The 2026-2035 Business Plan envisages a major investment programme, amounting to approximately 10.4 billion euro, to support two growth drivers: the strengthening of strategic infrastructure (water services, electricity distribution and waste-to-energy plants), areas to which 50% of the investments are allocated, and operational efficiency with an improvement in the quality of services provided and profitability. The focus on regulated businesses will support EBITDA growth of +4% on average per year and net profit growth of +6% on average per year through to 2035. The solid capital structure also allows to confirm the dividend policy, with a dividend growing by 8% per year until 2027 and by 6% until 2030, as well as the financial flexibility needed to seize further opportunities for organic and inorganic development.

Highlights

• EBITDA: approximately 1.95 billion euro by 2035 (+600 million compared to 2025) with a CAGR of +4% thanks to organic growth and the efficiency recovery plan
• Group Net Profit: approximately 550 million euro by 2035, with a CAGR of +6%
• Dividend: +8% annual increase until 2027 and +6% from 2028 to 2030
• Net financial debt/EBITDA: ratio progressively improving until reaching 2.8x in 2035
• Capex: 10.4 billion euro mainly allocated to strategic infrastructure (integrated water cycle, electricity grids and waste-to-energy plants), the extension of district heating, the installation of air-cooling system at gas-fired generation plants and the maintenance of the customer base. Of which:
  • 73% of investments allocated to regulated and semi-regulated businesses
  • 45% of investments allocated to business development
  • 73% of investments allocated to the Sustainability and Transition Plan and 62% eligible for the European Taxonomy
• Recruitment: generational and managerial turnover supported by 2,800 new hires

Today, the Board of Directors of Iren S.p.A. approved the update of the Business Plan to 2035.

“With the Business Plan to 2035, we confirm our ability to combine industrial ambition, sustainable growth and financial discipline, contributing to the development of the country’s strategic infrastructure.” - states Luca Dal Fabbro, Executive Chairman of the Iren Group - “The planned investments will support EBITDA growth to approximately 1.95 billion euro by 2035, further strengthening the share of regulated and semi-regulated assets, which will reach 80%. All this while maintaining robust financial discipline, with an Net Debt/EBITDA ratio progressively declining to 2.8x by the end of the Plan, in full compliance with the thresholds set for maintaining current rating levels. This financial structure also enables us to confirm our dividend policy, offering our shareholders visibility, stability and sustainable long-term returns.”

“With 10.4 billion euro in investments, around half of which is earmarked for strategic infrastructure in the water cycle, electricity distribution and waste-to-energy plants, the Plan strengthens Iren’s positioning in the businesses where we demonstrate distinctive expertise and a solid competitive advantage” says Gianluca Bufo, CEO of the Iren Group. “Alongside infrastructure growth, we have embarked on a major Group transformation process based on synergies, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and organisational streamlining, with the aim of increasing ROI to 10% by 2035. These initiatives will enable us to further improve the quality of our services, strengthen the Group’s competitiveness and sustain average annual EBITDA growth of 4% and net profit growth of 6%. Finally, the financial flexibility preserved by the Plan gives us a stronger investment capacity to seize further strategic opportunities.”

“The Business Plan is accompanied by an update of our Sustainability and Transition Plan.” - states Moris Ferretti, Executive Deputy Chairman of the Iren Group - “Over 73% of the planned investments, amounting to approximately 7.6 billion euro, are earmarked for projects that make a tangible contribution to the sustainable transition, with a particular focus on water resources, resilient cities, the circular economy and decarbonisation. In order to achieve the Plan’s economic objectives, all management will also be committed to contributing to the corporate and organisational rationalisation programme that began in 2026. At the same time, we continue to invest in people, aware that skills, innovation, safety and adaptability are essential enablers for successfully achieving the Plan’s objectives and for preparing us to address generational and managerial turnover, both through the recruitment of 2,800 people and the optimisation and growth of the people already working with us.”

The Business Plan to 2035 confirms the validity of the strategic path already started and further develops it by introducing two growth objectives: operational excellence and the strengthening of strategic infrastructure.

Iren's commitment to the ecological transition is now taking on an increasingly industrial, selective and results-oriented form. The Group focuses its resources on areas where it has strategic assets, distinctive expertise and a recognised competitive advantage, prioritising initiatives that combine sustainability, resilience and adequate long-term returns. This perspective encompasses investments in the protection of water resources, the development of wastewater treatment, the strengthening of the circular economy and energy recovery, the growth of district heating and the enhancement of generation assets that are essential for the security and flexibility of the energy system.

The creation of value for the territories translates into the development of infrastructure essential to the country’s growth and autonomy. The Plan identifies three priority infrastructure platforms (water service, electricity distribution and waste-to-energy plants), to which 50% of total investments will be allocated, with the aim of reducing infrastructure gaps, increasing the resilience and reliability of services and strengthening the plant-related autonomy of the territories.

The quality of the service remains the guiding principle of the Group’s actions and becomes an integral part of the path towards operational excellence. Iren aims to make networks, plants and processes more efficient, resilient and fit for future challenges, transforming investments into tangible benefits for citizens and local areas. In the water service, the aim is to reduce network losses, increase treatment capacity and protect an increasingly critical resource; in electricity distribution, the Group intends to strengthen the network, increase the available power and halve the duration of outages; in waste management, it aims to increase the recovery of materials and energy and reduce the use of landfill.

In line with the path embarked upon in 2025, the Plan consolidates Iren’s transformation from an “extended multi-utility” to a “focused multi-utility”. The increased focus entails a more selective allocation of capital, concentrated on core businesses in which the Group can leverage its positioning, local presence and industrial expertise. This approach makes it possible to improve the quality of the investment portfolio, strengthen the discipline on returns and reduce exposure to activities in which Iren does not yet have a consolidated competitive advantage. The ambition for 2035 is to progressively evolve from a focused local multi-utility to an infrastructure player of national importance, while maintaining proximity to local areas and developing a larger industrial scale.

The growth targets of Plan make the Group’s strategic vision more concrete and measurable, identifying two priority development pillars. The first is operational excellence, understood as the ability to structurally transform the quality of the activities carried out into a recognisable and sustainable competitive advantage. This path is based on improving service quality and increasing profitability, pursued through operational efficiencies, synergies, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, organisational streamlining and more effective optimisation of invested capital, with the aim of progressively increasing the ROI to 10%. The second pillar concerns the strengthening of strategic infrastructure, through a highly focused allocation of capital, amounting to 50% of total investments, to the most important infrastructure businesses: the water service, to which 2.4 billion euro of investments will be allocated, electricity distribution with 1.4 billion euro and waste-to-energy plants with 1.2 billion euro, to support the resilience of the local areas, infrastructural autonomy and the quality of the services provided.

The Business Plan to 2035 includes the Sustainability and Transition Plan with a horizon to 2040, consistent with the investment cycles of the businesses and with the long-term nature of the environmental and social impacts. The five focus areas are confirmed: water resources, resilient cities, circular economy, decarbonisation and people. Sustainability is therefore one of the main pillars through which Iren directs capital, strengthens its assets and builds long-term value.

Overall, the Plan outlines a more focused, efficient and infrastructure-oriented Group, capable of transforming investments into service quality, profitability and sustainable growth.

INVESTMENT PLAN

The Plan envisages a total of 10.4 billion euro in investments over the period 2026-2035, distributed evenly over the entire time frame. Over 80% of the resources are allocated to the Business Units with the highest infrastructure content, with a particular focus on networks, the environment and energy. The investments are aimed at strengthening the Group’s strategic infrastructure, through the modernisation of the water service, the development of electricity distribution, the construction of new waste-to-energy plants, the expansion of district heating and the enhancement of energy assets considered strategic. The investment portfolio also has a low-risk profile, thanks to the fact that 73% of the resources are allocated to regulated or semi-regulated activities and 55% are earmarked for the maintenance and renewal of existing assets, while the remaining 45% supports the growth and development of the Group’s asset base. More than 73% of total investments, amounting to 7.6 billion euro, are earmarked for projects supporting sustainability and transition, and 62% are eligible under European Taxonomy.

In summary, the Plan is characterised by a strong focus on strategic infrastructure, high visibility of returns, a balanced distribution of investments over time and a significant contribution to the Group’s sustainability and transition objectives.

[Keep reading in the attached document]