Iberdrola helps Ibex 35 post biggest ever gain

25 January 2008

MADRID – The share price of Spanish electricity supplier Iberdrola rose sharply on Wednesday as French broker Natxis declared a 3.781 percent stake in the company.

Iberdrola’s stock added 16.69 percent to close at its high for the day at EUR 9.09, helping the blue-chip Ibex 35 index to post its biggest ever daily gain. The share price posted an intraday low of EUR 8.28 with 92.78 million shares changing hands.

The Ibex 35 closed up 6.95 percent at 13,106.70 points. It booked a loss of 7.54 percent at the start of the trading week – the biggest daily fall since the index was established in 1992 – on fears a recession was looming in the United States.

Earlier on Thursday, Electricité de France had denied a press report it had bought into Iberdrola. The report sparked a rally in Iberdrola, which has been touted of late as a potential takeover target.

However, the main catalyst for yesterday’s recovery in the stock was that it had fallen to attractive levels after being heavily punished in the maelstrom that hit the financial markets this week. Prior to Thursday’s gains, Iberdrola’s share price was down 25 percent for the year to date.

The share price of Ibedrola’s recently listed renewable energies division Iberdrola Renovable added 8.85 percent to EUR 4.92, which still left it below its initial public offer price of EUR 5.30 per share.

Subject: Spanish news