Responsible business

Responsible Business

Sustainability at Prysmian Group is a core principle for our investment decisions, economic activities and stakeholder relationships.

 

We believe that sustainability means generating lasting value over time and investing in the future. In 2019, Prysmian invested €284 million in industrial development in high-tech and value-added areas such as optical fibers and submarine cables. In addition, 19% of our industrial investments in 2019 were made to achieve energy efficiency.

 

Prysmian is committed to developing environmentally friendly products because we believe our products are key to guaranteeing economic sustainability over the long term. Our Research & Development budget in 2019 was €106 million. The Group’s capacity to provide innovative and sustainable solutions in design and materials is fundamental to being a market leader.

 

Sustainability is a guiding principle we use when we plan industrial investments as an opportunity for innovation. Prysmian’s R&D department is always looking for innovative ways to make products consume less and deliver more, making them more sustainable by using lighter materials, more efficient design and reducing hazardous materials.

 

The central aspect guiding the strategy of the Prysmian Group is the need to concentrate on factors that facilitate the development of cabled infrastructures for the transportation of electricity and information that, today, are essential elements in all current transformations of society, from the new electric mobility to smart cities, from the expansion of 5G to the use of artificial intelligence to collect and interpret data, and much more.

 

Sustainability is a pervading thought for the Prysmian Group, not only for product and process innovation but also for our continuous cost reduction program, Design to Cost. Engineers in our R&D team apply sustainable principles across every aspect, from cable design, manufacturing, and technical support to cutting-edge innovation. Design to Cost encourages better use of materials, efficient processes, and innovative designs. As a result, these projects deliver products with improved productivity and lower material consumption, resulting in a lower environmental impact.

Distribution of economic value to stakeholders

In 2019, the economic value generated by Prysmian amounted to €11,653 million, of which EUR 296 million consisted of profits redistributed to Group Members and interest to third parties and represent the value withheld.

Much of the value was redistributed in the form of:

  •  spending on Suppliers (80.8%) - including raw materials and other services;
  •  payment to Staff (13.6%);
  •  payment to Lenders (4.3%);
  •  payment to the Public Administration (1.3%);
  •  contributions to the Community, around EUR 610 thousand (0.005 %).

 

Our relationships with our investors are crucial as we are a public company with a 100% free float and no controlling shareholder