Growth in all main indicators, thanks to the Group's solid business model. Internal and external growth confirmed as the key factors of development. Proposed dividends set at 9 euro cents per share.
The year comes to a close with growth in all main indicators, thanks to the Group’s solid business model and its constantly and continuously improving operational, financial and fiscal management. Internal and external growth confirmed as the key factors of development. Proposed dividends set at9 euro cents per share, as forecasted by the business plan.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue at € 4,487.0 million (+7.1%)
- EBITDA at € 884.4 million (+1.9%)
- Adjusted net Group profits at € 202.6 million (+11.8%)
- Net profit post minorities at € 180.5 million (+9.5%)
- Net debt at € 2,651.7 million
- Proposed dividends confirmed at 9 cents/euro per share
Operational Highlights
- Growth remains driven by continuous improvement in operational, financial and fiscal management
- Excellent performance in the gas area, due to greater volumes sold
- Solid customer base in energy markets, with approximately 2.2 million customers
Today, the Hera Group’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the consolidated economic results as at 31 December 2015, along with the Sustainability Report.
The 2015 financial year concluded for the Hera Group with all main indicators up from 2014. These positive results are the fruit of a solid business model that has always been distinguished by its balanced multi-service portfolio, focused on core activities, continuous improvement in efficiency across all fields and synergies extracted from integrations. On the one hand the Group’s multi-business strategy guarantees a balanced range of economic and financial actions; on the other, a combination of two forms of leverage, internal growth and M&A, has allowed it to continue to expand in spite of an increasingly challenging scenario from an economic, regulatory and competitive point of view.
The results reached confirm, furthermore, the Group’s attention towards the various facets of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. Our purely economic results are in fact flanked by data that bears witness to a reduction in environmental impact, an increase in sorted waste, greater care towards energy efficiency and continuous improvement in customer service, all of which provides further confirmation of the company’s attention towards all stakeholders and the localities in which it operates.
The waste management business EBITDA, which includes waste collection, treatment and disposal services, reached € 230 million compared to € 241.8 million in 2014.
Results in the field of sorted urban waste are positive, with further progress from 54.0% in 2014 to 55.4% in 2015. In addition to a qualitative and quantitative improvement in gathering, activities in the waste management area were focused on increasing the efficiency of and enlarging the plant base, to complete the Group’s presence in new national markets with demand and prices in continuous expansion. In particular, the market position and the new plants deriving from the acquisition in late 2015 of Waste Recycling in Tuscany and some activities of Geo Nova in the Veneto region will fully contribute to operating results in 2016.
The integrated water cycle business, which includes aqueduct, purification and sewerage services, recorded an EBITDA of € 232.5 million (+7.1%) compared to € 217.1 million in 2014. Net investments in the integrated water cycle area amounted to € 114.9 million, with an increase of € 21.3 million on the previous year. Including capital grants, investments in this area came to € 127.2 million, of which € 59.1 million in aqueducts, € 34.3 million in sewerage and € 33.8 million in purification. The integrated water cycle area accounts for 26.3% of Group EBITDA.
The gas business EBITDA, which includes services in natural gas distribution and sales, district heating and heat management, rose to € 295.8 million (+7.2%) from € 276 million in 2014.
This result was obtained above all thanks to an increase in volumes of natural gas sold to final customers (332.1 million m3). In 2015, investments in the gas area came to € 86.5 million, with an increase of € 7.4 million compared to 2014.
The electricity business, which includes services in electricity production, distribution and sales, recorded an EBITDA of € 104.7 million, with an improvement of € 4 million compared to the 2014 data. This result was reached thanks to the efficiency enhancement initiatives introduced and the greater volumes sold to end customers. Driven above all by growth in the free market area, the number of electricity customers reached over 850,000 (+7.7% compared to 2014), confirming the trend seen in recent years, mainly due to a reinforcement of commercial action.
.jpg/19c3e9b6-361e-28ab-2201-b09cf74f2a5b "HERA_top-performer_110 (1).jpg")
