In 2024, Hera delivered solid operating performance, with EBITDA growth of 6.2%, which was reflected all the way to the P&L bottom line, with a 32.2% increase in Earnings per Share. An impressive result also from a qualitative point of view, considering the purely structural nature of the activities underlying the progress achieved.
An additional proof of the healthy results deriving from the effective strategic approach lies in the deleveraging that continued in FY2024, with the Debt-to-EBITDA ratio dropping to 2.5x in a year of significant investments made and higher dividends distributed: a reflection of the strong cash generation achieved through a successful operating and financial management. Therefore, in 2024 Hera succeeded in offering its shareholders a Total Shareholder Return of nearly 36%, among the highest levels in the industry.
The Board of Directors is proposing to the Shareholders’ Meeting a dividend of 15 euro cents per share to be distributed next June, an increase of 7%, in line with expectations.
The evidence from the sound results achieved in 2024, the financial flexibility available to carry out M&A transactions that create further value, and the discipline with which Hera is executing the Business Plan are a guarantee for shareholders in an external scenario that awaits the definition of new geopolitical equations and the launch of new economic policies.
Dear Shareholders,
FY2024 wraps up a three-year period that has seen the most significant EBITDA progress in Hera’s history, from 2002 to date.
This performance is proof that our Group can generate growth in a solid and structural way, through investment that offers attractive returns and the synergies that emerge over time from the integration of acquired businesses. The continuous creation of value leverages on a multi-utility business portfolio that, on the one hand, is able to make the most of opportunities that may arise in the short term – as in the case of the energy efficiency projects entailed by the Ecobonus incentives, which expired in 2023 – and, on the other hand, is able to absorb changes in the macroeconomic scenario so that there is no volatility in the economic-financial performance of the individual financial years. Another non-negligible piece of evidence: the asset base in which we continually invest on several occasions has proved resilient to the new challenges that climate change poses to infrastructure.
Over the last three years EBITDA has not only grown steadily but has also posted a higher growth rate than the historical average, even in a phase of high volatility of external factors. That fact confirms that we have not only built a solid business platform, but that we manage it with a risk- and opportunity-sensitive approach, constantly evolving through innovations.
Precisely because of this approach,
to which we intend to stick, we are able
to project visible returns for our shareholders, also in the future.
The figures for the financial year 2024 fully confirm these structural features
The results for 2024 are clear: not only did all businesses make a positive contribution to the performance of EBITDA – which thus increased by 6.2%, moving very close to 1.6 billion euro – but this increase also translated into an even stronger progress at EBIT, which grew by 12% compared to that of 2023. The significant capex plan led to higher depreciation and amortisation, almost completely offset by a reduction in provisions, which in 2024 have essentially returned to standard levels.
Then, the EBIT increase had a positive impact on the P&L bottom line, in combination with the substantial normalisation of financial management compared to that of 2023, which was affected by the impacts of the financial crisis.
Hera’s EBITDA can rely on a cross-business drive
As further proof of the effectiveness of our multi-utility approach, the entire portfolio of operating activities in 2024 made a positive contribution to Group EBITDA growth. If the 11% increase in Networks EBITDA reflects the two-year update of the regulatory framework, which in 2024 incorporated the new macroeconomic environment into the parameters underpinning tariffs, the EBITDA of the Waste area, up 4%, confirms an uninterrupted development trend, based on a solid competitive position and full use of waste treatment capacity after the conclusion of the latest revamping of Waste-to-Energy plants. On the other hand, the performance that might be more unexpected is that of the Energy area, where, in the absence of about 81 million euro in EBITDA for Ecobonus-related activities, an organic growth in EBITDA of about 18% was achieved, as a result of commercial development, normalisation of commodity prices and actions taken to also sterilise potential exogenous negative impacts on profitability, such as ‘shaping costs’.
Another driving factor for EBITDA is our ESG vocation
Healthy financial returns make increasingly visible Hera’s genuine and tangible commitment to the energy transition, circular economy and dedicated effort to innovate and make the entire infrastructure more resilient: while in 2016, EBITDA from Creating Shared Value activities accounted for 33% of the P&L EBITDA, by 2024 the incidence of Creating Shared Value EBITDA had reached 54% of overall EBITDA, having achieved a compound average growth rate of 14% per year over the past nine years.
The increasing weight of Creating Shared Value EBITDA
is a trend meant to expand continuously, given the extent
of sustainability initiatives in the different activities we carry out
The sustainability profile will now be better valued with the publication of information according to the CSRD standard, which will allow easier comparison with other benchmark players.
The progress in operations management resulted in increased value creation
The increases achieved at EBITDA and EBIT levels were reflected in even stronger growth in Earnings per Share, which in 2024 grew by 32.2%, from 26.0 euro cents in 2023 to 34.3 euro cents.
With such results in terms of profits, the Dividend per Share proposed by the BoD for 2024 can increase of one euro cent, from 14 to 15 euro cents, going up 7% in line with expectations.
The Total Shareholder Return that Hera offers to its shareholders for 2024 – a year lacking elements of extraordinary nature as were previous years, which leveraged Ecobonus opportunities – thus stands at a robust 36%.
Thanks to the effective management of 2024, deleveraging continued, with a Debt/EBITDA ratio below 2.5x
In 2024, cash generation reached 1,148 million euro, which have almost entirely funded the 812-million-euro operating investments, M&A operations and the dividend distribution of 250 million euro to shareholders. Against a slightly negative Free Cash Flow, Net Financial Debt stood at 3,963.7 million euro.
The trend of decline in the Debt/EBITDA ratio has thus continued, from the late September 2022 peak of 3.62x – previous to the start of withdrawals from the gas reserve storages created to deal with the energy crisis – at the end of December 2024 it is down to 2.5x., i.e., the lowest level of the last two decades.
Having a leverage level well below 3x – a threshold that we believe is physiological for a multi-business operator that intends to maintain a controlled risk profile – means that we can count on considerable and strategic financial flexibility to seize timely opportunities for new acquisitions, in a competitive environment that still sees a multitude of small operators.
Results for FY2024 strengthen the visibility of future growth and value creation prospects
The Total Shareholder Return of 36% makes it clear how our shareholders are benefiting from the growth strategy focused on “value” and risk control, in addition to expanding market shares; this strategy of managing our domestically-focused business is all the more appreciable in light of the ever more turbulent scenario with increased international trade tensions. On the back of this evidence, we are convinced that we can fully meet our objectives – while maintaining our usual disciplined risk profile – and even exceed them, by seizing new investment opportunities that may arise using our financial flexibility.
In a framework that is shaping new geopolitical balances,
redesigning supply chains and fiscal policies,
Hera has a business portfolio structure and strategy
that represent a shield of unparalleled value against possible external threats
With this certainty we continue our work confidently, both in day-to-day operations and in interpreting and managing external changes.
