The company’s participation in Endesa in this period appears on the balance sheet as “non current assets held for sale”, and comparable figures have been formulated to allow comparison with results for first quarter of 2008.

Decrease in revenue also accounts for the 15.2% dip in EBITDA in comparable terms, from EUR231 million to EUR196 million, along with the fall in margins in ACCIONA Infrastructure and ACCIONA Real Estate, and the effects of divestment of the Group’s funerary business, Memora, and of a number of minority stakes in transport concessions.

Group net consolidated debt fell by a hefty 70.1%, to EUR5.347 billion, from EUR17.897 billion at year-end 2008. Accordingly, financial gearing, i.e. the net debt/equity ratio, narrowed to 112% from 283% at year-end 2008.

The company continued with its active investment policy, and capital expenditure in first quarter of 2009 increased by 20.4%, to EUR387 million. The 39.8% increase by ACCIONA Energy, to EUR302 million, is particularly significant.

Looking at individual performance by each division, ACCIONA Energy took a negative impact from the decline of the energy pool price (-38%); even so, the energy arm was able to limit the effects with an increase in electricity production. EBITDA came to EUR131 million, down 11.5% on January to March 2008. Installed wind power capacity increased by 21.5% in attributable terms and attributable wind power output (in GWh) increased by 22.9%.

At ACCIONA Infrastructure, revenues stayed in line with first quarter of 2008, closing at EUR821 million (+0.5%). The concessions business put in a particularly strong performance, increasing revenues by 44%, while EBITDA was up by 28.7%. On March 31, 2009 the construction backlog amounted to EUR7.244 billion, 19.5% up on the same period last year.

This increase is a reflection of the company’s low exposure to residential construction (which represents only 3% of the backlog) and the strong growth in of international activity, where the public works backlog almost doubled to EUR1.219 billion.

As concerns other divisions, and within ACCIONA Urban and Environmental Services, ACCIONA Agua showed a particularly strong performance, increasing revenues and EBITDA by 44.0% and 84.1% respectively. Thanks to this good progress by ACCIONA Agua, EBITDA for the division doubled (up 104.2%), in comparable terms following the sell-off of Memora.

ACCIONA Logistic & Transport Services shaved a third off its operating losses, which went from EUR15 million to EUR5 million thanks to the implementation of a restructuring plan at ACCIONA Trasmediterranea. In January 2009, Trasmediterranea’s Extraordinary Meeting green-lighted a capital increase for a total EUR110 million. As a result ACCIONA’s stake in the company increased from 60% to 80%.