Hera Group

HERA
Joint-stock company
Traded as BIT: HER
Industry Multiutility
Founded 2002
Headquarters Bologna, Italy
Key people
 Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano (Chairman)/[1]
Stefano Venier (CEO)[1]
Giovanni Basile (Vice Chairman)[1]
Roberto Barilli (General Operations Manager)[1]
Products Natural gas, Water supply, Waste management and Electricity
Revenue € 4,189.1 million (end 2014)[2]
€ 441.2 million (end 2014)[2]
Number of employees
 8,575 (end 2014)
Website gruppohera.it

Hera (Holding Energia Risorse Ambiente, Energy Resource Environment Holdings) is a multiutility company based in Bologna, Italy. Hera operates in the distribution of gas, water, energy, and waste disposal in the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì-Cesena, Modena, Ravenna, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, and in some municipalities of Florence and Ancona. In October 2012, Hera approved the merger with AcegasAps Group, which operates in the cities of Padua and Trieste. On the 1st of July 2014 AMGA, which operates in Udine merged into Hera Group.

In 2014 Hera was the first Italian domestic operator in terms of amount of waste treated (above 6.4 million tons), the second one in the integrated water cycle (294 million cm), the third player in gas distribution (2.6 billion cm) and the 4th player in the Italian Electricity business in terms of electricity sold (9.1 TWh).

Corporate History

Hera was established in 2002[3] by the first merger of public utilities in the Emilia-Romagna region, which involved 11 companies.

In 2003, Hera started the process to be listed on the Milan Stock Exchange,[4] which led the company to be partly privatized with 38.8% of its present share capital in private sectors. After 2003, Hera started to grow. In over five years, the Group merged with other Italian companies operating in distribution of energy, water and gas, such as Agea, Ecosea, Meta, Geat Distribution Gas, and Sat Inc.

Hera also had many long-term contracts with foreign suppliers through the following years. In 2006, Hera signed a memorandum of understanding with Enel, Edison and Sonatrach. The memorandum provided the purchase of one billion cubic meters a year of natural gas transported through the methane pipeline belonging to Galsi, a partner company of Hera.

In July 2008 Hera acquired Megas Trade, selling gas and electricity to the Urbino area, owned by Marche Multiservices. The transaction formalized the birth of Hera Comm Marche, the commercial branch of the Hera Group for the Marche region, managed by Hera Comm.

On 25 July 2012, approval was given for the merger with Acegas-Aps S.p.A.[5] (Trieste-Padua), which became part of the Hera Group as of 1 January 2013.

On the 1st of July 2014 AMGA – Azienda Multiservizi S.p.A. merged into Hera Group.

Company profile and Organizational Structure

Hera Group has an original business model. The innovative way pursued by Hera makes the Group both a well structured company and an “open network”, allowing mergers with other new partners: that creates a solid business model even for other utility companies in Italy and abroad.[6]

Multiutility Hera is an open business network, that welcomes new partners and assigns them a relevant role in the Company management, since they represent local operating structures, capable of understanding specific needs from the reference areas.

Strategies and activities are mainly carried out by the Holding, which has a leading and coordinating role through its seven Divisions: Environment, Services, Sales and Marketing, Fluids Distribution, Large Plants Engineering and Electricity Distribution, and District Heating.

Hera Comm is the trading company of Hera Group, operating in electricity and gas market throughout Italy. Hera Comm Mediterranea operates exclusively in southern Italy; "Hera Comm Marche", located in Urbino, is the commercial branch of the Hera Group in the Marche region.

Hera has a wide shareholding structure. The structure shows over 198 public institutions, 500 professional investors, and over 24.000 private shareholders.

The results in terms of EBITDA and net profit achieved by the Hera Group since its establishment register a continuous growth over the years. Hera follows a dividend distribution policy that rewards Group shareholders; amongst all, the Municipalities, are the main beneficiaries of Hera’s dividend policy.

Shareholders Base in 2014:[7]

Trademark and identity

The Hera logo, as well as the bases of the company’s visual identity, were created in the autumn of 2002 by Dutch graphic designer Bob Noorda (designer of many other logos, some of which extremely well known such as Enel, Pirelli, Eni, the Rinascente, and the Milan Subway). The Hera Group’s Coordinated Image system was developed in 2003 and is described in a Visual Identity Manual that provides guidelines for the application of logos and the development of visual identities in the company’s main sectors. In 2007 a Style Manual was also introduced.

A few words about the logo from its designer: '"A new holding company with an original and crisp name requires an easily recognisable image. We focused on the idea of combining a symbol and a logotype in a single logo. The logotype required some special work to give it a modern and active feel; the four letters, inclined and becoming gradually thinner, express dynamism. The symbol clearly expresses three things:Energy – Resources – Environmental Activity which graphically flow into the word Hera. The colours – red for energy, blue for water and green for the environment – help express this symbol/logotype.”'

The sustainability report

Every year the Hera Group publishes the Sustainability report, the Group's yearly report which focuses on sustainability and issues of quality, safety and the environment. The report is launched during a special convention in Bologna, Italy and it involves important personalities of Italy. In 2014 the main guest of the event was Romano Prodi.[8] The Sustainability Report provides a representative documentation of the dialogue between Hera and its stakeholders and local communities.

Current operations

The Hera Group operates in the public utility services sector, pursuing a sustainable management policy.

The Group’s main activities are: management of waste services (waste collection and disposal, waste-to-energy and composting), water services (treatment, purification, sewerage) and energy services (distribution and sale of methane gas and electricity, district heating).

Hera Group Ebitda composition (as at 31 December 2014):[9]

Hera has the largest asset of waste treatment plants in Italy. The environmental hygiene services provided by Hera Group in 198 municipalities in Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Marche, Tuscany and Veneto are part of an integrated waste management system. Activities include separated urban waste collection, washing and cleaning roads, pavements and porticos, cleaning up green areas and complementary services such as the reclamation of degraded areas and cleaning up beaches.The high percentage of separate waste collection and disposed in the reference areas makes the Group a major national operator in the field of environmental services:

Hera Group is one of the largest Italian operators in integrated water service management. With a total network of over 53 thousand km and approximately 1,400 production plants (such as wells), treatment plants and purification plants, 3.6 million citizens receive catchment, treatment, distribution, sewerage and purification services:

Hera is a major national operator also in gas and electricity sectors. Managing networks spanning 20 thousand km, Hera Group distributes natural gas in the provinces of Bologna, Ravenna, Forlì-Cesena, Ferrara, Modena, Rimini, Florence, Padua, Trieste, Gorizia and Udine. Through its subsidiary Marche Multiservizi, it also has a presence in the province of Pesaro-Urbino. In Bologna, Imola, Forlì, Cesena, Ferrara, Modena, Ravenna and Padua, the Group also offers district heating services, providing heat to buildings located far away from the point of production. With networks spanning 460 km, Hera serves around 82 thousand apartments. In 2013, its environmentally friendly technology enabled it to achieve a primary energy saving of more than 34 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (toe). Hera also oversees the distribution of electricity through 12 thousand km of grids in 26 municipalities in the provinces of Modena, Bologna, Ravenna, Gorizia and Trieste, serving a total of around 623 thousand inhabitants. The Group’s main commitment in this sector is the implementation of smart grids and the distribution of digital meters. These are designed to ensure the rapid and remote management and exchange of an enormous volume of information about effective electricity consumption between producer, distributor and consumer.

Competitors and market shares: Benchmark by business [12]

Hera Group can be compared to the other listed Italian multi-utilities. Comparison on operating data by business (waste, water, gas and electricity) highlights also the market shares.

Waste: waste treated 2013 (000 ton)

Water: volumes sold 2013 (ml mc)

Gas: volumes sold 2013 (mld mc)

Electricity: electricity sold 2013 (TWh)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://www.consob.it/main/documenti/organi_sociali/semestre1-2015/251270_OrgSoc.xml?filedate=30/03/2015&sem=/documenti/organi_sociali/semestre1-2015/251270_OrgSoc.xml&docid=0&link=&xsl=organisociali.xsl&nav=false
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://eng.gruppohera.it/group/com_media/news/page71.html
  3. ↑ "Hera". Borsa Italiana. 2010-08-25.
  4. ↑ http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q;_ylt=AsowMJhg52s776Kdl9y3GuJdsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTFiamlsaWdyBHBvcwMxMQRzZWMDeWZpU3ltYm9sTG9va3VwUmVzdWx0cwRzbGsDaGVybWk-?s=HER.MI
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Bianchessi, Antonella. "Hera: Local utility with national ambitions", Citigroup Global Market Report, 12 June 2012, p. 12
  7. ↑ http://www.consob.it/mainen/documenti/assetti_proprietari/semestre1-2015/251270_Az.html?filedate=24/04/2015&sem=/documenti/assetti_proprietari/semestre1-2015/251270_Az.html&docid=0&link=Pie-chart+Capitale+ordinario%253D%252Fdocumenti%252Fassetti%252Fsemestre1-2015%252F251270_TOrdDich.html%253B+Pie-chart+Capitale+votante%253D%252Fdocumenti%252Fassetti%252Fsemestre1-2015%252F251270_TVotDich.html&nav=false
  8. ↑ http://eng.gruppohera.it/group/social_responsibility/sr2013/
  9. ↑ http://eng.gruppohera.it/be2014/docs/Hera_ENG_def.pdf
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 http://www.gruppohera.it/binary/hr_gruppo/download_center/Factsheet_A2014_ita_def.1427203679.pdf
  11. ↑ http://www.gruppohera.it/binary/hr_responsabilita_sociale/bilancio_sostenibilita_r13/Bilancio_di_Sostenibilit_2014_Aperture_capitoli.1427197599.pdf
  12. ↑ http://eng.gruppohera.it/group/investor_relations/peers/peers_benchmark_business/

External links