Non-Financial Statement 2022
The Non-Financial Statement is the document reporting the activities carried out by the Sella group in the field of Sustainability. It is drawn up under Legislative Decree 254/2016, which transposes Directive 2014/95/EU and the "Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards" defined by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
The Non-Financial Statement is subject to compliance review by the company in charge of the statutory audit of the financial statements from time to time.
The contents subject to reporting, which refer to the 2022 financial year (1st January - 31st December), were identified through a materiality analysis, resulting from a stakeholder engagement activity on the Group's website through a sustainability survey carried out in the last months of 2022. Approximately 850 respondents, distributed among the different categories of significant stakeholders for the Group, participated in this survey.
The scope of the economic data reported in this document corresponds with the scope of the data in the Sella group Consolidated Annual Report as at 31 December 2022.
Here below are some excerpts from the Letter to the stakeholders, signed by the Chairman of the Sella Group, which opens the consolidated Non-Financial Statement.
Maurizio Sella: letter of the Chairman
Dear readers,
the world today seems increasing complex and difficult to understand. Probable future scenarios are riddled with uncertainties. In fact, after the dramatic pandemic, geopolitical tensions are bringing up fears that send us back in time.
The energy crisis and the increase in the price of raw materials, worsened by the outbreak of war in Europe have led to levels of inflation that had almost been forgotten, with significant impacts on the life and activities of families and businesses.
What to do? Being an entrepreneur, being a company, being a bank means being able to examine the situation and offer effective responses to customer needs, taking advantage of all the opportunities that arise from the changes and transformations in progress, investing to take advantage of those coming in the future.
In fact, the results we have achieved are the result of the way a solid healthy company, that pays attention to its customers and has strong ties to the areas in which it work, where skilled people who do their jobs well work with passion, is able to produce value - for its stakeholders and for the social and economic communities in which it participates.
These results are an integral part of the positive impact that we generate as a company. There is also one aspect, above all, that in this particular moment in time affects our lives and which has urgent and unavoidable need of this positive impact: the climate crisis, which is making clear there is no more time to waste.
For us sustainability is not just an intention to be declared, but an integral and core element of our growth and development strategies.
In past years we achieved carbon neutrality and every day we implement concrete actions to reduce our environmental impacts and, through our brokering activities, serve as a catalyst for virtuous effects on the climate, the environment and, more generally, society.
This is what our Financial Statements and Non-Financial Disclosure demonstrate, describing the events, results, strategies and future prospects.
The Economic Value generated by the Group in 2022 amounted to 1.005 million euro (up by 109 million euro against 2021) 80% of which was distributed, worth a shared value of 807,6 million euro, up by about 118,3 million euro against the previous year. Much of the shared economic value (51,3 %) was used for employees and collaborators in the form of salaries, variable remuneration and social security contributions (about 414 million euro), 26,5 % was used for the payment and support of the supply chain business system: overall the Group made purchases for over 214 million euro. Economic impacts of the Group are also measured in supporting public spending through the sharing of tax revenues (18,8 %) and in the remuneration of the share capital (3,3 %), thus fostering further investments. In 2022 as it was previously stated, the Group disbursed around 1 million euro as contributions to organizations and associations, in particular to foundations the Sella Foundation and the Umberto Veronesi Foundation), as well as to universities, non-profit organizations, Unicef, the Italian Red Cross and the Ca Sella corporate Recreational Club of the employees.
The remaining part, i.e. 20% of the value generated, amounting to euro 198 million, was retained in the company. It should be noted that depreciation and amortisation, amounting to euro 79 million, and deferred taxes, amounting to euro 5 million, are also included in the retained value. These benefit Suppliers and the Public Administration, but this occurs in a time period other than the current financial year and are therefore not considered in this calculation (i.e. they are not included in the distributed value). Taking these two components into account, the final retained value would decrease to euro 113 million.
Over the past 6 years, the Group has steadily increased the amount of distributed value, recording an increase between 2017 and 2022 of over 290 million euro.
The value distributed in 2022, amounting to 807,6 million euro, increased from the previous year by 118 million euro.
Education, work-life balance, corporate welfare, involvement, and performance management: in the current context of strong acceleration of digital transformation and innovation, all these topics become essential areas for the good management and development of people in the company. The attention to people, to "human resources" is one of the chapters of the Non-Financial Statement that we have just published.
For Sella, 2022 was a year of important developments in its human capital initiatives; in this sense, we highlight some particularly significant projects and agreements, which aim to make the management and development of people within a quality work environment increasingly meritocratic, fair and efficient: the acquisition and implementation of a new HR management information system, the adoption of a taxonomy, unique for the Group, of professional families and roles; the signing of a Group agreement with the trade unions; the renewal of the Corporate Supplementary Agreements of Group companies; the introduction of the Trust Index measurement in Italy, Spain and Romania and adoption and the introduction of Diversity and Inclusion principles and guidelines.
The achievements and value generated by the Sella Group resulted from the work of a team that, in December 2022, reached 5797 members, including employees and partners part of the Sella Team. By taking into account employees of the Group's joint venture company Hype as well, the total Sella Team amounts to 5933 people. In 2022, there were 612 hires, of which 407 were in Italy and 205 abroad, as required by the 2021- 2023 business plan, in which we expect uninterrupted growth and investments in people.
It is a young Group as the average age is about 43 years old, which considers diversity as a winning factor. The above is demonstrated both by the substantial balance between female and male components and by cultural exchanges favoured by working contacts among colleagues in India and Romania, England, Spain, United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. In addition, the people who make up our team come from 36 countries.
In 2022, the Group's commitment to training employees has grown further through constant investments in developing its people's skills as a crucial factor to keep high competitiveness and offer a quality service to customers. Training activities continued according to logic and guidelines consistent with 2021. Overall at the Group level, in 2022, the hours of training provided were more than 226,000.
The Group also places a strong focus on work-life balance.
In mid-2022 was signed an important Group agreement with the trade unions that expands and enhances the possibility of using smart working facilitating the transition to a new hybrid work model and favouring the balancing of productivity objectives with the different personal needs of employees. The agreement, among the most innovative in the industry, allows, on a trial basis, each employee to enjoy up to 13 or 15 average days per month in smart working mode.
In order to offer ever greater attention to the care and well-being of people, during 2022 HR Business Partners were added to the human resources staff of several Group companies to support both managers and colleagues: these are HR specialists dedicated to following all staff-related needs on a specific company perimeter, from talent acquisition to day-by-day management of the collaboration between person and company.
In 2022, the Group's employees also benefited from the introduction of Alfred, a virtual assistant dedicated to answering questions related to the administrative management of the employment relationship.
To achieve sustainable development, attention to the environmental impact of one's activities is an essential aspect to guide one's decisions to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
To achieve this important goal, as reported in the Non-Financial Statement, the Sella group has for years chosen to focus on solutions with greater energy efficiency and at a lower environmental impact, to pursue a progressive reduction of its own carbon dioxide emissions.
This constant commitment resulted, in 2021, in writing-off the impact of the Group's CO2 emissions, allowing it to be among the first banking groups in Italy to have achieved "carbon neutrality". This significant milestone has taken shape thanks to the sustainable initiatives implemented in recent years, the current plan to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions and the financing of some international projects to compensate for residual emissions.
In order to pursue a progressive reduction in own carbon dioxide emissions, in continuity with what has already been achieved in previous years, actions and initiatives aimed at adopting more energy-efficient solutions with a lower environmental impact continued in 2022. In particular:
- in order to continue the process of progressive decarbonisation by replacing the use of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, the migration to electricity of thermal power plants currently fuelled by gas has been initiated;
- at the real estate complex in Biella Via Italia No. 2 (formerly the historical headquarters of the Sella Group) a significant portion of the buildings, the one dedicated to guest quarters and commercial spaces, has been connected to the city's district heating system (350 thermal kW), whose heat is produced by cogeneration; the intervention will also allow a significant optimisation of consumption given the different thermal requirements in terms of the buildings' time and weekly schedule;
- lighting has been replaced with LED lighting at 28 commercial branches in 2022 and work is planned at 41 sites in 2023, as well as at Group Headquarters;
- the occupation of workspaces in the locations was optimised to reduce waste in terms of heating and lighting;
- the hours for lighting the signs in the Group's headquarters and branches were reduced;
- the temperature inside the Group's offices and branches was checked punctually, as well as the activation times of the air conditioning systems, while still ensuring optimal comfort conditions for staff;
- a massive shutdown of PCs at night in the headquarters and branches was organised
It should also be noted that:
- as part of the construction of the Group's headquarters in Biella, significant initiatives had already been taken with regard to eco-sustainability and energy efficiency, and the LEED® O+M (Operations and Maintenance)certification process for existing buildings is therefore under way; S32 building in MIlan was awarded LEED® - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design "Platinum" certification in 2018;
- 100% of the electricity purchased and used by the Sella Group in Italy and Romania is certified green energy with Guarantee of Origin from renewable sources. Worldwide, the percentage of certified green energy with Guarantee of Origin from renewable sources is 99.01%.
The 19 photovoltaic systems at the Group's buildings and branches produced 406,649 kWh in 2022, resulting in 215,931 kg of CO2 avoided. The plants mentioned are equipped with punctual monitoring systems that record the production of kWh and the avoided CO2 emissions. The carbon dioxide emissions "avoided" each year were calculated by multiplying the value of electricity produced by the photovoltaic system by the factor of the Italian electricity mix: 0.531 kg of CO2 avoided per kWh produced by photovoltaics.
Currently, 19 photovoltaic systems are active, which in 2022 produced 406,649 kWh for a consequent amount of written-off CO2 equal to 215.931 kg. Such plants operate with monitoring systems recording the production of kWh and the "avoided" CO2 emissions.
The new initiatives launched are as follows:
- at the Group's headquarters in Biella, the construction of a Photovoltaic Parking Garage was started, to be completed by June 2023. Five photovoltaic shelters will be installed on which 632 panels will be located. The total nominal power of the photovoltaic car park is planned to be 243.32 kWp. The car park will be complemented by draining flowerbeds, perennial grasses and medium-trunked trees. The total CO2 saved is about 129 tonnes/year, 0.66 tonnes through the green project and 128 tonnes through energy production;
- a further 8 initiatives have been launched at various Group sites and branches, involving the construction of photovoltaic plants, with a total capacity of approximately 200 kWp. One of these projects will be realised on the Selir site in Galati, Romania, and will have a capacity of approximately 52.4 kWp. All these initiatives are expected to be completed by 2023.
The Group decided to invest significantly in initiatives aimed at considerably expanding the self-generation of electricity from photovoltaic plants. The goal for 2023-2024 is to build photovoltaic plants up to a total installed capacity of about 17 MW. This power will allow an annual energy production substantially equivalent to the Group's overall consumption.
Work continues on the commissioning of the hydroelectric plant on the Cervo Torrent, whose concession is held by the Immobiliare Lanificio Maurizio Sella. The total nominal power of the plant, which for the derivation exploits the historical irrigation ditch still present within the former Maurizio Sella Wool Mill complex, is 143.6 kW, with a maximum effective production of 245.6 kW, for an energy output of 976,502 kWh/year.
From 2021 the appointment of mobility managers has started within the Group i.e. professionals who must foster forms of sustainable mobility from an environmental, economic and social point of view, which lead to a consequent change in users' attitudes and habits.
The Group's goal is to allow for a structural and permanent reduction of the environmental impact deriving from motor traffic. To better implement this commitment, the Group is working on the following areas:
- spreading and fostering remote work;
- light mobility support through various initiatives, including company spaces reserved for sheltering bikes;
- supporting the use of remote communication tools to avoid travel related to face-to-face meetings;
- progressive renewal of the company car fleet with a view to reducing environmental impact;
- installation at the Group's headquarters of electric car charging station.
The attention to the environment of the Sella Group also applies to the supply chain. Just think that in 2022 over 59.11 % of the office material used is low environmental impact, and digital subscriptions to newspapers and magazines reached 96,17 % of the total. Support for the territory is also reflected in the choice of local suppliers in Italy 84,22 %, India 77,68 %, and Romania 69 %. In addition, all paper purchased for office use is FSC, Ecolabel e ECF. certified, which guarantees that it comes from a responsibly managed forest and a supply chain.
Read the Letter to the Consumer written by ConsumerLab, which shows our commitment to building a more sustainable and inclusive economy at an environmental and social level.