Business Plan 2022-2024: “Mission… possible”

In 2021 ended the period of validity of the previous Strategic Plan, which was based on hypothesis formulated before the spread of the pandemic and the onset of the Covid-19 emergency. Since the scenario was so different from the one assumed, in August 2020 IGD communicated to the market that the targets of the 2019-2021 Strategic Plan were no longer to be considered current, although the strategic guidelines aimed at consolidating the leadership of its shopping centers in their respective catchment area remain valid.

However, our assets have withstood the stress test of the pandemic well, confirming that physical proximity retail, when it has the characteristics of modernity, innovation and professional management, is resilient and still offers ideas for projecting growth.  

In December 2021 we presented the new 2022-2024 Business Plan which has as primary goal the proactive management of the assets in order to prepare them for the future and the new market challenges.

 

“The Business Plan 2022-2024 shows that we are strongly committed to ESG factors, to investing in the innovation and digitalization of our shopping centers. At the same time, we have set important economic-financial goals for ourselves, resuming payment of dividends to our shareholders while also reducing financial leverage, as well as consolidating the investment grade profile we have achieved”

Claudio Albertini, IGD’s CEO

 

After two difficult years due to the implications that the covid pandemic has had on the business, the next three years will be dedicated to consolidation and a return to growth. In fact, our strategy expects returning to organic growth based on sustainability and innovation.

MAIN TARGETS OF 2022-2024 BUSINESS PLAN

+17/20%
NET RENTAL INCOME AT THE END OF THE BP*
40/43%
ltv at the end of the bp
* Growth calculated based on the Net Rental Income and FFO expected at year-end 2021

 

A Plan based on innovation and sustainability

 

The strategy is based on 4 operational areas:

  • Commercial and marketing: the world of retail and shopping center is constantly changing, therefore we developed a plan focused on innovation and aimed at personalizing and improving the visitors’ customer journey;
  • Asset managementwe are planning a series of investments aimed to maintain and increase the quality of our portfolio, preserving its value over time and extending its “life”;
  • Sustainability: important steps are planned to reduce the portfolio’s environmental impact with the objective to reach zero emissions by 2030;
  • Finance: we will focus on stregthening our financial structure through rigorous financial discipline in line with the investment grade profile.

The idea that IGD could act as an aggregator of new assets, potentially even from different sectors, in order to further expand its property portfolio by leveraging on IGD’s know-how and greater economies of scale to create value is still valid, market conditions permitting.

The dividend policy

Aware of its SIIQ status, IGD is committed to providing its shareholders with attractive and sustainable returns in line with the results achieved in the past.

In 2020 in light of the loss recorded by the parent company IGD SIIQ SpA (which waives the distribution requirement) and with a view to safeguarding financial stability and the investment grade profile, the dividend for the year ended on 31 December 2020 wasn’t distributed.

This difficult decision is to be viewed as one-off and unforeseen, triggered by the exceptional circumstances that developed as a result of the pandemic; in fact, already starting from 2022, IGD distributed a dividend per share of € 0.35, returning to being a dividend company committed to offering attractive remuneration to its shareholders.

 

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