Letter to Shareholders

This dramatic event, significantly altering the geopolitical balance at global level, which marked the first months of last year and whose effects, however, persist, draws attention to the need for companies to orient their business strategies towards a path of transition to a more sustainable economy, which places the central focus on the needs of the communities and territories in which they operate.

Moreover, the continuation of the pandemic for the third consecutive year, although presenting an opportunity for change and
accelerating crucial processes for the country’s development such as the digital transition, risks, however, aggravating, in a broader context, inequalities by eroding social cohesion and increasing the social gap. In fact, this risk, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Risk Report, ranks seventh – globally – among the most burdensome risks of the next ten years, along with climate change, biodiversity loss, large-scale involuntary migration and the depletion of available natural resources.

In order to face the many challenges arising from the current context, we are convinced of the effectiveness of our
sustainable business model in the medium to long term, with a solid strategy based on measurable objectives that
take into account the demands of all stakeholders, part of the commitment to maintaining ongoing dialogue.

Aspects of innovation and sustainability have been at the core of all Group strategies since 2020, but in 2022 they were further strengthened and integrated into the challenging goals contained in the Strategic Plan.

Thanks to numerous initiatives and projects in line with an integrated vision, we can say that the Group is solid and sustainable, capable
of providing the most innovative answers to seize the best opportunities even in a highly challenging and changing environment.

Poste Italiane aims to support the sustainable development of the country and to be a guide for responsible growth and digital evolution through the definition and achievement of financial, operational and sustainability objectives – understood in its broadest sense.

With regard to environmental sustainability, in recent years we have seen a growing importance of these issues both at a global level, with the great resonance of COP 26 and the historic success of the establishment of the Loss & Damage fund during COP 27, and at a European level, with the publications on Environmental Taxonomy. At the national level, on the other hand, the substantial allocations in the
PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) for the country’s green transition confirm the need to implement processes increasingly focused on circular economy, sustainable mobility, energy efficiency of buildings and pollution monitoring, in order to improve the sustainability of the economic system to achieve a zero environmental impact society. In this regard, in order to meet the demands of institutions and our stakeholders, we have continued to pursue numerous activities to combat climate change.

The ambitious commitments made by Poste Italiane are aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, well ahead of the time-line set by the European Union, and at the same time reflect the innovative green philosophy adopted by the Group that pervades all our services, processes and products.

The holistic approach is also reflected in a greater involvement of customers through a carbon offsetting programme, the “Green Challenge”, which rewards their “green behaviour”, i.e. all those virtuous aspects of behaviour that benefit the environment.

From a social point of view, in 2022 Poste Italiane once again demonstrated that it is close to people and territories
by making a significant contribution to the country. In fact, the Group, continuing with the approach adopted in 2021,
made its channels available to the public for booking requests for the fourth dose of the Covid vaccine, giving them
the opportunity to book in different ways.

Moreover, Poste Italiane’s commitment to accompanying the country’s recovery is further demonstrated by the Polis Project, a social inclusion programme aimed at countering the depopulation of small towns and contributing to their socio-economic development by fostering interaction with the local areas and synergies with local institutions.

Poste Italiane has once again been able to monitor the changes in an increasingly demanding market, identifying the challenges of the future by adopting a long-term perspective to achieve competitive advantage. A demonstration of this is the Group’s recent entry into the energy market, which confirms the Company as a reference point for satisfying the needs of Italian families, no longer only related to savings, investment, financing, fixed and mobile telephony and fibre, but also linked to electricity and gas.

The evolution of our activities and our growth path have always been geared towards customers, who can count on the widespread presence of our organisation, which boasts a physical network of around 13,000 Post Offices, as well as an extensive digital infrastructure capable of serving the entire national population.

And it is precisely in order to anticipate the economic and social needs of citizens, especially at a delicate time such as that dictated by the current energy crisis, that Poste Italiane invests in its all-round expertise, with a special focus on the development and continuous improvement of its range of products and services.

The Poste Italiane Group plays a central role in the country’s economy. With a turnover of around €11.9 billion and the highest number of employees among Italian companies, it is confirmed in 2022 as the leading employer and the largest company in the logistics sector in Italy, with a leading position also in the financial, insurance and payment services sectors. The Group’s recent entry into the energy sector further strengthens our presence in the region and our ability to meet citizens’ needs even during a crisis.

Goals such as these are certainly the result of the effectiveness of the path taken towards the creation of shared value, with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as defined by the United Nations. The business model adopted by Poste Italiane is constantly evolving and adapting to the needs dictated by the economic and social context and the demands of the company’s stakeholders, while maintaining its values and principles.

In particular, Poste Italiane’s Sustainability Strategy consists of the Strategic Plan, which contains sustainability targets and objectives aligned to the highest national, European and global targets, and of a body of corporate regulations including all the Sustainability Policies that regulate the non-financial aspects of the Group, its principles and corporate values.

Although in 2022 we were able to experience an effective return to the habits that had been lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the desire to establish an increasingly resilient business approach was reinforced. The integration of social, environmental and governance factors into our business model – which enabled us to overcome a period of sudden destabilisation – has been and will continue to be the key to a broader risk assessment, enabling the Group to think long-term.

Given the historical context in which we operate, and as the leading company in the logistics sector in Italy, the
relationship with our stakeholders is increasingly central, and fostering dialogue with them allows us to maintain a
solid relationship of trust, based on shared values such as transparency and inclusion, which are at the heart of our
growth path towards a sustainable future.

In this regard, this year’s Multi-stakeholder Forum once again was a crucial opportunity to discuss and listen to stakeholders, in full agreement with the key objectives of the Group’s Sustainability Strategy, based on eight pillars: Integrity and transparency, People development, Diversity and inclusion, Creating value for the country, Green transition, Customer experience, Innovation and Sustainable finance.

The event, now in its sixth year, was live streamed and was attended by more than 1,000 people, together with whom we assessed the significance of the sustainability impacts related to our business and defined the material issues for Poste Italiane, in line with the regulatory developments of the GRI and CSRD standards.

The multiple recognitions obtained, nationally and internationally, from the most prestigious rating agencies confirm the effectiveness and far-sightedness of the sustainable strategies undertaken by the Group in recent years.

In continuity with 2021, in 2022, Poste Italiane confirmed its presence in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, a prestigious sustainability index which incorporates the best companies in the world in terms of the sustainable management of their business, and within the more selective Europe segment. In addition, the Group was not only reconfirmed as a leader in the fight against climate change by CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), being placing for the third consecutive year in the “Leadership” bracket of the international rankings with an A- rating, but was also ranked by Sustainalytics as a top ESG performer from a panel of more than 15,000 companies assessed globally, achieving an ESG Risk Rating of 12.7 (Low Risk). These prestigious awards are followed by further confirmations in equally important indices, such as Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), FTSE4GOOD, MIB ESG and Euronext Vigeo-Eiris World 120. With regard to the latter, we are proud to report that the company was again ranked first among out of 5,000 companies evaluated on the basis of sustainability performance. In addition to being included again this year in the 2023 edition of S&P Global’s Sustainability Yearbook, ranked in the Top 5% S&P Global ESG Score 2022, the Group also earned the “AA” rating from MSCI, for the significant progress it has
made with regard to the social sphere, improving its corporate sustainability performance and leadership in the sector.

The results achieved in 2022, pursued with great determination thanks to our people, not only give us special satisfaction with the path taken, but also strengthen our reputation as they highlight Poste Italiane’s concrete commitment to creating shared value.

We are also aware that it is only possible to meet the new challenges of sustainable development through constant listening and dialogue with regard to the needs of our stakeholders and the pursuit of common goals.