Qatar now owns 8.4 pct of Iberdrola

 

Qatar Investment Authority, the emirate's sovereign wealth fund, increased its stake to 8.4% in Iberdrola, boosting its investment in Spain's largest electricity provider to 2.27 billion euros.

The fund based in Doha has surpassed all other stockholders except for Spanish construction company Actividades de Construccion & Servicios SA, which holds about 19% of Iberdrola, according to the utility's annual corporate governance report covering 2011 activities released yesterday.

The Qatari fund bought its initial 6.2% holding in March and acquired the additional shares in a year Iberdrola fell 16%. That was its worst market performance since 2008, as the global economic slowdown damped demand for power and Spain slipped toward a second recession in 4 years.

Iberdrola, which yesterday said it may miss a 2012 profit target, fell 0.4% to €4.52 euros as of yesterday morning. That compared with a 0.5% gain in the 20-member benchmark Euro Stoxx Utilities Index.

The Spanish power company, also the world's biggest owner of wind farms, trades at about 9 times estimated earnings, cheaper than the 9.7 times ratio of the benchmark index.