A relaunch that started in 2015, when the debt exceeded 1,7 billion and the company was still in the hands of the Cir group and the Austrian company Verbund: then the entry of the creditor banks (all the main Italian ones: from Intesa Sanpaolo to Unicredit, from Mps to Ubi) in the shareholding structure and a turning point that has made Sorgenia, according to what was said by themanaging director Gianfilippo Mancini at the press conference, “the first Italian energy operator on digital channels. We are the most chosen supplier among those who choose online and thanks to this we have passed from 1.000 customers in July 2016 to the current 8.000, extending our user base, previously exclusively oriented towards small businesses and VAT numbers, to retail as well".
Digitization means young customers (43 years the average age, compared to 51 on the market) and also young employees (35 years against 45): a renewed company, which for the next communication campaign has confirmed the young and energetic image of Bebe Vio and presented the financial results on the notes of Futura by Lucio Dalla, the song that will accompany the TV commercials of the Paralympic champion, starting from Sunday 13 March. The results speak for a net financial debt dropped by one billion in the three-year period, to the current 715 million (“We have more than halved it, it is no longer a problem”, confirmed the CEO), with 349 million already repaid to the banks; an Ebitda of 161 million euros, up 30% compared to 2016; a net profit tripled to 44 million, from 15 million in 2016.
“In less than three years from the change of ownership – said Mancini – Sorgenia has been transformed and relaunched. This transformation has been good for the accounts but above all it allows us to be protagonists in a market, that of energy, which will be completely liberalized in July 2019 and which is changing very rapidly. Think about the digitization, on which we have focused a lot and which in itself reduces intermediation costs, but also to the production of energy from renewable sources, which has finally become competitive thanks to much lower costs. Storage is also cheaper and other changes are on the way, such as decarbonisation and electric mobility. We are also in the era of prosumers: no longer passive customers, but aware citizens who interact with the supplier through technology”.
The closest challenge, and also the one that arouses the most concern, as admitted by the president of Sorgenia Chicco Testa himself with reference to the political situation which could unlock in these hours (“It depends on which government there will be, but I admit that there is fear of a possible change of course”) is that of the end of the enhanced protection regime, expected from now on in just over a year, in July 2019. “ Sorgenia was born in 1999 with the advent of the free market – said Mancini – therefore we are naturally devoted to the free market, to innovation. Like us, there are over 200 operators ready for this change, it is a great opportunity for everyone, not just for the big names, and above all for citizens who will be able to choose their own energy supplier".
