The Hera group closes the first half of 2014 with all margins growing, thanks to the good performance of regulated activities, special waste and the sale of electricity. The multi-utility recorded a 4,4% increase in gross operating margin, equal to 450,9 million, compared to the same period of 2013 and an 8,9% growth in adjusted net profit to 106,8 million.
On the other hand, group revenues fell by 11,2% to 2.089 million euros, while investments made amounted to 137,3 million and the net financial position stood at 2.730,5 million, an increase compared to 2.566,7 .XNUMX million at the beginning of the year due to a temporary increase in net working capital. The chairman of Hera, Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano, in the face of the half-yearly data, affirms that he looks "with optimism at the realization of the growth path envisaged by our industrial plan also for this year".
In the six months, Hera therefore recorded a trend that ran counter to most of the sector's players, who saw not only revenues contract due to the mild climate, but also margins. The period for Hera was characterized by continued growth in the volumes of special waste treated, thanks to commercial expansion, a significant contribution from the electricity area, thanks above all to the growth of the customer base on the free market and a significant drop in gas volumes and district heating distributed and sold, due to the certainly not harsh winter.
“Because of both the persistent economic recession and the particularly mild winter, the results for the first part of the year, which nonetheless show growth in all indicators, confirm the validity of Hera's multi-business model and allow us to look optimistically the growth path envisaged by our business plan also for this year – stated the chairman Tommasi di Vignano – as well as the results obtained on the liberalized markets, I am particularly satisfied with the progress of the process of integrating AcegasAps into the group, which has already ' allowed, in the first half of the year alone, to extract 4,6 million synergies, which add up to the approximately 8,3 million extracted in 2013 (for a total up to now of approximately 13 million) and makes us confident that we can target, at the end of 2014, the 15 million of synergies envisaged in the business plan. A process – he adds – on which the merger of Amga Udine, finalized last July XNUMXst, will certainly have a further impact and which is making it possible to give life, within the Hera group, to the most important multi-utility in the Northeast”.
