VERONIKI HOLDING PRESENTS ITS 2021 ANNUAL REPORT

WITH POSITIVE FINANCIAL FIGURES:

NET PROFIT UP 53% COMPARED TO 2020

Total revenue: +37% compared to 2020

Renewable energy business grows

EBITDA: €37 million (+16% compared to 2020)

Group net profit: €13 million (+53% vs. 2020)

Milan, October 2022 – The Board of Directors of Veroniki Holding S.p.A. has approved the consolidated financial statements for 2021, characterised by strong growth in revenues compared to 2020 and a broadly improved profitability profile.

The Group, which consists of 35 companies, including the historic ButanGas brand, has a history of 74 years and employs 1,420 people, operating in nine European countries.

The percentage impact of each country on LPG sales within the Group in 2021 sees ButanGas Italy holding 60%, followed by PetroGaz in Greece with 17%, ButanGas Romania with 9%, DrachenGas in Germany with 8%, DragonGaz in Poland with 3%, ButanGas International in Serbia with 2% and PropanGas in Austria with 1%.

LPG at the centre and growing commitment to renewables: a rewarding path

Over the years, a clear choice has been made: to strengthen the LPG business, the most sustainable fossil fuel, while concentrating efforts on renewables. The first step in this direction was taken in 2011 with the inauguration of a large wind farm in Romania and, currently, Veroniki Holding has 7 mini-hydro plants in Italy, as well as a photovoltaic plant that provides energy independence to the adjacent LPG plant in Catania.

Overall, an increase in EBITDA related to the Renewables segment can be seen in recent years, from 7% in 2020 to 14% in 2021 of the Group’s total EBITDA. By these numbers, in 2021 the Renewables segment represented the second largest item in the composition of the Group’s total EBITDA. Through these investments, Veroniki Holding produces 70 million kilowatt hours of energy per year from renewable sources. The savings in terms of CO2 are substantial: 11,000 tonnes per year (without taking into account the CO2 savings from LPG sales, which has a better carbon footprint than other traditional fuels).

The Group’s strategic compass has the UN Sustainable Development Goals at its centre, and Veroniki Holding’s commitment to sustainable energy transition sees LPG as the bridging element towards decarbonisation.

“We are pleased that we were able to interpret market signals in the right way more than a decade ago and that we had the intuition to also invest in renewable sources. The current situation requires us to make a further effort in researching and building plants such as hydroelectric, wind, photovoltaic and BioGPL. A challenge we welcome with a powerful boost, given the results of 2021,’ comments Christos Christofides General Manager of Veroniki Holding.

Currently, the Group has several projects under development: 4 photovoltaic plants in Italy, Greece and Romania for a total of 120 MW; another 7 mini-hydro plants in Greece and Italy for a total of over 10 MW; biomethane plants and battery storage systems (BESS – Battery Energy Storage System). In particular, it is developing the authorisations to equip the wind farm in Romania (25 MW) with a 6 MW storage system that will allow it to store the energy produced and be more competitive when selling it on the electricity market. Furthermore, last July, it set up a joint venture with other major players in the sector, which led to the birth of Green LG Energy. The new company aims at developing new technologies for the production and distribution of LPG derived from renewable sources.

The future scenario is expected to be complex and characterised by various uncertainties, due to geo-political tensions, rising prices of raw materials and market fluctuations: a challenge in which the ability to read trends and the use of energy from renewable sources will be even more important, also proposing new horizons that Veroniki Holding is ready to look forward to.

For information: www.veronikiholding.com