Its main goal is to preserve and increase assets and dividends to safeguard “la Caixa” Foundation’s social activity
- Criteria Caixa’s Strategic Plan lays the foundations to continue creating value to society and reaffirms the company’s role as a stabilising force in the Spanish economy, strengthening presence in strategic industries and fostering future industrial development.
- Plan sets the objective of increasing the annual dividend for “la Caixa” Foundation up to €700 million by 2030.
- It aims to improve CriteriaCaixa’s asset value portfolio in the coming years, with an expected annual return of 8%-10%.
- CriteriaCaixa forecasts to receive around €12 billion in dividends from strategic investees in the period 2024-2030.
- The company projects net debt position of 10%- 20% of asset value, committed to investment grade.
- Plan envisages implementing investments and divestments in strategic portfolio, with core positions such as CaixaBank, Naturgy and Telefónica and others with a greater degree of flexibility, which together will account for 55% of the holding company’s asset value in 2030.
- The new roadmap will strengthen CriteriaCaixa’s investment in diversification portfolio up to €10 Bn, particularly on technology, pharma and biopharma and retail industries and will boost the construction of a private equity portfolio worthed around €4 billion.
- It also anticipates an extensive restructuring of real estate business, divesting part of the direct management portfolio and reinvesting in indirect management assets with recurring income and higher appreciation potential.
- The Plan will also deploy a new ESG strategy for CriteriaCaixa, involving both its own management and investment criteria and the activities of investees.
Barcelona, 17 June 2024. CriteriaCaixa, holding company managing “la Caixa” Foundation’s business assets, today presented the outlines of its new Strategic Plan for 2025-2030. The Plan’s priority is to provide an uninterrupted and growing dividend that will enable “la Caixa” Foundation to continue carrying out its social work.
The new roadmap also reaffirms CriteriaCaixa’s role as a stabilising force in the Spanish economy, reinforcing its interest in continued investment in companies in strategic industries such as banking, energy, telecommunications and utilities, as well as fostering future industrial growth through investment in new sectors and projects.
The new plan is a continuation of CriteriaCaixa’s strategy in recent months, exemplified by deals such as the stake increase in Telefónica (5%), or the entry into the stake capital of leading companies such as ACS (9.4%), Colonial (17%) and Puig (3%), which offer greater exposure to infrastructures, real estate and fashion and beauty industries.
CriteriaCaixa’s Chairman, Isidro Fainé, said: “The plan we presented today is intended to give a decisive boost to our industrial and financial investments. We are doing so with the aim of increasing our economic contribution to the country’s development, through participation in strategic companies in order to increase, also, the Foundation’s social work”. Isidro Fainé also pointed out: “In recent weeks, we have already carried out several investments that fit in this plan. Underlying these deals is our preference for companies with already consolidated businesses, and which have opportunities and strengths to expand their businesses and generate more value in the future, in addition to having solid financial positions, as well as policies for paying continuous and increasing dividends”.
CriteriaCaixa’s CEO, Ángel Simón, pointed out: “One of the main objectives of the plan is to boost investments with social and economic impact to improve asset value, optimising risk/return and liquidity levels”. CEO also said that, to this end “we will continue to promote the growth of the portfolio, strengthen control mechanisms and participate in the governance of the companies from a position of influence. We will strengthen our presence in the country’s strategic companies in the banking, telecommunications, energy and utilities industries, but with an eye on other key areas of long-term value such as technology, pharma and biopharma and retail”.
€40 billion GAV and growing dividend for the Foundation
In the financial sphere, the plan is designed to increase CriteriaCaixa’s gross asset value (GAV) to around €40 billion in 2030, compared to €27 billion at the end of 2023. It envisages improving portfolio’s asset value in the coming years, with an expected annual return of 8%-10%. This is a significant increase compared to the historical figure of the last five years, which is around 3%.
The new Strategic Plan also sets a key goal to increase dividends that CriteriaCaixa will pay to its sole shareholder, “la Caixa” Foundation, in the coming years, which are expected to reach €700 million euros per year in 2030, compared to the average €400 million per year in 2018-2023.
The company forecasts a net debt position for 2025-2030 of 10%-20% of asset value. In 2030, a net debt ratio of 10% is expected, allowing an additional 10% margin for possible investment opportunities and to absorb possible market swings. Among the financial priorities, debt and interest coverage ratios are expected to be aligned with the investment grade rating commitment.
To achieve the goals set out in the plan, CriteriaCaixa plans to protect the positions in its strategic portfolio and strengthen diversification and private equity portfolios, generating greater complementarity. The strategic portfolio will be strengthened in core investments such as CaixaBank, Naturgy and Telefónica, and investment and divestment actions will be implemented in other positions with less weight and a greater flexibility.
The plan’s objective is for the strategic portfolio to account for 55% of Criteria’s gross assets value by 2030, with a value of approximately 22 billion euros (versus 19 billion euros in 2023). CriteriaCaixa expects to receive around €12 billion in dividends from its strategic investees in the period 2024-2030.
Strengthening diversification and private equity portfolios
The new plan envisages a major strengthening of the diversification portfolio, which at the end of 2023 consisted of some 80 listed companies worldwide with an estimated value of more than €2.5 billion. The plan involves strengthening investment in this portfolio in sectors such as technology, pharma, biopharma and retail, so that it reaches an estimated value of €10 billion by 2030 and will account for 25% of CriteriaCaixa’s total assets (compared to the current 13%).
One of the main new features of the new Strategic Plan is to build a private equity portfolio that invests in non-listed companies, both directly in Spain and internationally, through benchmark and co-investment funds. This portfolio is expected to reach an estimated value of €4 billion by 2030, with a weight of around 10% of CriteriaCaixa’s gross asset value, compared to current 3%.
CriteriaCaixa’s new 2025-2030 Strategic Plan also aims to remodel the current real estate portfolio managed by InmoCaixa. The objective is to transform this portfolio in the short term by divesting a large part of it, currently geographically dispersed and underperforming the market, in order to reinvest in assets that generate recurring income with higher returns and appreciation potential. After this process, in 2030, the real estate portfolio is expected to maintain a weight of around 10% of CriteriaCaixa’s asset value.
CriteriaCaixa’s new real estate portfolio will combine direct and indirect asset management through investment in specialised companies such as Colonial, where CriteriaCaixa expects to become its largest shareholder with a 17% stake when the transaction announced in May is completed.
With the best ESG practices
The strategic plan also calls for the deployment of a new ESG strategy for CriteriaCaixa, with a dual vision involving both its own management and investment criteria and the activity of its investees. Monitoring will be established through clearly defined metrics that promote transparency in reporting, as well as implementing control and action measures to address areas in need of improvement.
One of the most relevant aspects of the plan is to continue to deepen the incorporation of ESG criteria for the selection of investments, both in a positive sense – reducing risks and gaining exposure to certain sectors – and in a negative sense, excluding companies or sectors that do not comply with the minimum criteria established.
CriteriaCaixa will draw on the best practices of benchmark institutions, with a cross-cutting vision in all three areas of ESG.
