Hera Group presents Business Plan to 2028
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The first nine months of the year closed with strong growth in revenue and investments, and with all key operating and financial indicators positive, in line with the first two quarters and the targets set out in the Business Plan

Operating and financial highlights
- Revenue rises to 9,365.6 million euro (+10.6%)
- EBITDA stable at 1,037.2 million euro
- Net profit for the period up to 324.6 million euro (+4%)
- Gross operating investments at 666.8 million euro (+18.8%)
- Net financial position at 4,147.2 million euro and net financial position/EBITDA ratio at 2.6x, an improvement compared to September 2024
- Return on invested capital increases, with ROI at 9.9%
Key industrial guidelines
- Organic growth of the multi-business portfolio. The strong performance of the water and waste sectors offsets the absence of the temporary opportunities seized in 2024 within the energy segment.
- Expansion of the operational scope. Strengthening continues through M&A and joint venture initiatives (Ambiente Energia, CircularYard) and through the full consolidation of subsidiaries EstEnergy, Hera Comm, and Aliplast via the acquisition of minority interests.
- Value creation capacity. Solid operating performance and efficient financial management support earnings growth and the profitability of invested capital.
- Ample room for development. Cash generation and financial flexibility provide the basis for new organic and external growth initiatives, consistent with the objectives of the Business Plan.
Today, the Hera Group’s Board of Directors, chaired by Executive Chairman Cristian Fabbri, unanimously approved the consolidated quarterly report at 30 September 2025, which confirms a positive structural performance and strong growth in revenues and investments compared to the same period of the previous year.
Cristian Fabbri, Executive Chairman of the Hera Group:

“Over the past nine months, leveraging cash generation and our strong financial flexibility, we have focused on the Group’s structural growth: we have doubled our operating investments aimed at development, increasing investments by almost 20% in both regulated sectors and free-market businesses. We furthermore completed a number of M&A transactions and repurchased the minority stakes in EstEnergy, Aliplast and, at the beginning of October, Hera Comm, all of which are now 100% owned. These persistent growth drivers, combined with the strength of our multi-business portfolio, enabled us to offset the loss of certain temporary opportunities and resulted in an increase in return on equity, now close to 10%. These results demonstrate that we are fully on track to achieve the objectives set out in our Business Plan.”
Orazio Iacono, CEO of the Hera Group:
“Strong operating performance and steps towards financial optimisation supported growth in net profit attributable to Shareholders, which rose by 4.2%. The macroeconomic scenario remains complex, but signs of stabilisation in the energy market, combined with our ability to generate cash flow and margins – with the net debt/EBITDA ratio at 2.6x – now allow us to pursue development opportunities with even greater momentum. One non-negotiable principle remains at the heart of our industrial strategy: sustainability must go hand in hand with competitiveness. All our investments in technologies and services aim to strengthen this connection, improving resilience, innovation and the quality of our offer. Only in this way can we reconcile the Net Zero 2050 target with the growth of local areas and the well-being of communities.”
Double-digit growth in revenue, at 9.4 billion euro
At 30 September 2025, the Hera Group’s revenue amounted to nearly 9.4 billion euro (9,365.6 million euro), increasing by more than 894 million euro compared to the same period in 2024, up +10.6%, mainly linked to the increase in energy commodity prices and the higher value of gas and electricity volumes traded.
EBITDA stable at 1,037 million euro
EBITDA for the first nine months of 2025 remained substantially stable with respect to the previous year, amounting to 1,037.2 million euro. Lower margins in the energy areas (–23.3 million euro) were offset by positive results in the water cycle and waste management services. The comparison with 2024 should however take into account the 85 million euro in extraordinary margins recorded that year, linked to temporary non-recurring opportunities (mainly last resort markets and eco-bonuses). Adjusted for these effects, EBITDA at 30 September 2025 shows structural growth coming to 9%, supported by contributions from all the Group’s core businesses, exceeding the 7% average annual growth rate forecast in the Business Plan for the period to 2028.
Profit before income tax above 457 million euro
Ebit for the first nine months stood at 519.9 million euro, down slightly (-0.5%) compared to the same period in 2024, mainly due to the increase in depreciation and amortisation linked to new investments in regulated sectors and waste treatment, while provisions decreased thanks to the normalisation of the energy market. Effective operational and financial management, which saw a 27.5 million euro reduction in expenses thanks to a rationalisation of the debt structure and a reduction in IAS expenses, led to a profit before income tax of 457.2 million euro, up 5.5% compared to the 433.5 million euro seen at 30 September 2024.
Net Profit up 4%
Despite the increased tax rate, at 29% (vs 28% the previous year), net profit at 30 September 2025 reached 324.6 million euro, up 4% compared to 312.1 million euro in the same period of 2024. At the same time, net profit attributable to Group Shareholders also grew, reaching 294.7 million euro (+4.2% compared to 282.9 million euro at 30 September 2024).
Strong growth in operating investments and confirmation of the Group’s financial solidity
At 30 September 2025, operating investments, including capital grants (34.2 million), amounted to 666.8 million euro, up by almost 106 million compared with the same period in 2024 (+18.8%). The areas that benefited most from development and regulatory compliance measures were the integrated water cycle (over 243 million euro in investments, 68 million euro more than the figure seen at 30 September 2024), the waste management area (almost 30 million euro more over one year) and the gas area (+11 million).
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Hera Group presents Business Plan to 2028
Development, resilience and creating value shared with all stakeholders confirmed as the strategic pillars of the new business plan, which allocates more than 5 billion euro in investments to accelerate the achievement of ecological transition targets and further increase the resilience of networks and plants

BUSINESS PLAN TO 2028, OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Five-year gross investments at 5.1 billion euro
- Return on net invested capital at 9.5%
- Structural growth in Ebitda reaching 1.7 billion euro
- EPS to rise by approximately 6% CAGR
- Dividends up 21% (rising to 17 cents per share) and average annual yield at roughly 5%
- Average annual total shareholder return (TSR) at 11%.
- Net debt/Ebitda stably below 3x over the period covered by the plan and projected at 2.8x in 2028
BUSINESS AND SUSTAINABILITY HIGHLIGHTS
- A portfolio balanced between regulated and free-market activities maintained, generating resilient results and capable of grasping emerging opportunities
- 2.6 billion euro in investments aligned with the European Taxonomy for Sustainable Investments (96% of eligible investments)
- Shared-value investments amounting to 77% over the entire five-year Plan
- 45% increase in shared-value (CSV) Ebitda over the period covered by the Plan, reaching 66% of total Ebitda in 2028
- Commitment to reduce total CO2 emissions by 37% within 2030 and Net Zero by 2050 confirmed
- 25% of total investments will contribute to digitisation and innovation, 47% to increasing the resilience of infrastructures to climate change and 60% to the ecological transition
- 10.8 billion euro in economic value distributed over the 2024-2028 five-year period to stakeholders in the areas in which the Group operates
2024 PRELIMINARY RESULTS, HIGHLIGHTS
- Ebitda exceeds 1.55 billion euro (+4% vs 2023)
- Net debt/Ebitda ratio below 2.6x (stable compared to 2023)
- Dividends forecast at 15 eurocents (+7.1% vs 2023), higher than expected in the previous Plan
The Hera Group’s Board of Directors, chaired by Executive Chairman Cristian Fabbri, reviewed the preliminary results for 2024 results and approved the Business Plan to 2028.
Cristian Fabbri, Executive Chairman of Hera Group:

“A 5.1-billion-euro investment plan, rising by 46% compared to the previous five-year period and supporting sustainable industrial development that increases the resilience of our infrastructures, will allow us to target a 2028 Ebitda coming to 1.7 billion euro, supported by visible growth, both internal and external. This growth fully meets the objective of creating shared value for all stakeholders: profits will indeed increase by 30% (from 2023 to 2028), as will the contribution coming from sustainable activities to Group Ebitda, reaching 66%. The improvement in the objectives of the new Business Plan, along with the positive forecasted for 2024, allow us to revise our dividend policy upwards, proposing a 7% increase, compared to 2024, as early as 2025, reaching 21% by 2028. The economic value distributed over the 5 years covered by the Plan to stakeholders in the areas in which we operate also grows, to almost 11 billion euro.”
Orazio Iacono, CEO of the Hera Group:

"For 2024, we expect to close with Ebitda over 1.55 billion euro, a result supported by all businesses in our portfolio, especially structural activities. This is even more significant when compared to the already outstanding 2023, which was affected by several non-recurring revenue opportunities, above all in the energy sector. This performance allowed us to fund an increase in investments and to further improve our financial solidity, with a net debt/Ebitda ratio below 2.6x, stable compared to the previous year. These good results are perfectly consistent with the new Business Plan, which forecasts 5.1 billion euro in gross investments, of which roughly 3 billion euro will be dedicated to the green transition in the areas served. The significant financial commitment required to support the investment plan, benefitting industrial development, will in any case be financed by a strong cash generation, which will also make it possible to keep financial leverage below the prudential level of 3x through to 2028, confirming our financial solidity and creating further flexibility to seize future opportunities".
2024 PRELIMINARY RESULTS
The year that just ended saw a positive performance of the industrial margins of all businesses in the portfolio, with Ebitda expected to exceed 1,550 million euro, as against 1,495 million euro in 2023. The “structural” growth observed in the preliminary results, mainly supported by factors involved in organic growth, is even more significant when compared to 2023 Ebitda adjusted for non-recurring contributions, totalling roughly 100 million euro, at 1,395 million euro.
A robust cash generation, also supported by efficient working capital management, allowed the net debt/Ebitda ratio to remain below 2.6x, in line with the 2023 result.
Considering these figures, the dividend policy was revised upwards: the Board of Directors is expected to propose a dividend payment of 15 eurocents per share, up 7.1% with respect to the 2023 coupon paid in 2024, to be compared with the 3.5% growth forecast in the previous Business Plan (14.5 eurocents).
BUSINESS PLAN TO 2028
The new Plan’s strategic framework confirms creating sustainable value benefiting all stakeholders thanks to a balanced business portfolio as the Hera Group’s goal, developing resilient industrial assets even in a scenario marked by continuous volatility and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events linked to climate change.
Creating value: a target of 1.7 billion euro for 2028 Ebitda, with a 30% rise in profits
The Group’s strategy focuses on creating value through four main growth levers: an efficient allocation of capital to investment projects with the best sustainability-risk-return profiles, expansion of market shares, an enlarged scope of operations thanks to M&A transactions and efficiency gains in both operating and financial costs. The plan aims to generate value benefiting all stakeholders, through financial, environmental and social sustainability objectives.
The plan envisages a structural growth of Ebitda by 475 million Euro to 2028 with a CAGR of +7% exactly reflecting the targets set out in the previous Business Plan. This structural growth will more than compensates the eventual shortfall during the period covered by the Plan of some temporary business opportunities of the amount of 170 million euro and drive in any case Group Ebitda to 1,700 million euro in 2028, up from the previous target of the Plan to 2027.
Focus on the sustainable development of the entire regional ecosystem, with steady growth in shared-value Ebitda, at over 1.1 billion euro in 2028 (66% of total Ebitda)
The Hera Group has included initiatives in its Plan that have adequate profitability and are consistent with operating-financial balance, which at the same time guarantee that sustainable value creation is enhanced.
By maintaining a focus on decarbonisation, circular economy, resilience and innovation, “shared-value Ebitda” is expected to increase significantly, exceeding 1,100 million euro in 2028, as against 776 million euro in 2023, reaching 66% of the Group’s total Ebitda and respecting the target of 70% in 2030. In the 2024-2028 five-year period, shared-value Ebitda will increase by 45%, reflecting the growing weight of initiatives that not only generate margins for the company, but are also in line with the goals on the UN Agenda.
Gross investments at over 5 billion euro, with financial leverage remaining below 3x
Over the 2024-2028 period, the Business Plan calls for total investments amounting to 5.1 billion euro. This financial commitment is 6% higher than the one included in the previous strategic document and 46% higher than the investments made over the last five years. Indeed, in addition to the 4.6 billion euro of investments directly financed by the Hera Group, almost 500 million in resources will come from the PNRR and other institutions.
Of these investments, 61% will be earmarked for regulated businesses, while the remaining 39% will go towards fuelling the growth of free-market businesses. More than half of the investments (2.5 billion euro, or 54%) will be dedicated to networks. Furthermore, approximately 8% of the resources will be used to seize external growth opportunities.
In line with the content of the European framework, the Group estimates that operating investments coming to 2.6 billion euro (or 96% of eligible investments) will be aligned with the European Taxonomy for sustainable projects, thus fully accessing subsidised sustainable finance instruments, with benefits also in terms of financial costs. 77% of the investment plan (or 4 billion euro) will go towards initiatives capable of creating “shared-value Ebitda”.
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