Press releases

2021-10-06 Hera is among the first companies in Italy to publish its Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework. An important point of reference also for issuing bonds in the future, its includes objectives linked to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and plastic recycling, in line with the Group’s Business Plan and strategies for energy and environmental transition The Hera Group – which pioneered sustainable finance in 2014, when it issued the first green bond in Italy – has further strengthened its integration between financial strategy and attention towards sustainability, with a focus on carbon neutrality and circular economy projects. The Group has in fact published – among the first companies in Italy to do so – its Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework (SLFF), which sets out the guidelines of its commitment to sustainable finance. This document outlines the metrics applicable to any financial instrument, and in particular provides a reference model for future bonds linked to reducing emissions and encouraging plastic recycling. More specifically, the Hera Group has introduced two key indicators in its SLFF, in line with the strategies outlined in the Business Plan for energy and environmental transition, and representative of Hera’s commitment to achieving the goals on the UN’s 2030 Agenda. The first concerns reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Hera aims to lower these emissions by 37% within 2030 (compared to 2019), thanks to both concrete interventions within the company and the involvement of suppliers and customers in electricity and gas sales. This is one of the most ambitious targets defined by a company in Italy, validated by the prestigious international network Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). The second is linked to the quantity of plastics recycled by the Group, an area in which it already shows leadership, through its subsidiary Aliplast. The only Italian multi-utility to have signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s “New Plastics Economy Global Commitment”, it will extend its commitment in this sector, through means including increasing its plant capacity and extending its range of action to the recovery of rigid plastics. The goal is to increase the amount of plastic recycled by 150% within 2030 (compared to 2017). In the spirit of transparency, which has always been one of Hera’s hallmarks, intermediate Sustainability Performance Targets (SPTs) have also been defined with respect to the 2030 objectives, which will be reported annually. The Hera Group’s published SLFF now stands alongside its Green Financing Framework (GFF) – adopted by the company in 2019 – and responds to the growing attention shown by international investors towards sustainable financial instruments. This is an area in which Hera has always invested: after issuing the first green bond in Italy in 2014, the Group in fact offered a second “green” bond in 2019 and, in 2018, was the first company to launch an ESG-linked revolving credit line in this country. “With the Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework, we have consolidated the link between our financial strategies and the attention to sustainability which has always characterised us, for reasons including the very nature of the businesses we manage”, states Luca Moroni, Group Manager of Administration, Finance and Control. “Green financial instruments and, more generally, ESG criteria are in fact a fundamental lever to create value and support our commitment to an increasingly regenerative and resilient development. In particular, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and recycling plastics are particularly relevant areas for us, where we want to and can make a real difference in order to respond to the many challenges we are currently facing, starting with climate change, and contribute to meeting the goals on the 2030 Agenda”. Sustainalytics, one of the leading ESG rating agencies, has issued a Second Party Opinion certifying the Hera Group’s Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework’s consistency with the main international reference standards, first and foremost the International Capital Market Association’s 2020 Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles. In structuring its SLFF, the Group was supported by BNP Paribas, UniCredit and Mediobanca. Press Release Sustainable Linked Financing Framework.pdf 2020-07-02 09:54 Communication of the overall amount of voting rights

2021-09-29 In the international standing provided by Refinitiv’s 2021 “Diversity & Inclusion Index”, the Group ranks 42nd globally, second overall among multi-utilities and third in Italy. Policies promoting diversity, inclusion and people development are increasingly central for investors. Hera has been confirmed among the listed companies most committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and people development worldwide. This emerges from the 2021 edition of the “Diversity & Inclusion Index” published by Refinitiv, which examined approximately 11,000 companies globally and awarded the Hera Group with 42nd place in the world ranking, 2nd best multi-utility in the world and 3rd best among Italian companies. The “Diversity & Inclusion Index” was designed and created by the international financial information giant Refinitiv and analyses the performance of companies on the basis of a wide set of sustainability KPIs. It provides one of the main references to investors who look favourably at companies adopting policies oriented towards Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). These issues are becoming increasingly important worldwide, alongside a growing awareness on the part of companies themselves of the benefits linked to ESG factors from an economic and social point of view, in terms of sustainability and wellbeing. For Hera, this offers further confirmation of the attention the Group has always paid to these issues, focusing on the wellbeing and development of its over 9,000 employees, promoting an inclusive culture both inside and outside the company. The Group was a pioneer in this area, signing the Charter for Equal Opportunities and Equality on the Workplace in 2009 and introducing the position of Diversity Manager in 2011, to promote diversity, equal opportunities and equality on the workplace. One outstanding example of the Group’s personnel policies is its corporate welfare plan, which supports employees and their families, with 4.5 million in services used in 2020 alone. Hera also invests in developing personalised internal career paths, with 32.6% of women in positions of responsibility and, more generally, a 26.7% share of female staff, above the national average for the sector (2020 figures). Investment in training is also crucial, with an average of approximately 26 hours per capita and activities involving 95% of employees last year. Press release Hera Group on 2021 Diversity & Inclusion Index.pdf 2020-07-02 10:58 Communication of the overall amount of voting rights

2021-09-20 The multi-utility, 100% controlled by the Hera Group, won with a bid focused on sustainability and creating value. In the coming months a 12-year contract will be signed with the Municipality of Udine as contracting body. The Municipality of Udine, acting as contracting body, has officially awarded to AcegasApsAmga, a 100% subsidiary of the Hera Group, the tender for managing the natural gas distribution service in the Udine 2 Ambito Territoriale Minimo (ATEM). The details of the tender won by AcegasApsAmga The Udine 2 ATEM comprises 18 municipalities (including Udine) and over 90 thousand users, with a network stretching over 1,200 km. Since the tender was awarded to the Hera Group, the new gas distribution network in Udine will be characterized by sustainability and the energy transition, and AcegasApsAmga, already the outgoing operator in 13 of the 18 municipalities, will be responsible for the service for the next 12 years. The contract, which will be signed in the coming months between the multi-utility and the Municipality of Udine, is worth approximately 115 million euro. A call for tenders generating shared value for communities AcegasApsAmga, in order to maintain its management of this service, while competing against some of the most qualified national gas distribution operators, developed a proposal that reconciled management efficiency, hence economic impact, with state-of-the-art safety standards, asset management solutions and environmental considerations. This proposal, supported by the know-how of the Hera Group, manifested as a management capable of bringing shared value to the community in terms of service quality, protection from adverse events, economic benefits and environmental advantages. 80 million in investments to further improve security and resilience The AcegasApsAmga project expects a substantial portion of the approximately 80 million euros planned for investments in gas distribution over the next 12 years will be used to prevent failures, upgrade the network and further increase its reliability and resilience, thus guaranteeing the utmost service continuity.In the event of supply failure coming from one direction, for example, a properly meshed network can be counter-supplied by other pipelines. The investment package also includes a replacement of the current gas meters with “Nexmeters”, the latest generation of meters engineered and developed by the Hera Group, provided with cutting-edge functions that guarantee high safety standards even during emergency situations such as earthquakes. All the service levels guaranteed to date will furthermore be maintained, levels that already significantly exceed the standards set by the Regulatory Authority ARERA. This includes the average response time of emergency services, within 60 minutes of the call in 99% of cases, as well as 5 days as the maximum time for carrying out basic work on the network. Or again, the commitment to ensuring that 100% of gas networks are inspected every year, in order to detect any leaks. For some time now, indeed, the investment rationale adopted by AcegasApsAmga has gone from an emergency approach (interventions following significant malfunctions) to a predictive one (interventions planned according to potential fragile points detected in the network). With these interventions, it will be possible to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new area management (ATEM Udine 2), overcoming the territorial boundaries traditionally associated with municipal management. "I believe - is the comment of Pietro Fontanini, the Mayor of Udine - that, with the effort to bring together themes like safety, quality of service and environmental sustainability, thus creating an added value for the entire community, AcegasApsAmga highlights a new strategy in gas distribution and, at the same time, the standard to which all operators will have to comply in the near future. As Mayor of Udine, I consider this tender perfectly coherent to the overall context of the efforts that our city is making toward the respect of the environment." Chairman Tommasi: “competition in public services leads to shared value for local areas” “We are particularly pleased with the victory in the gas tender in ATEM Udine 2”, explains Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano, Executive Chairman of the Hera Group and Chairman of AcegasApsAmga. “AcegasApsAmga’s bid made available to the territory the best of Hera Group’s know-how, not only in terms of safety and service management, but also in terms of environmental sustainability, which will be one of the distinguishing points of the new management. This challenge, of calls for tenders, is one that the Hera Group has long been equipped to deal with, not only in the field of energy distribution, and these results prove yet again that for us, in addition to service quality and continuity, it is important to invest and generate positive repercussions for the areas we serve.” CEO Gasparetto: “local jobs and professionalism preserved” “The spirit with which we sign the new gas distribution contract in the Udine area will not be that of a company simply looking to continue managing a service”, states Roberto Gasparetto, CEO of AcegasApsAmga. “Rather, we will work towards a new beginning, with the desire to add new value to Udine and the surrounding municipalities. In this sense, we also feel that we have kept faith with one of the industrial rationales that led, in 2014, to the aggregation of Amga in what was then AcegasAps and hence the Hera Group: to maintain the management of gas distribution in the area, preserving local jobs and professionalism.” Press release AcegasApsAmga wins the gas tender for ATEM Udine 2.pdf 2020-07-02 13:21 Communication of the overall amount of voting rights