The recovery of economic activity after the pandemic has not only increased the tax revenues of the State, but also those from public or participating companies, which have improved results in the last financial year and which already contribute almost 2,400 million euros a year in dividends.
The presence of the State in companies is articulated through Sepi, Enaire and the Ministry of Finance itself. It owns 51% of the airport operator Aena, 20% of the electricity grid manager Redeia, 5% of the gas company Enagás, 28% of the technological and defense group Indra, 2.3% of the d IAG airlines, 10.3% of the food company Ebro Foods and 4.1% of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
For the shares in all these listed companies it has obtained 572 million euros in dividends charged to the results of 2022, part of which has been distributed in 2023. It is almost three times more than the 194 million euros paid in previous year, thanks to Aena's strong recovery.
The Spanish airport operator was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which paralyzed activity and caused losses of 600 million between 2020 and 2021. The explosive recovery came in 2022, with a profit of 901 million and the decision to redistribute dividends three years later. In the first half of this year, it earned 608 million, twice as much as a year earlier.
Among the other investees, the increase in Sepi's weight, up to 28%, in the capital of Indra, which went more than five years without distributing dividends and which the Government has turned into the tip of launches defense programs. Airbus has also recovered strongly, while Redeia, the former Red Eléctrica, and Enagás have always been a recurring source of income. IAG earned 430 million last year, but did not pay dividends.
The State's shares in listed companies have a stock market value of more than 18,000 million euros. The share in Aena is worth 10,900 million and has accumulated an increase of 18% since January, compared to 4,185 million of 4.1% in Airbus, which has been revalued by 13%. 1,595 million more come from Redeia, which has fallen 10% on the stock market since the beginning of the year, compared to 662 million from Indra, which is up 24%. The shares in Ebro are worth 260 million, compared to 215 million in IAG and 205 million in Enagás.
The listed companies are the companies that show the most state participations, but the real manna is the Selae, that is, State Lotteries and Gambling. Attached to the Ministry of Finance, it entered 9,687 million euros in 2022, 3.5% more, and earned 1,993 million, 2.4% more, of which 1,794 million went to dividends for its sole shareholder .
Thanks to primitives, lottery tithes, crossings and Christmas participations, Selae also managed to expand the network of establishments last year, up to 4,151. All these delegations, he explains in the annual report, are private.
Among the dividends of the State, those of the company Tragsa also stand out, which in just three years has become a real Swiss army knife for the Administration. Dedicated to providing services ranging from forest conservation to the massive processing of ERTEs during the pandemic, the company earned 1,313 million last year. Before the pandemic, revenues were close to 800 million.
