Chairman's message

At the basis of this integration lies our company's primary objective:  building and maintaining over time trusted relations with all stakeholders not only in our core business, electricity transmission, but also regarding the important challenge of responsibility, of producing value, of relations with the community and the authorities. Both in the short and in the long term.

Both owing to the existing economic situation and to the events that specifically concerned us, 2008 was a year that required great caution and attention, even though our infrastructural projects and grid development strongly increased.  Abroad, we were focused in areas representing a natural extension of the company's present activities;  first of all in Brazil, where Terna's position has become strongly rooted, then in the Balkan countries and in Eastern Europe.  In Italy, three important building sites were opened:  the  500 kV SA.PE.I. power line that will connect Sardinia with the Italian mainland, the 380 kV Santa Barbara - Casellina power line between the provinces of  Arezzo and Florence and upgrading the Val d'Ossola Sud  grid in the Piedmont region.

For Terna, developing the grid does not only mean building new lines, as in the case of the SA.PE.I, but also upgrading the existing ones: by removing obsolete lines, the service's quality and safety improve and the environmental impact is reduced.  In Val d'Ossola Sud, for example, building 105 km of new lines implies removing  213 km of old power lines, some of which date back to the 1920's and 30's.

Sustainability is a key element for Terna's business which is expressed both towards the environment and in the constant attention to all the company's internal and external stakeholders.  People, Terna's employees, are a very important asset, an intellectual and organizational capital on which we are investing many resources for safety and training, defining specific internal courses, starting from the one for the newly-hired.  We have also created a program for internal communication and initiatives for increasing the information exchange as well as for strengthening our corporate identity, based on common values and goals.

Externally,  2008 was important for Terna for many initiatives linked to sustainability and social, environmental and cultural development.  Two important agreements were signed with the LIPU (Italian Bird Protection League, which is part of Birdlife International) and with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), for a greater attention to environmental issues in the national electricity grid's development and maintenance.

Cultural investments also marked a further development towards sustainability:  by creating the Terna Award for contemporary art, we worked to interconnect the art and the business worlds, favoring the involvement of society on these issues.  For us, all this is sustainability, while also being our core business.  The reason why 2008 has been a fundamental year appears even clearer:  because it has marked a decisive step ahead towards integrating the two aspects, making Terna even stronger and more mature.

Financial results obtained in 2008,  that have registered increased investments, revenues, margins and dividends as well as a share performance that exceeded by far the average of the Stock Exchange, are all deriving from this consolidated approach:  pursuing efficiency and economic objectives in parallel with focusing on social and environmental impact, creating value for all shareholders and stakeholders.  

The Chairman
LUIGI ROTH