Bartlomiej Kubicki: Of course, I will join the congratulation wave. Two things I would like to discuss. One is Sweden and the other one is OpEx. On Sweden, if you can perhaps explain to us why the RAB is up 30% on a year-on-year basis from €4.9 billion to €6.4 billion? And then with the increase in the allowed WACC. Shall we expect a sort of automatic increase in EBITDA in ’24? Or you think there are some offsetting factors in Sweden, which will not trigger an EBITDA increase despite the fact that WACC is higher. So simply, is there any cap on tariffs in Sweden? And then on OpEx, you are talking about employing 13,000 more people until 2028, which will of course, increase your OpEx. And I just wonder whether this will trigger a squeeze on your OpEx outperformance or there are also some offsetting factors. For instance, you will significantly increase your OpEx capitalization rate. So consequently, we will see no impact on EBITDA until ’28 from increasing to OpEx.
Marc Spieker: Yes. Bartek, thank you. And let me start with the question on the RAB in Sweden. As you know, the regulatory system in Sweden is a real rate regime. And that means that the regulated asset base is being inflated annually based on a construction price index and what you essentially see in the numbers that you have mentioned is both the effects of organic investments, and on top the indexation change in a real rate environment. When it comes to OpEx, for us, it’s not so much about, is it not 13? Is it 10? Is it 15? This is part of the delivery mindset that Leo has mentioned for us is all about productivity. So we manage is that our cost base manages meaningfully under proportionately than our asset base growth. That’s the ultimate target.
And digitalization is one of the key levers to that. But of course, if you look at the magnitude of the program which is out there, it’s just impossible to do this just with digitalization. It’s impossible. And so we will be adding these people. And yes, we will constantly be looking at opportunities over time, and this includes then also the regulatory period from ’20 onwards, how at any given point in time, we can become more efficient to further outperform against our benchmark cost base.
Leonhard Birnbaum: But if I may. So all we are seeing is already in the plan. The OpEx performance should remain broadly constant, and whatever we are hiring should be somehow be offset by the efficiencies inflation production mechanisms.
Bartlomiej Kubicki: Okay. And on the WACC thing in Sweden, shall we expect an automatic increase in EBITDA in ’24 because of the WACC increase? Or there are some offsetting factors, which are…
Marc Spieker: No, there is — yes, sorry, you asked that. There is no automatism, so it is on to each individual deals or to set the tariffs essentially at their discretion. And with that it doesn’t follow kind of an industry-wide and regulatory-induced tariff cap, it’s a specific decision.
Iris Eveleigh: Next question comes from Deepa.
Deepa Venkateswaran: Marc, congratulations. And I think you’ll be doing 1 more earnings call. But congratulations. So my 2 questions are, one, on the 2024 guidance. Could you just clarify if there is any one-off or timing in either networks or retail embedded in your guidance? And if you could quantify that? And secondly, I noticed, obviously, for the first time, you’ve given spread targets over WACC for both the divisions. I think the energy infrastructure was simple. You’ve given your IRR of 7% to 10%. So that’s simple. On the regulated the networks business, what is the ROCE? I mean, your group proceed is 8% to 9%, but I’m guessing that’s also flattered a bit by Retail, which might be capital intensive. Could you give an idea of what’s the ROCE that you’re expecting in networks? And I presume that’s pre-tax ROCE, so you’re comparing it to pretax WACC.
Marc Spieker: Yes, Deepa, thanks for the congratulations, and I’ll take the 2 questions. One-offs 2024, that was your first question. Essentially in Customer Solutions, no major one-offs for ’24. We expect that pretty much margin normalization already. And then when we look at our Energy Networks business, we still expect a considerable amount of one-offs, which are specifically related to pension liabilities that increased following increasing inflation rates, and there is actually a positive compensation for that in the German regulation. And so we will see in ’24 still a — close to mid-3-digit million-euro one-off amount in Energy Networks. And then if you look at our ’28, there is pretty much nothing, yes. It’s just a little negative one from the redispatch costs, which will then T+2 over 3 years, but in the grand scheme.
So this is something for ’24, and that’s it. On our value creation ambition, I think we’re crystal clear when it comes to the Energy Networks business that we have our performance target of 150 to 200 basis points across the portfolio, and each individual country needs to pay into that. When it comes to our Energy Infrastructure Solutions business, our value spread depend on technology, on country, but are in a range of 150 to 350 basis points. And so these are the value creation aspirations that we have for both of our CapEx-intensive businesses. And for Energy Retail, it is pretty much CapEx or working capital light. There are no such meaningful spreads. I hope that addresses your question.
Deepa Venkateswaran: I just wanted to know if you could be explicit about your ROCE expectations for networks.
Marc Spieker: Across the board, it’s going to be at around 8%. So if you just look at the weight also of our invested capital energy networks, our group target is 8% to 9%. So networks will be at the lower end of that. And kind of the spread to the 9%, that’s the contribution from Energy Infrastructure Solutions.
Iris Eveleigh: The next question comes from Piotr from Citi. .
