Evolving Sustainability: the Tea Group publishes its first Integrated Annual Report
An important step: the Mantua-based multiutility discloses its business and sustainability results in a single document.
The Tea Group has presented “Evolving Sustainability”, its Integrated Annual Report setting out its business and sustainability data for 2023. Edited by the internal Sustainability, Reporting and Communication teams, the report includes the consolidated Non-Financial Disclosure from the Group consolidated report on operations, anticipating the requirements of the latest European reporting directive. An important confirmation of the multiutility’s commitment to transparent, responsible communication. Amapola worked with the Tea Group on the reporting project.
Tea Group’s commitment
The Tea Group, a reference point in local public services in Mantua, consists of several different companies active in energy, the environment, water and end-of-life. Tea Spa SB, the parent company, is a publicly owned benefit company, in which 58 municipalities hold an investment. It plans, develops and manages services to meet public, territorial development, social utility and environmental protection needs. Sustainability and transparency are not just regulatory obligations for the Group, but intrinsic mission values. As a utility, responsible management of water and other essential services means protecting an essential common asset by guaranteeing service quality and protecting the environment, with a direct, positive impact on the community it serves.
“The integration of financial and non-financial reporting is an important improvement challenge because it requires companies to measure their sustainability performance with the precision of an accountant and to examine sustainability elements and criteria with greater rigour in all their financial assessments, development plans and investments,” observe Chair Massimiliano Ghizzi and General Manager Alessandro Beltrami.
The figures for 2023
The report reveals a solid financial structure, which successfully grew EBITDA (+14 million euro) and investments (+4.7 million euro) despite a fall in revenues linked to rising energy prices. In 2023 the Tea Group distributed 90% of the value it generated, a figure that reflects its commitment to sustainable, shared growth. On the environmental front, differentiated waste accounted for an average of more than 87% of the waste collected, showing close attention to responsible waste management practices.
An additional milestone has been reached with AqA, the benefit company that runs the integrated water cycle in the province of Mantua, confirming once again the commitment to the common good. The Integrated Annual Report also describes the many events to raise awareness about environmental and social issues supported by the Tea Group, such as creative workshops for local schools, a sustainability charter for children and sponsorship of community events organised in Mantua.
Transparency and content accessibility
The Integrated Annual Report is full of information about the activities of the Tea Group. Data, numbers and results are presented in tables and charts for easy comprehension of the content. The information relating to the Non-Financial Disclosure is highlighted with a special icon for immediate identification by the reader. The simple narrative style and graphic design are geared to comprehensibility, transparency and linearity.
“The Tea Group’s decision to plan an Integrated Annual Report ahead of the mandatory requirement is a clear sign of its commitment to sustainability,” comments Giulia Devani, Head of the Amapola Reporting Area. “Reporting ESG results complies with regulatory requirements, and also builds trust and transparency in relations with stakeholders. The purpose of our consultancy is to make sustainability a dynamic reality and communicate ESG initiatives in a clear and transparent manner to ensure constructive stakeholder engagement.”
Amapola assisted the Tea Group in the graphic and visual design and the layout of the 2023 Integrated Annual Report, the Tea S.p.A. SB and AqA Srl SB Impact Reports and the stand-alone documents setting out the Group’s ESG performance indicators. Amapola also produced the summary of the Sustainability Report and developed a series of communication enhancement tools, including a smart report, a brief video and social share cards.
