Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc

Welcome to Atlantica's full year 2021 financial results conference call. Atlantica is a sustainable infrastructure company. Just a reminder that this call is being webcast live on the internet and a replay of this call will be available on Atlantica's corporate website. Atlantica will be making forward-looking statements during this call based on current expectations and assumptions. which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from our forward-looking statements if any of our key assumptions are incorrect or because of other factors discussed in today's earnings presentation, or because of other factors discussed, including the risk factors section of the accompanying presentation and in our latest reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. all of which can be found on our website. Atlantica does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Joining us for today's conference call are Atlantica's CEO, Santiago Siege, and CFO, Francisco Martinez-Davis. As usual, at the end of the conference call, we will open the lines for the Q&A session. I will now pass you over to Mr. Siege. Please, sir, go ahead.

Good afternoon and thank you very much for joining us for our 2021 conference call. Starting with a few remarks regarding the quarter and the year. We have closed 2021 meeting our guidance for the year, both in terms of cash available for distribution and adjusted EBITDA. Our board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 44 cents per share. And regarding 2021, it's important to remember that we invested over $480 million, well above our target. And following that, in the first two months of 2020, we have already closed or earmarked investments for more than $110 million, including both acquisitions of contracted assets in operation as well as construction of new renewable energy facilities. With this, we are initiating our 2022 guidance in the range of 230 to 250 And finally, 2021 has also been a very good year in terms of ESG, and we will be spending a minute reviewing our credentials. With that, I will leave you with Francisco, who will take you through our financial results.

Okay. Thank you, Santiago, and good afternoon to everyone. Please turn to slide number five, where I will present our key financials for the full year 2021. Adjusted EBITDA reached $824 million. On a comparable basis, excluding foreign exchange and the $77 million non-cash provision caused by electricity prices in Spain, our adjusted EBITDA growth would have been 13.8%. Regarding CAFTI, we generated $225.6 million for the full year 2021, an increase of 12.4% year over year. On the following slide, number six, you can see our performance by geography and business sector. In North America, revenue increased by 20% to $395.8 million in 2021 while EBITDA increased by 12% thanks to the recently acquired assets in the United States. In South America, revenue increased by 2% due to the recent investments in PV plants. EBITDA in the Maya region decreased by 1% compared to 2020. Growth, thanks to the recent investments in higher production in Spain, was offset by the non-cash provision related to high electricity prices in Spain during the year. Looking below at the results by business sector, we can see similar results. Let's now turn over, please turn to slide number six, where we'll review our operational performance. Electricity produced by renewable assets reach 4,655 gigawatt hours in 2021, an increase of 43% versus 2020. The increase was largely due to the contributions of assets recently acquired. Production also increased in our assets in EMEA, where solar radiation was higher. On the other hand, solar radiation was lower than expected in the U.S., and the wind resource was lower than expected in our assets in North and South America. Looking at our availability-based contracts, once again, ACT continues to show solid performance. In transmission lines and water, the two other sectors where our revenue is based on availability, we continue to achieve high availability levels. Let's move to slide number eight to walk you through our cash flow for the full year 2021. Our operating cash flow for 2021 reached $506 million, showing a 15 percent increase versus 2020, mainly thanks to higher adjusted EBITDA and higher electricity prices. non-cash provision i previously mentioned is included in the non-monetary items so you can see the growth in operating class flow when we exclude the non-monetary items investing cash flow in 2021 reached 351 million explained by the new assets acquired during the year Financing cash flow in 2021 corresponds mainly to the scheduled project debt repayments for approximately $418 million and $219 million of dividends paid to shareholder and non-controlling interest. Financing cash flow also includes a positive impact of $131 million of the equity raise closed in January and $40 million from the repayment of our note-issuing facility with the proceeds of the 400 million green notes issued in May. Moving to the next slide, number nine. In 2021, we also made good progress on the ESG front, and our efforts continue to be recognized. This year, we set an admissions reduction target, which was approved by the Science-Based Target Initiative. In December 2021, Atlantica was included in CDP's A-list, achieving the highest score on environmental and transparency and action in related to climate change. In January 2022, we were included once again as one of the world's 100 more sustainable corporations by corporate ninth, ranked number eight in the Global 100 Index. In February 2022, Sustainalytics updated its rate in Atlantica, and we were included in the top third percentile performance on ESG ratings in the utility sector. Also in 2022, Atlantica was awarded the Bronze Class Distinction in the S&P Global 2022 Sustainability Year. Only two U.S. listed companies received a medal distinction within the utilities industry. I will now turn the call back over to Santiago.