Meeting with Rosa González, CFO and BDM of the Audax Group

Q. Audax Italia has grown a lot and quickly: in 4 years it has gone from 5 to 65 million euros in turnover. So what is the macro objective for 2018?
For Audax, the main objective is to adapt the structure to the work volumes and ongoing activities so as to improve internal flows and increase active external services. In this sense, we are not looking for an increase in the number of customers, which, on the contrary, we would like to keep stable compared to the 2017 numbers but a more marked customer loyalty.
Q. And if we look a little further, to the next few years?
One of the most ambitious medium-long term projects is the improvement of tariffs, with diversified offers that are more economically advantageous and, therefore, more attractive for families and businesses. However, we know that to achieve this result we need to be able to buy or obtain energy at lower prices. In Spain, where our presence is stronger and more rooted, this already happens in two ways. First, thanks to agreements signed directly with the producers, as shown in the PPA contract, i.e Power Purchase Agreement , signed in May. Second, by exploiting the production of renewable energy coming from wind and photovoltaic parks we own, such as those scattered across the Iberian Peninsula, France, Poland and Panama. We are working to ensure that all this happens in Italy too. 4 years after opening in your country we can affirm that we have the characteristics and numbers to do so: we are a bankable Group, qualified as Investment Grade with a triple B negative rating with a stable trend.
Q. You mentioned Spain. What differences did you find with the Iberian market?
The most obvious, in my opinion, lies in the different maturity of the Spanish electricity market, whose liberalization dates back to 1997, while here in Italy it has yet to be implemented. An essential factor when you want to make a comparison between the two nations. Furthermore, the price of energy, due to Italy's dependence on foreign supplies and the absence of nuclear power, is among the most expensive in Europe and at least €10/mW more expensive than the Spanish one.
Q. What about the action of Audax? Were there different approaches?
Audax Energia's action in Spain is focused more on the business-enterprise side and less on the private-family side. A choice that entails the advantage of having to manage a smaller number of subjects, individually more profitable and generally more "loyal". But Iberian customer loyalty, more solid than the Italian one, derives from at least two factors, namely from the normal tendency of a company to maintain the same energy supplier for a prolonged time and from a different regulatory framework, with rules that make a the transition from one operator to another, the so-called switch-out, is a little less simple. Furthermore, there is an irreducible chronological factor. Audax Energía was born first and the resulting greater experience accumulated allowed it to better understand market dynamics and mechanisms, essential elements for refining and focusing the offer.
Q. How does the competition react in Spain?
Here, the number of strong players operating on the energy market is clearly decreasing, with a tendency towards conglomeration. A favorable element, considering that Audax Energía, positioning itself among the top ten entities in Spain - and to be precise in seventh position - can afford an easier margin for maneuver when it comes to proposing new solutions and offers.
Q. Looking back, when you arrived in Italy, what was most difficult to understand and difficult to manage?
I remember an approach free from prejudice right from the start. The Audax Group invested in your country because it considered Italy to be a potentially important market both in terms of size and because it is not yet as mature as other nations in Europe. This didn't automatically make things easy, however; we had to change paradigm and adapt to the Italian reality dominated by one or two very strong players holding almost all of the energy sold, as opposed to a galaxy of medium-small entities that share the remaining share. A market which for a significant percentage is not yet liberalized - and will not be until July 2020 - and where a different regulatory framework is active compared to the Spanish one.
D. Different rules, especially regarding work...
In fact, the legislation that regulates employment relationships - especially the hiring and possible termination of a professional relationship - has been one of the most felt elements of difference between our two countries. The same goes for the different way of conceiving flexibility between employer and collaborators. Furthermore, we had to deal with subjects that were partly new to us, such as intermediation agencies which - we now know - play an important role in the field of energy sales in Italy. Setting up a profitable relationship for potential returns in terms of new customers and fair for contractual conditions was fundamental to being able to carry out our business as best as possible.