The Spanish Stock Exchange will host the debut of Opdenergy tomorrow. The Spanish renewable energy group, which suspended its first attempt to land on the stock market at the beginning of May 2021, will become listed after completing an OPS (public subscription offer) of up to 29.83% of its capital, with which aspires to raise about 200 million euros. The reference price is set today, between 4.75 and 5.4 euros. Opdenergy’s placement is the first in seven years to feature a retail tranche.
Fifteen and a half months ago, Opdenergy postponed sine die its jump to the trading floor just two days before the date established due to “unstable market conditions”, and the moment chosen for its second attempt would not be ideal either if the context is taken into account of high economic and geopolitical uncertainty, as well as high volatility in the stock markets. “It does not seem like a good time, but we must bear in mind that the company (as is the case with almost all companies in the sector) has a wide portfolio of projects and if it wants to materialize them, it needs financing. In a scenario of rising interest rates ( and therefore, the financing costs), it does not seem that they have any other alternative”, comments Antonio Castelo, an analyst at iBroker.
In any case, Opdenergy will find a relatively fertile ground to start its stock market trajectory, since, at the expense of the market putting a price on its particular project, the green energy sector is experiencing a sweet moment on the Stock Market. There have been other stages of renewables boom in equity markets before. Now, the interest of investors responds to an unquestionable reality: the need to accelerate the energy transition.
The managers are positioning themselves with this perspective that, in principle, makes the sector a winning horse.
“All Western governments bombard each other talking about the need to have renewable energy sources and achieve energy independence. But it is one thing to say it and another to put it into practice. Something that almost all companies in the sector complain about is the complexity and slowness of the bureaucratic procedures to launch projects”, comments Castelo.
In this sense, Joaquín Robles, an analyst at XTB, recalls that many times renewable companies fall prey to their expectations. “Investments have to arrive and although the sector will receive a third of the 750,000 million euros from the Next Generation funds, everything is being very slow. Perhaps projects have already been discounted that have not yet arrived or that will not even materialize” , Explain.
Although the sector is fashionable, experts recognize that the wheat must be separated from the chaff. “You have to be selective with renewable companies that have good know-how and the ability to capture future growth through strong investments in Europe and the US,” emphasizes Toni Cárdenas, manager of Caja Ingenieros, who likes Acciona Energía and Solaria.
Acciona’s renewables subsidiary is revalued by 19.64% in 2022. 83.3% of Bloomberg firms advise their purchase and none are inclined to sell. Its great strengths are its great international experience and its record order book.
Castelo highlights Solaria’s ability to finance projects. “It has invested 70 million euros in this first quarter, but the debt has only grown by 50 million given its cash generation capacity,” he says. Up 18.75% so far this year.
Siemens Gamesa completes the representation of the sector in the Ibex. “With this value, you have to be careful because of the risk of launching a profit warning,” says Robles. However, the shares are stuck at the gates of 18 euros, waiting for the takeover bid announced by Siemens Energy in May to exclude the company from the Stock Exchange before the end of 2022.
Of the other four listed renewables, Ecoener is the one that combines the best performance in 2022 (35%), with upward potential (34.7%) and support from analysts (83.3% purchase advice).
It is followed in support of investors Grenergy, which advances 17.17% and can add 29.8%. Audax and Soltec raise more doubts: they leave 17.14% and 35.15% respectively.
