The 163.5 mn€ increase in Group Revenues (+10.4%) benefits from the net contribution of 23.5 mn€ from the perimeter changes, mainly due to the 80% holdings in in Aliplast (+26.3 mn€), Italian leader in plastics recycling, and to the exit of Medea (-3.7 mn€), which was sold to Italgas in December 2017. On a like-for-like basis, Revenues expansion reaches 140 mn€, mainly driven by increased Trading (43 mn€) and higher sales of gas and electricity. The lattest reflect the increase in the commodity price (6 mn€) and higher volumes sold (61 mn€), in addition to system charges and volumes distributed growing by ca.50 mn€.

At the level of consolidated EBITDA, Hera recorded a 15.9 mn€ increase (+5.2%), resulting from the positive contribution of most business areas. In the Gas area the performance was particularly strong, with an EBITDA increase of 12.6 mn€ that reflects good trading margins and the 29% growth in volumes sold. Also the Waste area provided a positive contribution (+2.5 mn€), due to the Aliplast consolidation from April 2017, the increase in liberalised prices in special waste and higher volumes treated by Waste Recycling: these factors offset lower revenues from electricity production. In the Water area, where EBITDA shows a 2.3 mn€ increase, the main driver was the increase in revenues from dispensing. The Electricity area showed a 3.1 mn€ decrease at EBITDA level, mostly due to the effects of the maintainance at the Teverola thermoelectric plant. On the contrary, strong performance was recorded in terms of volumes sold (+23.7%) and for the expansion in customer base (+10.6%), which for the first time exceeds the threshold of 1 million users. Growth came both from the liberalised business and from the service provided to the protected customers in the Gorizia municipality, following the take-over.

Group EBIT increases by 5.5%, at a slightly higher rate than that of EBITDA (+5.2%): Depreciation rises, driven by acquisitions and capital expenditure, while Provisions to the Loan Loss Fund decrease, leading to an overall absorption of 125.0 mn€ (+4.5%).

The area of financial management shows a 5.6 mn€ decrease in net financial expenses compared to Q1 2017 (-24.3%), as net financial indebtedness remained stable (2,502.1 mn€ as at 31 March 2018) and the efficiencies achieved in terms of its cost; also the interest proceeds for payments in arrears from safeguard customers are far from negligible.

In the fiscal management area the tax rate remained in line with Q1 2017, at a 30.1% level, as a result of the continuous effort for fiscal optimisation allowed by the legislation in force, i.e. benefits brought about by tax credit for R&D, super depreciation and patent box.

Net Profit post Minorities achieves a sizeable increase (+9.6%), reaching 120.5 mn€.