Press Release

EBITDA rises 4.2% to €504.9m. Had EBITDA been determined on the basis of the accounting standards applied until 31 December 2013, the figure would have been €581.9m, up 6.7% on 9M 2013).
EBIT of €274.5m up 2.0% and net profit of €112.8m up 7.9%.
Net debt at 30 September 2014 totals €2,412.0m.
The Group’s capex totalled €218.9m in 9M 2014 (€197.1m in 9M 2013).

Rome, 10 November 2014 – The Board of Directors of Acea SpA, chaired by Catia Tomasetti, has approved the report for the nine months ended 30 September 2014 (9M 2014).

“We are working day in, day out to boost the efficiency of Acea’s operations and improve the quality of its services,” commented the Company’s Chairwoman, Catia Tomasetti. “Major industrial companies such as Acea, above all in this challenging environment, are required to play an even more important role in the areas in which they operate, bringing their know-how and capabilities to bear in the effort to develop and simplify public services. These positive quarterly results and the progressive increase in investment show that Acea is on the right track and just how seriously we take our role as an industry leader,” concluded Tomasetti.”

“The positive contributions from all areas of business and our ongoing efficiency drive,” commented Acea’s CEO, Alberto Irace, “have enabled us to extend our positive performance into the first nine months of 2014, despite ongoing difficulties in the economy. We are on track to deliver on our Business Plan for 2014-2018 and are working hard on its implementation. We are also introducing structural changes to the way we work in order to modernise the Group and make it more competitive. In the last quarter of the year, we will continue with our efforts to improve operating efficiency and optimise our financial structure and can, therefore, confirm our earlier guidance regarding growth in 2014,” concluded Irace.

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The adoption of new accounting standards regarding control (IFRS 10 - Consolidated Financial Statements and IFRS 11 - Joint Arrangements) became mandatory from 1 January 2014. This essentially requires the Company to consolidate its investments in water companies in Tuscany, Umbria and Campania using the equity method (previously these were consolidated using proportionate consolidation).

For comparative purposes, amounts in the consolidated statement of financial position at 31 December 2013 and those in the income statement for the nine months ended 30 September 2013 have been restated.

The portion of the investee company’s profit or loss resulting from consolidation using the equity method is conventionally included in the components that contribute to EBITDA, namely the item “Profit/(loss) on non-financial investments”, given that there have not been any events resulting in a discontinuation of control or governance structures or of the operating activities of the industrial partner.

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