Acea Group results for 2009:

Consolidated revenue: 2,954.3 million euros (3,144.0 million euros in 2008)
EBITDA: 563.9 million euros (623.5 million euros in 2008)
EBIT: 185.9 million euros (385.0 million euros in 2008)
Profit before tax: 100.9 million euros (295.6 million euros in 2008)
Group net loss: 52.5 million euros (profit of 186.3 million euros in 2008), after non-recurring charges for so-called “tax moratorium” and increased provisions for potential liabilities deriving from unforeseeable previous years

Rome, 29 March 2010 – Today’s meeting of the Board of Directors of ACEA SpA, chaired by Giancarlo Cremonesi, has approved the separate and consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2009, and the Report on Corporate Governance and the Ownership Structure.
The Board has also fixed the date of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held in first call on 29 April 2010 and in second call on 30 April 2010, to approve the financial statements.

Ordinary activities
Under extremely demanding market conditions, and despite the difficulties during
the year (the change in senior management and the evolution of the relationship
with the Group’s French partner), the Acea Group achieved a positive performance.
The results from ordinary activities confirm the positive contribution of all the Acea
Group’s areas of business, which registered a significant improvement compared
with the already brilliant results of 2008.
The only contrasting note is provided by the negative performance of the
unregulated operations of the energy segment, primarily due to declines in energy
consumption and prices as a result of the economic crisis.

EBITDA
EBITDA is substantially in line with the previous year. After adjusting for nonrecurring
items, EBITDA is down 33.5 million euros (5.4%), almost entirely as a
result of the performance of the above energy segment (a loss of 24.7 million
euros) and payouts to members of the previous management team on leaving the
Group (6.7 million euros).

EBIT and net loss for the year
The Group’s EBIT and net loss reflect the significant and unexpected economic impact equal to 78.8 million euros, in addition to a series of non-recurring events such as: increased depreciation (up 21.6 million euros) connected to the rise in capital spending (up 100.8 million euros, largely due to investment held over from 2008), increased provisions for bad debts (up 15.9 million euros), and greater provisions (up 102.1 million euros) needed to take account of revised estimates of 2 liabilities linked to unforeseeable events in previous years. The latter include 36.0 million euros relating to the tax audit of the 2005 and 2006 tax years, 25.0 million euros deriving from cancellation of the resolution regarding the tariff review for the ATO5-Frosinone area in 2007, and 14.9 million euros regarding legal liabilities.