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martes, 15 de mayo de 2018

Leonardo’s Shareholders’ Meeting approves 2017 Financial Statements, the distribution of a € 14 cent. dividend p.s. and appoints the new Board of Statutory Auditors for the 2018-2020 mandate

- Company Financial  Statements  for  2017  approved 

- Distribution  of  a  € 14  cent.  dividend  approved    

- New Board of Statutory  Auditors  appointed 

- Remuneration  Report    and Long Term  Incentive Plan  approved

- Sustainability  and  Innovation  Report  2017,  which  represents  the  Consolidated  NonFinancial  Statement  for  2017,  presented

- Relevant  attendance  by  institutional  shareholders,  mostly  international,  representing approx  33%  of  the  share capital 

Rome,  15  May  2018  –  The  Shareholders’  Meeting  of  Leonardo  Spa,  which  convened  today  in  Rome, has  resolved  on  the  followings:

Financial  Statements  for  2017 
The  Shareholders’  Meeting  approved  the  Company’s  Financial  Statements  for  2017  and  examined  the Consolidated  Financial  Statements

Key economic  and  financial  data
2017 full  year  results  are  in  line  with  the  Guidance  revised  and,  as  expected,  were  affected  by some  non-structural  issues  in  Helicopters.  This  sector  represents  an  outstanding  business  with leading  product  ranges  in  reference  markets,  increasing  market  shares  in  the  most  attractive segments  and  relevant    growth  opportunities,  as  highlighted  in  the  2018-2022  Industrial  Plan.  The Plan  is  based  on  solid  and  sustainable  long-term  growth  of  all  the  Group's  key  businesses; Leonardo  will  be  able  to  exploit  its  favorable  market  positioning,  the  solid  order  portfolio  (over  € 33.6  bn  as at  31  December  2017)  and  the  «One  Company» model  through  the  application of  a new commercial  strategy  combined  with  a  rigorous  cost  control  and  selection  of  investments  and  a disciplined  financial  strategy  focused  on  cash  generation,  all  aimed  at  achieving  long-term  and sustainable  growth.  The  critical  issues  in  2017  were  clearly  understood  and  faced  promptly,  taking corrective actions  in  terms  of  changes  in the    organisation,  processes  and  governance. 2017  results  highlights  are as  follows:

- New Orders:  amounted  to  EUR  11,595  million  (-3%  vs  2016  after  adjusting  for  the  effecting  of the  major  EFA  Kuwait  contract  of  €  7.95  bn.  in  2016).  The  overall  slight  decrease  was  mainly attributable  to  the  abovementioned  difficulties  that  affected  Helicopters  and  to  the  decline recorded  in  Electronics,  the  results  of  which  were  also  affected  by  the  negative  exchange  rate effect,  in particular  on  the pound sterling.

- Order Backlog:  amounted  to  EUR  33,578  million  (-3.5%  vs.  2016).  The  order  backlog  ensures coverage of  production  of  just  under  3  years  (based  on  2017  revenues).

- Revenues:  amounted  to  EUR  11,527  million,  a  slight  decrease  (-4%)  compared  to  2016,  also due  to  the  effect  of  an  unfavourable  exchange  rate  arising  from  the  conversion  of  revenues  into GBP  and,  to  a  lesser  extent,  into  USD  (about  €  160  mln.).  Electronics  and  Aeronautics  (the latter  began  to benefit  from  revenues  arising  from  the  EFA  Kuwait  programme)  posted  revenues in  line  with  2016.  Helicopters  revenues  felt  because  of    delayed  production  on  some  product lines,  as  well  as  by  the  abovementioned  exchange  rate  effect.  The  book-to-bill  ratio  was  equal to 1,  in line  (excluding  the effect  of  the  EFA  Kuwait  contract)  with 2016.

- EBITA:  amounted  to  EUR  1,066  million,  showed  a  decrease  of  14.9%  compared  to  2016,  with a  decline  of  1.2%  in  ROS,  affected  by  lower  volumes  and  profits  in  Helicopters,  as  well  as,  to  a lesser  extent,  by  the  results  achieved  in  Aeronautics  and  Electronics,  against  a  lower  loss recorded  in the  segment  of  other  activities compared  to  2016.

- EBIT:  amounted  to  EUR  833  million;  the  decline  in  EBITA  was  partly  absorbed  by  a  reduction in  non-recurring  costs  and  restructuring  costs  (-  €  47  mln.),  thus  entailing  a  decrease  of  €  149 mln.  in  EBIT  compared  to 2016. 

- Net  Result  before  extraordinary  transactions:  amounted  to  EUR  274  million,  showed  a decline  compared  to  2016,  which  was  due  to  the  performance  of  EBIT,  as  well  as  to  higher financial  costs.  The  increase  in  financial  costs  of  €  157  mln.  compared  to  2016  was  attributable to  costs  (€  97  mln.)  arising  from  the  buy-back  transactions  on  a  portion  of  the  Group’s  bond issues;  2016  financial  year  also  benefitted  from  positive  exchange  differences  which  were  also reflected  in  the  fair  values  of  the  derivatives,  with  a  delta  of  +  €  75  mln.  compared  to  2017.  The Group’s  tax  position  was  affected  by  the  US  taxation  system  reform  launched  by  Trump’s government,  as  a  result  of  which  deferred  tax  assets  recorded  in  the  United  States  of  America were  redetermined  on  the  basis  of  the  new  federal  tax  rate  (decreased  from  35%  to  21%),  with a  charge  of  about  €  50  mln.  accrued  in  the  2017  financial  year.  While  excluding  this  effect,  the tax  rate  showed  an  improvement  in  2017,  which  was  attributable  to  a  reduction  in  the  IRES (Corporate  Income)  tax  rate  from  27.5%  to  24%  in Italy.

- Net  Result:  amounted  to  EUR  274  million,  equal  to  the  net  result  before  extraordinary transactions,  in  the  absence  of  extraordinary  transactions  (on  the  contrary,  the  2016  financial year  was  affected  the  transfer  of  operations  carried  out  with  Sukhoi  on  the  Superjet  programme in  the  Aeronautics  sector  and  from  the  disposal  of  the  Environmental  business  of  DRS,  net  of the  capital  gain  from  the  disposal  of  FATA).

- Free  Operating  Cash  Flow  (FOCF):  amounted  to  EUR  537  million,  showing  a  deterioration compared  to  2016  (€  706  mln.),  which had benefitted  from  a lower  level  of  investment  spending.

- Group  Net  Debt:  amounted  to  EUR  2,579  million,  an  improvement  of  9%  compared  to  2016, despite  the  outlays  arising  from  the  acquisition  of  Daylight  Solutions  and  of  the  additional  stakes of  Avio  (for  a  total  of  €  168  mln.),  as  well  as  of  the  payment  of  dividends  (€  81  mln.).  The negative  change  in  loans  and  borrowings  was  attributable  to  the  repayment  of  the  debenture loan  due  December  and  to  the  repurchases  of  bonds  made  in  2017,  net  of  the  placement  of new  bonds  of  €  600  mln.

Outlook  
The new Industrial Plan approved by the Board of Directors in January is expected to deliver sustainable growth over the period 2018 – 2022. This reflects the Group's strong position in products and solutions for attractive market segments, a robust backlog and a new commercial strategy fully leveraging «One Company» model.

Actions taken to grow the business will be accompanied by a strict control of costs and investments, within a disciplined financial strategy to balance business growth and cash-generation.

Therefore, Leonardo expects to deliver for the full-year 2018 results in line with the Guidance presented on 30 January 2018:

- Growing Orders, supported by  significant export contracts, a return to growth in the Helicopter segment, and the first results of the commercial actions taken by new management.

- Stable Revenue compared to full-year 2017.

- A lower FOCF, reflecting the EFA Kuwait contract cash profile – with a significant cash absorption due to the production ramp-up with the reversal of customer advances received in 2016 and 2017 – and other customer advances winding down. In 2018 cash flow will continue to be negatively affected by Aerostructure Division and by higher investments to support the growth.






2017 dividend  
The Shareholders' Meeting approved the proposal to distribute a dividend on the profit for the year 2017 equal to 0.14 euros, before tax, if any, with reference to each share of common stock that will be outstanding on the ex-dividend date, excluding the treasury shares held on that date, without prejudice to the regime of those that will be effectively assigned, pursuant to the current incentive plans, during the current  year.

The dividend will be paid as of May 23, 2018, with record date May 22, 2018, after detachment of coupon no. 9 on May 21, 2018.

Appointment of the Board of Statutory Auditors 
The  Shareholders'  Meeting  also  appointed  the  new  Board  of  Statutory  Auditors,  which  will  remain in  office  for  the  period  2018-2020  and,  therefore,  until  the  approval  of  the  financial  statements  for financial  year  2020.  The  Board of  Statutory  Auditors  is  composed  as  follows: 

Regular  Auditors:  Riccardo  Raul  Bauer,  Sara  Fornasiero,  Francesco  Perrini,  Leonardo  Quagliata and   Daniela Savi.  Alternate  Auditors:  Marina Monassi    and 
Luca  Rossi. Riccardo  Raul  Bauer,  Sara  Fornasiero  and  Luca  Rossi  were  presented  in  the  list  submitted  by  a group  of  asset  management  and  institutional  investors,  together  holding  around  1.731%  of  the Leonardo’s  share capital,  voted  by  about  9.5%  of  the  capital  represented  at  the  Meeting.

Francesco  Perrini,  Leonardo  Quagliata,  Daniela  Savi  and  Marina  Monassi  were  presented  in  the list  submitted  by  the  Ministry  of  Economy  and  Finance,  holding  around  30.204%  of  the  Leonardo’s share capital,  voted  by  about  89.6%  of  the  capital  represented  at  the  Meeting.

The  Shareholders’  Meeting  also  appointed  Riccardo  Raul  Bauer  Chairman  of  the  Board  of Statutory  Auditors,  from  the  Statutory  Auditors  elected  by  the  minority,  as  required  by  art.  148, paragraph  2-bis  of  the  Consolidated  Law  on  Finance,  also  proceeding  to  determine  the remuneration  due  to  the  control  body  (euro  80,000   gross  per  annum  for  the  Chairman;  euro 70,000  gross  per  annum  for  each Auditor).

The  curricula  of  the  new  Auditors  are  available  on  the  Company's  website (www.leonardocompany.com).

The  new  Board  of  Statutory  Auditors  will  proceed  to  the  assessment  of  the  existence  of independence  requirements  for  its  members,  in accordance  with the  Corporate  Governance  Code.

Remuneration Report  and  Long  Term Incentive  Plan 
The  Shareholders'  Meeting  expressed  a  favorable  vote  (with  84.96%  of  the  share  capital represented  at  the  Meeting)  on  the  first  section  of  the  Remuneration  Report,  drawn  up  pursuant  to Article  123-ter  of  the  Consolidated  Law  on  Finance,  also  resolving  to  approve  the  Long  Term Incentive  Plan  for  the  management  of  the  Leonardo  Group,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  and conditions  described in  the  Information Document  already  made available to  the  public.

Sustainability  and  Innovation  Report  2017 
The  Company  presented  to  its  Shareholders  the  Sustainability  and  Innovation  Report  2017, approved  by  the  Board  of  Directors  on  the  14th  of  March  2018,  which  represents  the  Consolidated Non-Financial  Statement  for  2017  in  compliance  with  the  Legislative  Decree  254/2016.  The document  is  drawn  up  according  to  the  “G4  -  Sustainability  Reporting  Guidelines”  by  GRI,  adopting the  option  “in  accordance  core”,  and  it  is  inspired  by  the  International  Integrated  Reporting  Council (IIRC)  framework,  in  order  to  represent  Leonardo’s  capacity  of  creating  economic,  environmental and  social  value  through  its  business  model  and  the  responsible business  conduct.

Integration of fees  for  KPMG 
Finally,  the  Meeting  resolved  favorably  about  the  integration,  upon  well-grounded  proposal  of  the Board  of  Statutory  Auditors,  of  the  fees  for  the  Independent  Auditing  Firm  KPMG  S.p.A.,  for  the years  2017-2020,  considering  the  additional  audit  activities  with  reference  to  the  financial statements,  made  necessary  due  to  the  regulatory  amendments  introduced  by  the  Legislative Decree  no.  135/2016.

Attendance  at  the  Shareholders’  Meeting
The  Shareholders’  Meeting  recorded  a  considerable  attendance  by  institutional  shareholders  – mostly  foreign  –  who  were  present  with more  than  33%  of  the  share  capital.

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A  summary  report  of  the  voting  will  be  made  available  on  the  Company’s  Website (www.leonardocompany.com),  in  compliance  with  Art.  125-quater  of  the  Consolidated  Law  on Finance,  within the  prescribed term  of  five days  after  the  Shareholders’  Meeting.

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The  officer  in  charge  of  the  company’s  financial  reporting,  Alessandra  Genco,  hereby  declares,  in accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Article  154-bis,  paragraph  2,  of  the  Consolidated  Law  on Finance,  that  the  accounting  information  included  in  this  press  release  corresponds  to  the accounting  records,  books  and  supporting  documentation.