Economic flow to shareholders and investors

For shareholders, at the Shareholders’ Meeting, the Board of Directors proposed the distribution of a dividend of € 0.88 per share, around a 4% increase, for a total of € 187.4 million, which corresponds to a payout of 64% on net income, after allocations to third parties.

Acea saw a 14.1% increase on the stock market in 2023 (in terms adjusted for dividends - Total Shareholder Return).
The closing price at 29 December 2023 (final trading day of the year) was € 13.83 per share, corresponding to a market capitalisation of € 2,945 million.

The maximum value of € 14.42 was reached on 7 February, while the minimum value of € 10.09 was reached on 28 September. During 2023, the daily average volumes traded were around 171,000 shares (compared to 130,000 in 2022).

Table no. 51 – Performance of stock exchange indexes and Acea shares (2023)

Acea is listed on the following sustainability indexes:

• MIB ESG, which includes 40 companies, selected from the basket of the 60 companies with the highest liquidity on the Mi- lan stock market, on the basis of the best sustainability performance, as assessed by VigeoEiris/Moody’s ESG Solution as well as exclusion from controversial sectors (e.g. tobacco and arms) or disputes concerning lack of compliance with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact.
• SE Mid Italian Index which includes 20 mid-size companies listed on the Milan stock market, selected based on capitalisation and free float values and weighted in relation to the Corporate Standard Ethics ratings assigned to each company.
• SE European Multi-Utilities Index which includes 15 companies, selected from European companies operating in at least two public services business areas (waste management, water, energy), based on capitalisation and free float values and weighed in relation to the Corporate Standard Ethics ratings assigned to each company.

Financing stakeholders are allocated around € 176 million (€ 111.7 million in 2022). The average overall all-in cost of the Acea Group’s debt on 31/12/2023 was 2.08%.

Regarding the composition of medium/long-term debt consolidated as at 31/12/2023, approximately 84% of the total amount de- rived from transactions on the capital market (corporate bonds, of which 35% green). Regarding the banking sector, the Group mainly deals with entities whose mission is to finance strategic infrastructure, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB, around 9% of the consolidated debt) and the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP, around 2% of the consolidated debt). These Institutions ensure loans, to entities with creditworthiness such as Acea, with a maturity of more than 10 years, in line with the duration of the concessions (water and electricity) owned by Companies of the Group called to make the relevant investments.

Acea has prepared a Green Financing Framework, certified by a Second Party Opinion, to issue green bonds and sign green loans. The Framework was developed in compliance with the Green Bond Principles 2018, published by the International Capital Market As- sociation (ICMA), and the Green Loan Principle 2020, published by the Loan Market Association (LMA), and governs the use of proceeds, the project selection and evaluation stage, management of proceeds and reporting on projects financed using these instruments. Eligible investment categories under the Framework are: Water resource management; energy efficiency; the circular economy, green energy.

Currently, Acea has the following active sustainable financial instruments:

• A revolving “Sustainability Rating Linked” credit line of € 200 million with a duration of 3 years with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, connected to two sustainability rating targets. Pricing for the credit line is linked to the level Acea is assigned in the ratings of Standard Ethics and the ETicaNews Integrated Governance Index and relative trends.
• Two Green bonds with the first issued in 2021 for € 900 million, fully placed and the second issued in 2023 for € 700 million. Information on green bonds, in terms of both investments and outputs associated with projects financed, is provided in the Green Bond Allocation & Impact Reports, found on the Acea website.