“The 2018 results describe the reality of a group that confirms its growth and lays the foundations for further growth”. With these words, the president of Terna, Catia Bastioli, opened the shareholders' meeting of the company that manages the national electricity grid, called to approve a positive balance sheet with profits, revenues and profitability in progression compared to 2017. Terna two months ago he launched the investment plan more robust than ever, with 6,2 billion to enable renewable energies on the country's infrastructure, between now and 2023. And this is exactly what the president focused on, on the need to change production models towards sustainability: "Terna - said Bastioli, confirmed as chairman of the Board with Luigi Ferraris managing director – is ready to do her part but it is necessary to implement simultaneously and urgently as well as the development of the grid, also the development of production from renewables, accumulations and capacity payment".
65,76% of the share capital is present at the shareholders' meeting, held in the Rome office: significant shareholders are Cdp Reti with 29,85% of the share capital and Lazard with 5,122%. Board substantially confirmed, with the integration of only two new members after the departure of Stefano Saglia and Luca Dal Fabbro: it is Paolo Calcagnini, while the other candidate is Marco Giorgino. “Taking into account the results achieved – said the CEO Ferraris on the subject of dividends – we propose a dividend for the 2018 financial year of 23,32 euro cents per share, an increase compared to the 22 euro cents per share of the previous year, of which 7,87 cents already paid last November as an advance, while the remaining 15,45 cents per share will be paid next June".
“These results confirm that 2018 was a year of further growth for Terna – added the manager -. Growth that will continue in the next few years. In fact, Terna's new Strategic Plan for the 2019-2023 period provides for an important contribution from the Group aimed at the further development and integration of renewable energy sources and the overall energy efficiency of a constantly evolving electricity system".
Ferraris dedicated part of his speech to the dialogue with the territories, considered fundamental by Terna in the new strategy: "During 2018 we also intensified the efforts to give space to the opinions and requests expressed by local stakeholdersthrough capillary and direct listening. The 17 "Terna meets" testify to this, an opportunity for direct listening and discussion with citizens to improve the sharing of interventions. Proof of this commitment is the removal of 87 kilometers of obsolete lines (we are 1089 kilometers of lines demolished from 2010 to today) and the recent agreement with the Veneto Region for the renewal of the electricity grid, safety and resilience, of which the commitment to build the Dolo-Camin section of the Padua-Venice line in underground cable is part of it. In this regard, I remind you that the new lines envisaged by the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan will be approximately 60% of their extension underground or submarine".
In conclusion, while the share travels in negative territory in Piazza Affari, the managing director nonetheless recalled the performance of the last period: "I am pleased to report - he said addressing the shareholders - that from the beginning of the year to today Terna stock recorded a positive performance of +9,5%. Furthermore, it should be noted that on 26 March 2019, the share reached a new all-time high, equal to 5,66 euros per share".
On the other hand, President Bastioli intervened again on digitization: "In this context, innovation and digitization are crucial enablers, fundamental for a smarter and more flexible management of the electricity system, and therefore for the strategic objectives of the group. By way of example, think of the strengthening of the Next Energy project with the Cariplo Foundation, the Smart Towers project with pylons as sentinels of the territory, as well as the opening of Terna's first Innovation Hub in Turin. While on the one hand innovation feeds on openness and discussion, on the other it requires an aptitude for implementing innovative ideas internally. Terna has responded to this need with investment initiatives in human capital aimed at strengthening digital attitudes and developing an innovation-oriented mindset. In 2018 he left the Terna 4.0 Go Digital project, with an assessment phase of all employees followed by an awareness initiative aimed at 400 people. A two-year training program aimed at highly skilled resources is now being launched, to provide them with the necessary skills to be protagonists of a digital transformation process".
