Prysmian at a glance

As a leading player in the high technology business of energy and telecom cables and systems, the Prysmian Group is a truly global company with sales of more than Euro 5 billion in 2008. Strongly positioned in the higher value-added market segments, Prysmian designs, develops, manufactures, supplies and installs a wide range of cables, addressing the most diverse applications in both the energy and telecom sectors.

Specializing in delivering products and systems created for specific customer requirements, the key strengths of Prysmian include: a close focus on Research & Development, the capacity to innovate with products and production processes, and the use of advanced proprietary technologies. With its two businesses, Energy Cables & Systems (cables and systems for land and submarine power transmission and distribution, for industrial applications and for the distribution of electricity to residential and commercial buildings) and Telecom Cables & Systems (optical cables and fibres and copper cables for video, data and voice transmission), Prysmian Group boasts a global presence with subsidiaries in 38 countries, 53 plants in 21 countries, 7 Research & Development centres in Europe, USA and South America and employs more than 12,000 people worldwide. This broad and diverse geographical distribution of manufacturing facilities allows Prysmian to respond more efficiently and effectively to the needs of local markets and customers.

Prysmian continuously strives to improve all aspects of customer service with great emphasis, providing them with improved logistics and assistance services, including periodical monitoring, maintenance and provision of emergency services for existing installed cables and systems. Prysmian can also rely on its own cable-laying vessel Giulio Verne, which allows the laying of submarine cables even in the most critical conditions and provides a significant competitive advantage to the Company due to its advanced technologies.

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BUSINESS OUTLOOK

The economic context in 2009 confirmed the weakness already experienced during the previous year and which became considerably worse from September 2008 due to the crisis affecting certain international financial institutions. Following intervention by national governments and central banks, the fall in demand and in industrial output stabilised in the second part of 2009 at record lows for recent years.

Given this economic scenario, in 2010 the Group expects demand stabilization, at the minimum levels reached in 2009, for the Trade & Installers and Power Distribution businesses and for certain products in the Industrial segment more exposed to cyclical trends, with a possible gradual recovery towards the end of the year. While orders for power transmission projects and for optical fibre cables are expected to recover during the year.

The Group also continues to rationalise and improve efficiency in its industrial footprint and to optimise its cost structure, while confirming its investment plans already started in the high value-added businesses to further strengthen its presence in the most profitable, high-growth segments.