Iberdrola sees strategic fit with British Energy
MADRID, April 21 (Reuters) - Spanish power company Iberdrola (IBE.MC) said on Monday it remains interested in British Energy BGY.L, the operator of the UK's nuclear power plants, which is up for sale, adding that it could see a strategic fit.
"Iberdrola owns nuclear power plants, has a lot of experience and has an excellent reputation for running them well," said Jose Luis del Valle, strategy and development director of Iberdrola and chief executive of Scottish Power, Iberdrola's British unit.
"We also know the UK market through Scottish Power, and the British government is also looking at building nuclear plants," del Valle added. "All this fits with our strategy, but it also has to fit with our economic and financial objectives."
Del Valle repeated what Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Sanchez Galan said last week to the effect that any acquisition made by Iberdrola must be accretive to earnings and cashflow per share and that "one and one must add up to two or more".
Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) and Britain's Centrica (CNA.L) have made indicative offers for British Energy, while several other companies are said to be interested, including Suez (LYOE.PA), E.ON EONG.DE and Sweden's Vattenfall [VATN.UL].
"We are obliged to look at it -- it fits strategically, but we have to see if it fits financially," Del Valle told analysts on a conference call after Iberdrola announced a 162 percent increase in first quarter net profit to 1.2 billion euros ($1.90 billion). (Reporting by Joe Ortiz; Editing by Sarah Morris/Will Waterman)
