territory and these people.
And I will finish by talking about sustainability. Iberdrola has started a very tough fight, against greenwashing, the greenwashing of other companies who have, their headquarters nearby. And I do completely share, I fully share, that battle, that actions from the company, but at the same time, I would like to call your attention on, on ourselves and, about Iberdrola. It is true that a huge effort's been made for...
Or to be more sustainable and for the energy transition and to be, well, up to, up there with the standards our society is requiring, asking us for. But there are small details in the global context or even in the general context of the company and the shareholders, that are beyond the watchful eye of our society and shareholders themselves, but not for those of us who live in the territory. Iberdrola has 1,100 megawatts.
Well, it's not the precise figure, that are impacting the Monfragüe National Park. The National Park Act does not allow these plans to be created. They gave, you know, a date to finish this, which was, which ended four years ago, in December 2020.
And not only have you gotten rid of it, but the company should have done so. It's also in the hands of the government to, well, comply with the law. But at some point, you have carried out abusive activities that have turned the national park into a true wasteland.
I'd like to invite you, all the members of the board and all the shareholders or those who represent the shareholders who want to come with me to the national parks, for you to see if the heart of the most important natural space of Mediterranean forests can have what it has in it. More so if the law is against it very clearly, and the dates to solve the situation are over.
So this cannot be solved with having politicians from different parties in the board of the company. That's something I would like to talk about, but we'll leave this for other shareholders, because, because I guess, you're not going to give me the floor again. You cannot hide it with huge amounts of money invested in the media, in advertisement or non-advertisement.
I would also like to know how much Iberdrola is investing in, in the media and in advertising and, and non-advertisement campaigns globally. You can silence the media. You can, so to speak, and with all due respect, and I'm not trying to offend anybody, but you can probably tame the government and, and public administrations, but people see it, people suffer it.... And people are more and more outraged.
That's why we have more and more civil society platforms that are able to close our PV plant wind farms, and with the tools of justice and quite probably with the help of the European Union and the courts in Madrid. Thank you very much.
Thank you. I will now give the floor to Juan Bautista Basinas, the owner of 17,502 shares.
Morning, Mr. President. I have requested to speak to ask a few questions. I believe that shareholders are meeting here, the shareholders who are committed with the behavior of the... And the company is, well, it offers other channels to be able to make this sort of claim, like the ones we just heard.
This meeting is not a forum for people to use to be able to express their personal views. But well, excuse me, and I will now focus on my intervention. I would like to ask. I have seen that in the first quarter, the profits have been all-time high figures, especially given the divestments made in Mexico. And I would like to know which is the forecast for the profits made by these investments, and if you believe these profits well what can be used to generate more value for the shareholder? Thank you very much.
Thank you. I'll give the floor to Mr. Gorka López del Corral, owner of 6,252 shares.
Disculpe, la intervención, entonces, va a ser objeto de traducción sucesiva? No, sí, ya me han comentado, que hacía primero una introducción-
Ah.
Y luego voy a repetir lo mismo en castellano.
Ah, bueno.
Comienzo, si no les importa, ¿vale? Gorka naiz, Iberdrola, ELAko delegatua, eta kanporaldean dauden lanbide batzuen bozeramailea. Euskaraz egingo dut nire interbentzioa, Iberdrola-
I mentioned I'm Gorka. I'm a union, part of the union here at Iberdrola, and I'm the spokesperson of some of the people who are protesting outside. I wanted to start my intervention in Basque to mention the lack of the use of Basque at Iberdrola.
Just like last year, the ELA Union with the CIG Union from Galicia asked the workers who are also shareholders to delegate their votes on me. The response has been positive because we have doubled the amount of workers that have trusted this initiative. We wanted to transmit to the board of directors, as well as the rest of the management team, that the situation of workers in Iberdrola, Spain, is worsening.
We keep on losing purchasing power, given that our wage increase is way below consumer price index. After 2021, when the latest collective agreement came into force, till the end of 2023, according to our information, the company's benefit has increased by over 23%, and remuneration to shareholders by 23%,
And the remuneration to the board of directors by 17%. In the same period, the workers have lost purchasing power by 15.3%. And I'd like to repeat, we have lost 15.3% in purchasing power, and of course, in 2024, unless this is solved, we will once again lose that purchasing power.
Last year, after a similar intervention, the president mentioned a dialogue to solve the issue, but I am sorry to say that it has not been fruitful. The results of the climate survey has been worse than that of the previous year, and as you can see, there's a... Well, the unions are protesting on the streets. So we would like you to answer these two questions in this shareholder meeting.
Do you think that the good financial forecast that you have mentioned can be supported by workers that are not feeling well, without risking these objectives? And after the failure of the dialogue, dialogue formula that you mentioned, which are the systems to be able to solve these issues? Thank you very much.
Thank you. I would like to give the floor to Mr. Íñigo Elorriaga.
Good morning, dear President. Members of the board, dear shareholders. I've been a shareholder of this company for several decades, and in my case, like many other shareholders in Bilbao, it's almost family tradition. I would like to ask a question and then share with you just a brief comment.
The question is, it's about our important investments in the United States and how they could be impacted by the results of the elections in November. And of course, I'm talking about the energy policy that could be implemented by any of the two candidates.
The comment, I would like to start by repeating something that another shareholder mentioned: the general shareholders meeting is the yearly opportunity for the board to express and be responsible and make accountable for their management, and for shareholders to talk about items of the agenda.
This is not the forum to be or to mention aspects that are out of the agenda and that are a legitimate or non-legitimate interest of the shareholders. There we have other fora, so they can channel their claims. Besides being a shareholder, I have worked in the company for 30 years. I started working in a company that was present, and very present in the national territory, and now we're talking about a global giant that's present in several continents.
The development has been huge and especially profitable for the shareholders, who have received an increasing dividend in the past 20 years. I believe that the price of the share was above EUR 12.4 yesterday, and this price has grown in the past few years. We can see that pension funds and investment, and most relevant investment funds in the world, are with us and have been with us for many years now. I'd like to mention that as a former employee, the improvement of the working conditions is also a desirable goal.
But I don't think that Iberdrola's framework or working framework is represented by the words expressed priorly, because, well, the working conditions and also the remuneration offered to workers throughout the world are much higher than market conditions.
They are joined by over 43,000 people, and good proof of it is that there are many, many people who want to start working with us here at Iberdrola, and very few people leave the company, voluntarily.
Thank you. Last, I'd like to give the floor to Mr. Nadine Lebereda, owner or representing 119,302 shares.
Good morning. I am also a long-term shareholder of this company, a company that we have seen grow in this land, and I feel proud of it. I'm very happy to see that this year you have once again showed your commitment with Bilbao and Euskadi, investing here and purchasing to best suppliers. Leading a company, a global company from here, and that is why...
And that's why we shouldn't use these meetings to talk about individual concerns. We're here to assess and value the results of this company and its strategy. If the hundreds of thousands of shareholders were to come here with those topics, this would be impossible. That's why I would like to ask the President not to answer to things that were not part of the agenda.
Now, about my agenda, I'm talking about the impact on this land. You just mentioned a very important investment plan for the next three years, and I'd like to understand what the impact of this plan is going to be for Euskadi, for the Basque Country.
Thank you. And last, I will ask the questions we have received on the net. One of the shareholders asked about the growth of the grid. The representative of UGT and CC OO union asked a question, and they wanted it to be included in the minutes, about the offer of dialogue made last year by the president, which are the measures that are going to be implemented to compensate for the purchasing power loss?
Another shareholder asked about wind energy and which is the forecast, and another shareholder on long-term dividend and wanted to thank you for the growth in the dividend. Those are all the questions, Mr President. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thanks very much to everyone for your questions, not only for those that have taken part today, but also to all of those that over the years have sent in their opinions and have helped us improve the company.
During the year, we have hundreds of face-to-face meetings with investment funds, pension funds, in the many roadshows we hold in the investor relations team or the financial management team or myself in various countries. In the last year, we've been not just in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland, U.K., United States, Canada, Singapore, Qatar, Japan, China, Australia, and I think I've left some out.... But not only through those face-to-face meetings, but also through the channels we have at the company.
Many of the questions that have been asked during the year through the channels, so we have the Shareholders Club or the shareholders telephone. They are all open, and there are thousands of interactions. Also through the telematic connections, when we present our results or during the Investor Day, where thousands of people logged in, and also to meetings such as the ones we've held over the last few days here in Bilbao and Madrid.
These shareholder day meetings, where over a thousand people have attended. And I think it was on Tuesday, I had the opportunity of spending some time with some of them here in Bilbao at the tower, and we were able to answer their concerns and questions.
I do have to say that through all these means, during the year, as I said, we received thousands of suggestions that help us a great deal to define our strategy by knowing what the concerns and wishes of the shareholders are. In the end, we manage their money, their resources, and we want to do the best possible job so that you'll all be happy.
We need to be an arbiter between all the various opinions to try to reach the best results. So I encourage you to continue to use them. We want the information to flow in all directions in a continuous way, without having to wait for a general meeting.
We want a continuous general meeting, a continuous relationship, with the shareholders, because we constantly want to know what their concerns are and their ideas to handle things in the best possible way. And, I'll answer now some of today's questions. The results during the first quarter reflect a result of over EUR 2,700 million in net profit.
The highest in our history in a quarter, not just because of the capital gains we've generated as a result of a partial divestment in Mexico, but also as a result of operating developments. The extraordinary revenue we're going to have from this business, we're going to continue to invest.
The EUR 6,000 million we've obtained from this sale are going to be used to fund the investments in this gigantic plan of EUR 91,000 million up to 2026. Investments, the first destination, I'll repeat, is the United States, with 35% of the total, followed by the U.K.
with 24%, the Iberian Peninsula with 15%, Mexico and Brazil with 15, and Australia and other European countries, Germany, France, Italy, et cetera. In the United States, and I'm answering one of the questions, we're going to invest, particularly in electricity grids, for transmission and distribution of the EUR 13,000 million we're going to dedicate around EUR 2,000 million.
In renewables, basically, we're going to finish by the end of the year, as we saw on the video, the major American offshore wind farm. Not just ours, but the first built by any company in this country, and we expect that by the end of the year, it will be completed. In other countries, like the UK, we are going to continue along the same growth path, finishing some of the farms that we currently have under construction.
But in general, for the group, with our major investments, 60% are going to be dedicated to electricity grids. I mentioned it earlier, this is going to represent increasing our grids, our regulated grid assets, with an assured remuneration. This is very important for you shareholders. We have EUR 54 billion that have a guaranteed return for the coming years.
Also in offshore wind, the situation of the farms that we're working on, apart from the United States, we're building another one in the UK, East Anglia. We're finishing two more in Germany, and as I said earlier, once they are completed, it will be EUR 17 billion in assets in this sector, which also has guaranteed revenue since all the energy has been sold long term.
Our support for offshore wind is going to continue. We have a team of over 1,000 professionals working in this field from 50 nationalities, with work centers in London, Boston, Glasgow, or Berlin. And all these people are the resources for our leadership in this field that assure success.
I have to say, and this is related to another question, that this enormous investment volume is going to benefit Basque suppliers, without a doubt. The Basque Country has a tremendously powerful industry in electricity grids. We've done all we can, and there were some pictures on the offshore wind ones. I see a wind here in the Bilbao Super Harbor and many others.
So, we're going to continue to do this. And in Bilbao, we also have the Global Smart Grid Innovation Hub at Larraskitu, with over 60 companies that work with us. Over the last few days, we've seen in the media what the contribution we make to this Basque Country. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, it represents over 3.7% of the Basque GDP. And we can extend this report to other regions.
So I can say that for Extremadura, we also have the figures, and I'm sure, Secretary, that we'll be able to share this. I don't have them right now, but we also have them. And I can assure you that we make this effort in each and every region we operate in. And what does this contribution mean? It means employment, it means purchasing, it means tax contribution, it means R&D, it means all these kinds of things that we contribute with in practically all regions.
In the specific case of taxes, the Basque Tax Office, our contribution was EUR 1,556 million, of which EUR 700 million was a direct contribution. Here in the Basque Country, we have around 30,000 indirect jobs and over 1,800 employees.
All this is, what have we been doing? Without a doubt, our investments can only be made with the commitment and dedication of those 43,000 people that work at the company. I have to say this very proudly: every day, they show their commitment in Spain and outside Spain, a commitment to ethics, transparency, and good governance.
The relationships we have systematically in all countries, and I think that this is something that we've exported everywhere, is based on mutual trust, dialogue. We are a benchmark in gender equality, continuous training, over 70 hours per employee per year in the group, and personal development.
I think that we can offer something that, very few companies can offer, and that is, growth inside and outside the countries we're in for, people to be able to develop. And talking about Spain, Iberdrola, and I think some shareholders mentioned it, is one of the, favorite companies to work in, according to the, Merco Talento, report, which, puts us in the top positions.
And, the turnover of the 9,000 people that work for Iberdrola in Spain is less than 0.7%. This means, that, fewer than 70 people per year, leave the company every year out of 9,000, and this shows that the satisfaction index of these people is reasonably high.
Having said that, I insist and will always insist, I always have done, Gorka, you know that we've known each other for many years, and you know that's the way I do things. The value of dialogue, mutual trust, continuous training, and people development is going to continue to be the base for our relationship with the social agents in each country.
So that will continue to be our aim to have an objective dialogue. And to round up all the questions, the investments we're making, the geographic diversification, the financial solidity, and this human team is the base to continue to extend our base and continue to provide profits. I think that we should feel proud. I feel proud of this company being at historic capitalization highs.
If somebody would have told me 24 years ago that we were going to be worth EUR 80 billion, I think that none of us here would have believed that. We're worth EUR 80 billion. We're worth more than all the Spanish energy companies together. We're the largest European company. We're worth three times more than the next Spanish energy company, or four times more.
We are worth more than banks, and this has been thanks to the effort, the dedication, the vision, the strategy, and the support from you, the shareholders. Without the support of the shareholders, as I mentioned earlier, without the Excellency of Mohammed Al Thani, who is here with us today, showing the support for what we're doing, it would be difficult for us to reach these goals.
We have the goal of reaching EUR 11 billion in dividend payout in the next three years to reach EUR 0.66-EUR 0.69 per share, 20% more than this year's record. Therefore, I think that these are all reasons for being satisfied. And I think that this is what the reports from the analysts and investment banks reflect when they talk about our company. So thank you very much, and I encourage you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to use the open channels to receive your ideas, your concerns, and everything that can help us to improve our management. Thank you very much.
Next, we will proceed to vote the proposed resolutions. With respect to the provisional results of the voting, I must state that we have processed both remote votes, present votes, and by proxy votes received through all the channels made available. After checking the counting and after a final review, the processes implemented meet the governance and sustainability systems.
I would also like to remind you that according to the regulations, all votes not cast and expressly informing of the fact they are against or abstentions will be considered in favor of the proposed resolution from items 9 and 15 to 18 of the agenda. All these directors who are in a situation of conflict of interest will refrain from exercising their voting rights for the shares they are representing.
Those voting rights will be exercised, unless otherwise expressed by the Secretary of the Board of Directors, and if he was in a conflict of interest situation, by the Deputy Secretary, and we have both accepted this nomination, as we can see in the agenda. These items have been grouped in blocks. A first group, in which we are submitting to your approval, annual financial statements, director reports, statements on non-financial information, corporate management, and reelecting KPMG as statutory auditor.
The second block, we propose the amendment of some articles of the bylaws to clarify reference to Iberdrola and its group, and also to keep on encouraging the engagement of shareholders in the company life. We also amend certain articles of the Regulations of the General Shareholders' Meeting , and we also submit to your approval the Director Remuneration Policy.
Within the third block, we ask your approval to pay the Engagement Dividend and the supplementary payment, and two capital increases within the Iberdrola Flexible Remuneration system. Also to compensate for the dilution of the capital increase, we propose to reduce it to a maximum of 2.854%. We also propose a consultative vote on the annual director and officer remuneration report.
Fourth, we would like to ask you to re-elect Ms. Nicola Mary Brewer and Ms. Regina Helena Jorge Nunes as independent director, and Mr. Íñigo Víctor de Oriol Ibarra as an external director. They have all expressed their will to accept this nomination.
We will also like to request your approval to determine a number of directors, also to increase the capital in the limits provided by law, and to issue bonds and guarantees for up to EUR 5 billion, with a maximum of 5 years, with the power to exclude preemptive rights, limited to an aggregate maximum of 10% of the share capital, and to delegate the powers to formalize and to convert the resolutions adopted into a public instrument. The final results will be published in the corporate website.
According to the information available to the presiding panel, and which will be detailed in the minutes of the meeting, after counting the proxies and votes received, and notwithstanding the votes that have not yet been counted, all the resolutions proposed by the board have been approved, as you can see on the screen. Therefore, on behalf of the board, I thank you all for your participation and support. The shareholders' meeting is concluded. Thank you very much. The session is adjourned.