By Pietro Lombardi
MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish oil company Cepsa’s CEO on Friday criticized a windfall tax Madrid slapped on Spain’s largest energy firms as poorly designed after it dragged the company into a first-quarter loss.
“The fact that the extraordinary tax imposed on Spanish energy companies pushed Cepsa into an IFRS loss in the first quarter illustrates its poor design and disproportionate impact,” CEO Maarten Wetselaar said on Friday.
The tax had “more than double the impact” on Cepsa as on its main competitors in proportion to net income, Wetselaar said.
The company, which is controlled by Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala and U.S.
firm Carlyle Group, has launched a 3.6 billion euro ($3.97 billion) investment plan over the next three years, with a key focus on sustainable energy and mobility.
It reported on Friday a quarterly loss of 297 million euros, versus a profit of 265 million euros a year before.
The 1.2% tax on utilities’ sales imposed by the country’s left-wing coalition will cost the company 323 million euros this year. Cepsa has already paid out 164 million euros, and took a charge to account for the overall amount.
Net profit at current cost of supplies (CCS) rose sharply to 176 million euros from 58 million euros a year earlier, supported by better refining margins, it said.
($1 = 0.9069 euros)
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by Inti Landauro and Jan Harvey)
