INVESTOR NEWS - Gruppo Hera -

A half year with high quality of growth

Message from the Executive Chairman of the Board

After the brilliant results achieved in 2023, which provide a challenging basis for comparison, Hera manages to deliver further progress in the first half of 2024, as proven by EBITDA increasing by 2%, EBIT improving by 2.8%, and Earnings per Share up 16%.
The half-year growth in Group EBITDA is based on structural components and fully organic: a strong impetus came from the positive dynamics of Networks, where Hera has taken full advantage of the new regulatory framework, and from the strong position in industrial waste treatment.
Significant expansion was achieved in the energy customer base, with a million new customers entering the Gradual Protection service as of July 1.

Cristian Fabbri

Looking at the figures

Focus on 1H 2024 results

In the first six months of 2024, Hera confirmed its continued ability to improve operating margins due to the strength of its structural business portfolio, even against a backdrop of energy prices returning to more normal levels and the expiry of the 110% Ecobonus benefits. Against a 33.3% drop in Revenues, Group’s half-year results post a 2.0% progress at EBITDA and a 2.8% increase at EBIT.
At the consolidated level, the significant increase in EBITDA of Networks (+26.2 m€) and Waste (+8.6 m€) offset the EBITDA decrease in the Energy area, which nevertheless grew on an organic basis by about 28 m€, despite a penalising comparison with the first half of 2023 due to the expiry of the SuperEcobonus tax incentives, whose negative impact that can be calculated at about 51 m€.

Jens Klint Hansen

Hera on stock exchange

Still room for appreciation, even after the rise already achieved

Due to solid fundamentals, confirmed by healthy half-year results, Hera strengthens the visibility of further returns to offer to shareholders, who have been rewarded at the end of last June with the distribution of a dividend of 14 euro cents. On top of the dividend yield, the shareholder return includes a price increase of nearly 20% year-to-date that has led the stock to outperform all benchmark indices.
Lately, the market sentiment on European utilities is improving, as they trade at very attractive price-earnings levels, now below both the market average and their own historical average.

Jens Klint Hansen

Isabella Malagoli

Stories

With a 25 % increase in the customer base, a new phase of further growth begins

As of 1 July 2024, Hera started serving one million new customers in the electricity sector: these are High Protection customers who had not yet chosen an operator on the liberalised energy market and switched to a Gradual Protection Service – a temporary service that will last till 31 March 2027 to accompany users toward full market liberalisation. At the beginning of the year, Hera won the highest number of achievable lots in the Protection Service tender, becoming the player that has mostly increased its customer base through the process.
The acquisition of those new customers represents a milestone in the development path of the Energy area envisaged in the Business Plan to 2027…