Pioneer in the energy transition: mixture with 5% hydrogen injected into a gas network for the first time in Italy
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The year closed with a 4% increase in net profit attributable to shareholders and a 20% rise in investments. Value creation for all stakeholders and a solid capital structure once again confirm the Group’s ability to combine business growth with sustainable development. The proposed dividend increases to 16 euro cents per share, up 6.7%

Economic and financial highlights
- Revenues at €12,812.2 million (-0.6%)
- EBITDA at €1,537.2 million (-3.2%)
- Net profit attributable to shareholders at €464.3 million (+3.9% on a like-for-like basis compared with FY2024, which benefited from extraordinary items of €47.8 million)
- Gross operating investments of €1,028 million (+19.5%)
- Net financial debt slightly down to €3,944.4 million, with net debt/EBITDA at 2.57x
- ROI at 9.6% and ROE at 11.6%
- Proposed dividend increased to 16 euro cents per share (+6.7%)
Business highlights
- Around 4.4 million energy customers, with over 7.5 million citizens receiving at least one service from the Group
- Innovative initiatives continued to support the communities served in the ecological transition and strengthen the resilience of managed assets, in line with the Business Plan and the Net Zero target by 2050
- Shared-value EBITDA rose to €915.6 million (+7%), while shared-value investments amounted to €810.9 million (78% of total investments). 64% of investments are aligned with the European Taxonomy.
- Economic added value distributed across the areas served exceeded €2.1 billion
The Board of Directors of the Hera Group, chaired by Executive Chairman Cristian Fabbri, unanimously approved the Annual Financial Report as at 31 December 2025, including the Sustainability Reporting pursuant to Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD), containing the information necessary to understand the company’s impact on sustainability matters and how those matters affect its performance and results. In 2025, the Hera Group continued along its path of industrial growth, with investments up by almost 20%, increasing across all businesses and particularly in the environment and integrated water cycle areas. The Group’s commitment to combining business growth and sustainable development, fully in line with the strategic pillars set out in the Business Plan, was confirmed. The economic and balance sheet results in fact highlight the value creation capability underpinning the Group’s growth.
Cristian Fabbri, Executive Chairman of Hera Group:

“The positive results achieved in 2025 bring to a close the three-year term of office of the Board of Directors, a period marked by strong geopolitical instability and extreme weather events, which also had an impact on the businesses we manage. Despite this context, we accelerated industrial growth by investing almost €3 billion, 43% more than in the previous three-year period, improving the resilience of our assets and our contribution to environmental sustainability. We achieved significant results, confirming the validity of the direction taken by our Group and demonstrating that business growth, value creation and sustainable development can go hand in hand. Over these three years, EBITDA has grown by almost 20%, while net profit attributable to shareholders has grown continuously, up 44% overall. The cash flows generated enabled us to reduce debt and improve financial leverage. Total Shareholder Return increased overall by 77%, supported by 27% growth in dividends. At the same time, the economic value distributed to our stakeholders also increased significantly, exceeding €2.1 billion in 2025. In light of the positive results achieved and the financial strength of our Group, we will propose to the Shareholders’ Meeting the distribution of a dividend of 16 euro cents per share, up 6.7% on the last dividend paid. This increase will feed through to our dividend policy over the coming years, up to a dividend of 19 euro cents in 2029, as set out in our Business Plan.”
Orazio Iacono, CEO of the Hera Group:
"In 2025, against a complex macroeconomic backdrop, the Hera Group continued along its industrial development path, increasing investments by 20% to €1.028 billion, the highest level in Hera’s history. These investments were fully self-financed thanks to the significant cash generation achieved during the year and provide a solid foundation for the future development of our Group. At EBITDA level, which reached €1.537 billion, 2025 demonstrated our ability to turn the extraordinary opportunities of previous years into structural and sustainable growth. Net finance costs decreased compared with the previous year, confirming our ongoing commitment to the efficient rationalisation of financial resources. Accordingly, in 2025 as well, the Hera Group confirmed its ability to create value, reporting net profit attributable to shareholders of €464.3 million (+3.9%). In summary, the year closed on a positive note, with a further strengthening of our financial and economic solidity, as evidenced by a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 2.57x, which provides us with significant financial flexibility to pursue effectively the objectives set out in the Business Plan. A recent example is the acquisition of the Sostelia Group, a company with more than 1,200 customers, which positions us as a leader also in the market segment for the treatment of civil and industrial wastewater, further expanding our range of services in support of Italy’s industrial fabric".
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Pioneer in the energy transition: mixture with 5% hydrogen injected into a gas network for the first time in Italy
The tests in the province of Modena were made possible by the protocol, unique in Italy, recently signed by Inrete Distribuzione Energia (Hera Group), the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security and the Italian Gas Committee

In the Modena area, Inrete Distribuzione Energia, a Hera Group company, has launched Italy’s first injection of a mixture of natural gas and 5% hydrogen into a gas distribution network serving a residential area.
These trials are possible thanks to the protocol, unique in Italy, recently signed by Inrete, the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) and the Italian Gas Committee (CIG), which allows for testing, in compliance with the most demanding safety requirements, methane gas mixtures with blending of up to 10% hydrogen in distribution networks. The goal is to create favourable conditions for the progressive enabling of mixtures with increasing percentages of gas with a low fossil carbon content to be used in networks, thus making a concrete contribution to the energy transition.
The initiative was presented today in Castelfranco Emilia (Modena) near the construction site of the residential area chosen for the trial, in an event attended by the President of the Emilia-Romagna region, Michele de Pascale; the mayor of Castelfranco Emilia, Giovanni Gargano; the CEO of the Hera Group, Orazio Iacono; the CEO of Inrete Distribuzione Energia, Federico Bronzini and representatives of the CIG.
Trials, now in the third phase, to conclude with the last step at the end of the year
Since 2021, Inrete has been at the head of a project that has already successfully experimented, twice, with injecting a mixture of natural gas and 2% hydrogen into the gas networks serving the same residential area that is now the focus of the new initiative. Having received full confirmation of the necessary measures, both in terms of technology and safety, the Hera Group company, after signing the protocol with the MASE and the CIG, has launched the third phase of the trials with the aim of exploring the various operational aspects that enable the infrastructure to receive, in its current layout, mixtures of natural gas and 5% hydrogen. The project will come to a conclusion towards the end of the year when, based on the results obtained, the feasibility of testing mixtures with an even higher quantity of hydrogen, up to 10%, will be evaluated.
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