The sharp increase in the price of energy commodities experienced in the third quarter of 2022 and the WACC cut made by the Regulator starting from January did not prevent Hera from achieving growth at the consolidated EBITDA level in the first nine months of 2022. 

A policy of well-balanced diversification of the businesses in the portfolio and careful management of the risk profile enabled Hera to achieve sound operating performance even in an unfavourable scenario. Therefore, Hera could keep executing its investment plan, while also seizing additional opportunities through the purchase of significant quantities of gas in storage that guarantee the security of supply to customers for the current thermal year at predefined conditions.

Half-year results confirm that Hera has a well-balanced asset portfolio and a clear long-term strategy. These elements allow the Group to navigate through a challenging scenario, such as the current one, without halting growth while confirming solidity.
Another evidence that emerges as Hera’s strength is the controlled risk profile in operational and financial management. On this basis it has been possible to absorb the impact of negative external elements, and, on this basis again, decisions have been taken to ensure the best possible conditions for future development, from higher investments to prudent provisioning.

The 3.3% progress achieved in the quarter at EBITDA level is evidence of Hera’s sound and visionary business-model approach, which was also able to leverage internal and external growth drivers, creating value and offsetting both the negative impacts of the macroeconomic scenario and the WACC cut set by the Regulator.

Despite the increase in net working capital due to the rise in energy prices and the pursuit of an intensive investment programme, Hera managed to maintain a solid financial structure, capable of supporting both customers in need, with bill payment in instalments, and the forthcoming distribution of dividend of 12-euro cent per share, confirming its growing shareholder remuneration policy.

In 2021, Hera achieved a 9% increase at EBITDA level, which exceeded expectations despite an external scenario still affected by COVID-19. A result that is also valuable from a qualitative point of view, given the wide range of organic factors that have fuelled the growth.

Thus, Hera has once again proven how crucial it is to have a multi-business portfolio to leverage, when one is an operator able to guess new trends in demand and promptly satisfy them. This is what happened, for instance, with the significant contribution that in 2021 energy efficiency and plastic recycling provided to Group’s 2021 EBITDA. The involvement in those businesses, moreover, confirms Hera’s active role in pursuing the environmental sustainability targets that Europe has set.

The results of the first nine months of 2021 show a significant growth in terms of EBITDA, around 9.6%. A growth that is significant also for its strong organic component.

Leveraging on a proactive approach in non-regulated business, today Hera can fully benefit from the recovery in volumes compared to the period of restrictions imposed by the pandemic while it is reaping the attractive returns from the energy efficiency solutions developed under the incentive system provided by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Hera achieved significant half-yearly growth in terms of both size and quality.

A more favourable scenario than that of the first part of 2020, with regard to the effects of the pandemic and the climate, only partly explains the 10.4% progress in EBITDA: organic growth continued indeed, together with that driven by M&A. Comparison with pre-Covid levels of the first half of 2019 indicates even greater progress, in the order of 13.2%.

In liberalised areas, Hera has proven its ability in leveraging higher volumes as well as the incentives for energy efficiency included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, achieving significant returns, also in terms of sustainability.

First-quarter results demonstrate Hera’s ability to post healthy growth rates in an improving scenario. The increase of 3.7% in EBITDA indicates that around 70% of the negative impacts related to Covid-19 and mild temperatures, which affected the first quarter of 2020, have been recovered. The Net Profit growth of 6.2% – therefore higher than that at EBITDA level – proves the positive contribution of both financial and fiscal management.

Strong cash flow generation allows for a 159-million-euro reduction in Net Financial Debt and makes Hera’s potential to fund additional growth through M&A even more visible.

Given the results achieved in these first months of the year, Hera’s competitiveness comes out even stronger. A key premise, also in view of the forthcoming tenders in regulated businesses.

Despite the pandemic scenario, 2020 proved to be a year of reassuring results in many regards. Behind the performance of financials, which exceeded forecasts, we boast a solid business model, a proven successful growth strategy, as well as a thorough execution of stakeholder-supporting policies that can be shaped by the needs of the moment.

Such an evidence provides higher visibility to the 2024 targets of the Business Plan and encourages the distribution of a dividend of 11 euro cents, meaning 0.5 cent higher than the amount originally indicated.