Financial disclosure

In compliance with the Policy for the Management of Relations with Institutional Investors, Shareholders and Bondholders (Engagement Policy), Acea had around 400 interactions during the year with institutional investors, analysts and bondholders, through participation in events also held digitally: “one-on-one” meetings and wider presentations, investor conferences, roadshows and reverse roadshows. Furthermore, conference calls and webcasts were held during the approval of the annual and interim results and numerous contact was made with analysts/investors including through email exchanges.
In 2022 over 110 studies/notes on the Acea stock were published. Five business banks analyse Acea shares with a high level of continuity: four brokers gave the Acea share a “positive” rating and one a “neutral” rating at 31 December 2022.

ESG ANALYSTS EVALUATE ACEA

In the current macroeconomic context – characterised by global recession, inflationary pressures, increased interest rates, and the conflict in Ukraine – sustainable funds are showing resilience in line with “traditional” ones.
The increasing attention ESG investors place on Acea is confirmed by their growing participation in the company’s equity. Based on an analysis carried out in November 2022, these Shareholders repre- sent 6.4% of Acea’s share capital (5.5% in the previous year) and about 51% of the total number of institutional investors (compared to 40% in 2021). They consist mostly of European funds, followed by investors from North America.

Acea’s position in assessments by analysts, ratings and benchmarks is shown below.

Acea was included in the “Management” category with level B by CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), a slight decrease on the level previously assigned (A-) because, despite scores higher than the sector average in nearly every area of analysis, the lack of definition of Group science-based climate targets impacted negatively on the rating.
CDP is the international organisation of reference, supported by over 680 institutional investors, with over 130 trillion in assets under management, which promotes attention on the global management of the risks and impacts of climate change, inviting companies to provide structured and precise information on the subject. Each year the CDP publishes a ranking of its assessments for each organisation. In 2022, over 18,700 businesses, of which 5,800 in Europe, disclosed their information through the CDP questionnaire.

Acea saw its sustainability solicited rating confirmed by the independent agency Standard Ethics (SE), with a rating of EE (investment grade, F/EEE scale), as well as its positive outlook and long-term expected rating (EE+). In 2022, Acea entered the SE Mid Italian Index formed of 20 companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange selected from a list of 30 companies, whose composition is based on capitalisation and free float values and in consideration of the industrial sector and the rating assigned. Acea has been included among the 15 largest EU-listed multiutilities of the SE European Multi-Utilities Index since 2020. This index strives to provide an overview of the level of sustainability progressively achieved by companies operating in the field of essential public services.

Acea further improved its performance in the assessment of the French ESG agency GAIA Rating (EthiFinance Group), achieving a score of 62/100 (38/100 in the previous year, recalculated using the new methodology in force from 2022), ranking 9 points higher than the sector average. The agency assesses companies in 4 areas of analysis: environment, social, governance, and stakeholder relations. In particular, Acea achieved the following scores in 2022: Governance 70, Social 81, Environment 83, External Stakeholders 80, all above the average score for companies in the sector. The assessment process is based both on public evidence provided by the companies and on direct comparison with them; at both stages the agency carries out checks on the reliability and robustness of the data. 

Acea's presence in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index has been confirmed for the third consecutive year, with a further improvement in the score received, which is 81.58 for 2022. This index includes 485 companies, from 45 countries, which best value gender equality in their disclosure and corporate practices (for more details see the paragraph Diversity, Inclusion and Welfare in the chapter Staff).

During the year Acea also received ESG ratings from other major players: Sustainalytics, which assigned the company a medium level of risk (just above the threshold with a score of 20.1), demonstrating its optimal oversight of management; MSCI ESG Rating which, by assessing the proactive management of the ESG risks to which Acea is exposed, confirmed the “A” rating (scale from AAA (leader) to CCC). During the year there were also interactions with Corporate Knights for the agency’s ESG assessment initiatives, and with ISS ESG which confirmed the rating already issued (C+).