International expansion has become one of IBERDROLA’s key growth drivers in recent years. The United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Mexico… are now part of the DNA of the Company, which in just ten years has risen from nineteenth to the world’s fifth largest electricity company.

Over the last decade IBERDROLA has become the number one Spanish energy group, a multinational company present in 40 countries, one of the world’s largest utilities by market capitalisation and the leading player in the global renewables sector.

Following the international expansion undertaken in recent years, a process the Group plans to continue in 2011, IBERDROLA has succeeded in diversifying its business, suitably placed to thrive as the economy recovery gathers pace. Thanks to this strategy, IBERDROLA secured a record profit in 2010 (€2,870 million).

IBERDROLA has been achieving growth through internationalisation for over a decade now, with the deals reached for ScottishPower, Energy East (now IBERDROLA USA) and Elektro in Europe, the US and Brasil rating as the company’s largest to date. As a result, EBITDA of the Group's international business has soared from just 1% of the total in 2000 to around 66% at present.

IBERDROLA’s commitment to international expansion led the Company to draw up an investment plan, mainly earmarked for international markets, worth some €16,000 million over the 2010-2012 period. The Company expects this major programme of investment in challenging economic conditions to strengthen its international diversification, with grids and renewables forecasted to account for 70% of EBITDA in 2012. By then, IBERDROLA expects its traditional energy business in Spain to contribute 35% of its operating results, the UK to contribute 20%, Latin America 14%, the US 9% and the renewables business 22%.

In pursuit of its aims IBERDROLA has embarked on a fresh phase of growth in 2011, mainly in the international sphere, and has signalled its intentions with the purchase of the Brazilian company Elektro for US$2,400 million. Having focused primarily on the US and UK markets in recent years, the company is now widening its scope to encompass emerging markets whose potential is widely recognised.

The energy sectors in Brazil, Mexico and Eastern Europe offer significant opportunities for development and will drive future growth in the renewables industry. The objective is to continue maximising the Group's potential, securing benefits for shareholders, stakeholders and communities at large.