A2A, the Mazzoncini-Tasca tandem towards confirmation at the top

A2A's top ticket, made up of Chairman Roberto Tasca and Co-Chief Executive Renato Mazzoncini, is set for reconfirmation. The official appointment is set for the end of April, when the shareholders' meeting is scheduled to approve the 2025 budget and appoint the new board of directors, but barring any surprises, the games seem to be over, at least for the two top figures. If this were the case, the choice would not come as a surprise to the market, given the results achieved by the top management, which in the space of a few years has transformed A2A from a multi-utility to a nationally important energy group, effectively doubling its size and paying out rich dividends to shareholders, led by the Municipality of Milan and Brescia, with 25% plus one share each.

Behind the orientation matured within the public shareholders there are first and foremost the numbers, also the result of a change of pace in M&A policy, which has also "evolved" from a simple growth in the territories - which despite the complexities, including the political ones, of the so-called "risiko" had in any case given satisfactory results - to a wide-ranging strategy. A strategy articulated both on organic growth and by targeting targets of large size, conquered at first glance by paying significant prices but then integrated into the A2A ecosystem in which they have generated efficiencies and margins, as well as representing a driving force for investments in Rab. The reference is to the large acquisitions in renewables, which together with hydroelectric power have now brought green sources to 50% of the company's production mix, but above all to the power grids taken over from Enel in Lombardy for 1.2 billion. The latter, on which 3.8 billion will be invested over the next 10 years, probably represent the symbol of Mazzoncini's management and of a growth plan focused on energy transition and, in the specific case of the Milan area, electrification with potential synergies on the district heating and data centre front.

A comparison with the 2019 balance sheet figures - Mazzoncini was appointed CEO in the late spring of 2020 and is heading into his third mandate - reveals a A2A that has effectively doubled, with Ebitda rising from 1.2 to over 2.3 billion at the end of 2024, net profit jumping from 389 million to 864 million, investments (net of M&A) from EUR 627 million to EUR 1.5 billion, and a dividend payout that rose from EUR 241 million to EUR 313 million, which meant a total of EUR 156 million for public shareholders last year. All this against a ratio of EBITDA to EBITDA that has always remained below 2.5 times and a total shareholders return that, from spring 2020 to date, has reached 122%.

Confirmation at the top - although the official filing of the lists will take place at the beginning of April - opens for the Tasca-Mazzoncini tandem a three-year period of new challenges, the trajectory of which is described by the recent update of the plan to 2035, which sees investments of 23 billion, focused on energy transition and the circular economy, and an estimated Ebitda of 3.6 billion at the end of the business plan. The aim is to consolidate its position as the second national energy player behind Enel both organically and, under the right conditions, with M&A. In 2021 A2A had worked for a long time, without success, on a maxi joint venture with Ardian on renewables and energy sales, then - like all the bigs - had looked at the possible reorganisation of Edison. This is a sign that the dream of a "transformative" operation is there, but its actual realisation will depend on the opportunities offered by a market, the Italia market, inevitably called upon to undergo further consolidation in the coming years.