We came to the conclusion that the future is a separate line of business when perusing the graphically flashy 2019 annual report issued by Enel S.p.A. the Rome-based energy company. Enel’s is an unfamiliar name to most Americans (investors and consumers). It is listed and traded on the Milan stock exchange. But they are the world’s second largest producer of power, after the State Grid of China, and serve more than 60 million customers mainly in Italy, Spain and Latin America. And they are Europe’s largest utility. Like most European utilities they underwent privatization in the 1990s. However the Italian government still owns about one quarter of the company. We’re not sure whether to call this a privatized company or not. Yes they have shareholders, a dividend policy and publish financial data in an appropriate manner. But as students of corporate finance know, owning 25% of the equity permits […]