Executive Summary Telecom Italia calls in at number one

Telecom Italia retained its top position in 2007, with and Edison again rounding out the best performers. Italian companies have improved their online communications signicantly, but content presentation still remains an area of improvement.

Milan, November 5th, 2007 - The sixth annual edition of Webranking Italia Top80, conducted by H&H (Hallvarsson & Halvarsson) in partnership with Corriere della Sera, awarded top honours to Telecom H&H Webranking Italia as the best Italian website for corporate online communications. 11th European edition and 6th Italian edition Telecom Italia reafrmed that it was best in class with a score of 89 points (out of a possible 100), followed closely by UniCredit (with 87.75 630 surveyed companies points), which overtook Edison (at 85.5 points) this year. in Europe and 82 in Italy

Parmalat and Seat Pagine Gialle entered the top ten for the rst time. Evaluation Protocol with The two companies were also this year’s ‘best improvers’, with the 125 criteria most signicant changes in score from 2006. This placed them in front of Gruppo Finanziario, Terna and UBI Banca. Webranking Questionaire: answers from 350 The average score of the 82 rms considered in the ranking increased analysts, investors and by 6.3 points to 46.2 points this year. Another signicant result was that business journalist from all 31 companies achieved a score above 50 points - which indicates over Europe that the sites a good website standard - as opposed to 23 in 2006 and only 9 in 2005.

‘The steady rise in the average Webranking scores over the last few Top 10 years reects an increased awareness among Italian companies of the importance of web-based communication’, explained Joakim 1. Telecom Italia Lundquist, the head of H&H in Italy. ‘The future challenge for Italian 2. UniCredit Group 3. Edison companies now lies in improving the impact of their message and 4. quality of the language used.’ 5. & C 6. Hera The evaluation is based on criteria which are updated every year to 7. Rete Gas account for new trends in web communications as well as emerging 8. user requirements. The research is based on a survey of analysts, 9. Parmalat investors and business journalists. 10. Seat Pagine Gialle

This year new criteria were introduced in sections such as corporate governance (i.e. whistle blowing) and copy editing (i.e. paragraph structure and clear labelling). Best improver

1. Parmalat (+62 positions) 2. Seat Pagine Gialle (+47) 3. Unipol (+33)

H&H Webranking 2007 Italia Top 80 4. Terna (+21) Webranking Awards Italy - November 26, 2007 5. UBI Banca (+15) The fourth annual Italy Top80 Webranking awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday morning, the 26th of November in the Sala Buzzati of Corriere della Sera

1 (10) How the H&H Webranking survey works

H&H Webranking 2007 Webranking Questionnaire he H&H Webranking survey, now in its eleventh annual More than 50% of analysts visit corporate websites edition, represents the most comprehensive survey of T more than once a day corporate online communications in Europe. 90% consider the corporate website the most The study evaluates the English language version of important source when searching of nancial companies’ websites, excluding the commercial sections. information for listed companies

The 82 largest listed companies in Italy are considered, out English language users are the most demanding: il of a total of 630 companies throughout Europe. 70% expect website to be updated in real time The 160 largest blue-chip companies make up the European Top150 ranking.

Other signicant ndings were respondents’ primary concern as to the accuracy of information presented as well as how frequently the site was updated.

New companies Sixty percent of interviewees expect nancial statements, press releases and presentations to be published on the site in real time or at the most half an hour after they are • Prysmian (37°) • Piaggio (58°) announced. • Saras (43°) • Gemina (64°) • Iride (44°) • Cementir (67°) • (54°) • Breakdown of respondents to the 2007 H&H Webranking questionnaire by profession

Suddivisione dei professionisti che hanno risposto al Questionario Webranking 2007 Taking the pulse of international nancial markets: Business journalistsgiornalisi 20%economici the Webranking questionnaire 20%

analistiAnalysts (buy-side) (buy-side) 37%37% Every year the Webranking survey taps into the demands of the nancial marketplace via a questionnaire which is sent out to analysts, investors and business journalists.

Three hundred fty professionals throughout Europe replied to the 2007 questionnaire, which investigates how they use the web and what information and functionalities they Investorsinvestitori (sell-side) (sell- 43% side) require of corporate websites. These answers are then used 43% to dene the protocol on which the evaluation is based.

The results revealed that 80% of those interviewed work Fonte: H&H Webranking Questionnaire 2007 constantly connected to the internet - a rising trend over the last couple of years. ‘This was especially true of nancial analysts, and conrms that corporate websites and online communication have progressively become the principal source of information on listed companies’, explained Mr. Lundquist.

2 (10) The criteria and how companies are evaluated Structure of the H&H Webranking 2007 Protocol

Categories Criteria Points The Webranking protocol is comprised of 125 criteria divided into ten sections, for a maximum score of 100 points. Technology Struttura, Design & Tecnologia 11 11,5 The structure of the protocol is similar to the past three years, although many of the criteria have been re-weighted and Global/interactive functions 15 10,75 re-grouped. New criteria have also been introduced. Homepage and IR index page 6 6,25 This substantial similarity allows for an easier comparison of results over time, even though the protocol becomes more Contents demanding every year. General company information 10 10

The most heavily weighted section of the protocol is still that Press room 10 5,25 which is dedicated to nancial information and comprises 32% of the nal score. Financial information 33 31,5

The technology and usability sections have seen the most Corporate governance 15 10,75 change with the inclusion of new copy editing, accessibility CSR 10 4,25 and search engine criteria. Contact information 9 5,25 On the content side, new criteria were introduced in the Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility Website calendar 6 4,5 and Company Information sections. Total 125 100

New criteria included in the 2007 survey

Technology Contents

Copy editing and Navigability Company information

Typography R&D and innovation

Table and hyperlink usability Brands

Navigability Corporate governance

Sitemap Internal compliance code

Searcg engine and accessibility Whistle blower process

Google search Board meetings attendance

General code quality Corporate governance report

User friendly URLs Corporate social responsibility and contacts

HTML standards Information on CSR standards WAI standards CSR contact Meta data quality HR contact

3 (10) The H&H Webranking results

Do Italian companies meet the demands of the press releases. There has also been an increase in the market? number of companies that present a company fact sheet in PDF. ne of the worst practises of Italian companies in O the past has been the failure to supply symmetric Companies are increasingly publishing general media and information to foreign and Italian users. This is now occurs investor relations contact information as well as for their less frequently. social responsibility and human resources departments.

A signicant ndings from this year’s research is that only This has not resulted in faster response time to queries from two Italian companies failed to publish their annual report the departments however, as evidenced by a practical test in English by the month of August. This is in comparison to 10 which was conducted to measure the speed of responses the previous year. to a simple request sent by email. However, there is often an excessive time delay between Best companies in publication of information in Italian and its translation into the media section Over 50% of companies English. Annual nancial reports in English are often only did not send any answer available one to two months after their original release. to the email or One notable exception is the utility company Hera. The • Benetton answered outside the Bologna-based rm posted its latest annual report in both • UniCredit time limit of 48 hours - languages the same day as results were approved at the • Pirelli & C. the same result as in board of directors meeting, not only in PDF but also in 2006. HTML.

Italian companies also generally provide good archives of nancial and press documents. However, 13% of those sampled do not have a presentation archive and 70% do not supply nancial information downloadable in Excel. Only 15 sites have published information on their nancial targets and growth factors and only 11 companies present + • Homepage • Corporate governance communication

• Contact information • Corporate social communication

• Archived information • Financial information information on risk management while a mere 5 put up information such as sensitivity factors.

Many rms still do not have a complete section containing a presentation of their company. A fth of those evaluated do not supply a proper introduction as to who they are, a quarter are without an organisational chart and a fourth do not present information on the composition of their shareholders. In the media section, 80% of companies now have a media archive and 30% put time stamps on their

4 (10) Corporate governance gradually improves Despite almost 70% of companies providing a code of ethics or declaration of social obligation, there are few rms which publish a CSR report in English (30%) and even fewer Corporate governance sections saw encouraging results who list a specic CSR contact (27%). In particular, 30% of and registered a slight increase in average scores over last companies do not list any type of information regarding year. One impetus for improved disclosure has been the social responsibility. new Autodisciplinary code of the Italian stock exchange.

The Webranking research this year recognizes the importance of this area by introducing new criteria that have become increasingly relevant at the international level. One example is ‘whistle blowing’, and the ability to report company irregularities anonymously.

For companies such as Eni and Benetton, both of which are listed on U.S. exchanges, this is already obligatory. Another new criterion looks at executive attendance at board meetings.

Best companies in the governance section

• Telecom Italia • UniCredit • Eni • Parmalat • Pirelli & C.

UniCredit Group was one of the rst companies in Italy to provide this type of information.

The percentage of companies who provide information such as curricula and photographs of their managers and directors has increased slightly, to 27%.

Thirty three percent of those surveyed however, do not even post the names of their company managers.

Another positive nding was that more companies are including information on their annual general shareholders’ meeting. But only 15% of sites analyzed on the other hand have information on insider shareholdings, and only 4 companies publish compensation information

Scant attention paid to corporate social responsibility

Another important theme to call attention to is that of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which unfortunately has not seen a marked improvement compared to last year, although this is an area of corporate interest which has grown at the international level.

5 (10) Looking beyond Webranking

Shifting from quantity to quality: the challenge ahead 5 most common copy editing mistakes: • Word for word • Poor presentation and any companies equate greater transparency simply translations from the choice of words for M with a greater quantity of information while Italian titles neglecting the qualitative aspect of online communications. ‘There is a signicant gap between the quantity of • Main message of • Incorrect punctuation information provided and the attention paid to presentation each page is of gures and dates on websites’, underlined Sara Rusconi, head of the unclear Webranking survey in Italy. In order to shift perspective from a quantitative to a more qualitative approach, companies • Content exceed one should see the web as an integral way of communicating page their organisation’s work. Thus usability and presentation of contents are the most important tools for conveying their messages clearly. and social responsibility. Eni dedicates a large section of its site to the description of the market it operates in, and Good copy editing is also fundamental in this respect. uses interactive applications to explain how the company’s Frequently the websites of Italian companies give priority to CSR department operates. Finally, Autogrill has an entire the volume of content posted without much consideration page on its CSR objectives for the current year and for its for how their users read on the web. accomplishments from the previous year. Presentation of contents should be of equal priority. ‘Titles New applications are also radically changing how contents must be brief and informative, the text of the page must are presented, providing opportunities which could only be not exceed one screen, paragraphs should be well spaced imagined a few years ago. The web is altering the way and the use of bullet points increased in order to improve that information is conveyed and is becoming more of the legibility of the text’, continued Rusconi. an interactive tool to be used by company stakeholders. Although corporate websites are generally much slower From a style standpoint, Italian sites often translate content in adopting new applications, there are already some word for word from the original text which results in long, interesting examples of the sites which are introducing these ineffective phrases. The use of simple and clear words new technologies. and phrases would engender more trust from foreign users. Although the volume of information has grown on Italian Among the Italian sites, Edison was the rst to break the ice sites, many still do not fully consider this fundamental aspect by posting an online ‘Edisonblog’. of usability. Telecom Italia presents the most searched for words in each section via ‘tag clouds’, a typical Web 2.0 application, where a cloud grouping of words containing the most New trends in online communication searched for terms by users is displayed for them to click on. Online communication is constantly evolving. Thus the Benetton and Eni have introduced more dynamic versions Webranking research also goes beyond the criteria to of their press releases. The text of the press release is the monitor the most innovative and forward thinking practises starting point from which to access correlated information, on corporate websites. Companies themselves should seek comments, interviews, photographs and external links. new solutions which suit their individual needs. Many companies have also launched .mobi versions of Several Italian companies have been proactive in nding their sites which allows for optimised presentation of press original ways to tell their corporate and nancial story. releases, stock prices, events and contacts on handheld UniCredit for example, presents a clear investment message, devices. an explanation of its strengths as a company as well as reasons to invest in the stock. Pirelli & C. also offers a description of the rm’s evolving approach to governance

6 (10) Most companies however, are wary of more advanced Web 2.0 applications, which Mobile websites are subject to less control and allow users to directly express their opinions. In the meantime, we wait for the example of the adoption of some of these applications to • benettonpress.mobi be followed by other Italian companies. • edisongroup.mobi • eni.mobi • indesitcompany.mobi • telecom.mobi • unicreditgroup.mobi

Hallvarsson&Halvarsson (H&H), the leading company for nancial communications in Sweden is headquartered in Stock- holm and has an ofce in . For more information, please refer to www.webranking.eu, www.halvarsson.com or contact H&H directly.

Contacts Team

Joakim Lundquist, Head H&H Italy Andrea Di Turi Tel: (39) 02 4547 7681 Cristina Urban [email protected] Dima Dimitrova

Sara Rusconi , Head of Webranking Italia Federico Tronconi Tel: (39) 02 4547 7682 James Osborne [email protected] Nicole Heyermann

7 (10) H&H Webranking 2007 Italy Top80

Rank Rank Company Name Corporate website URL Score Score 2007 2006 2007 2006 1 1 Telecom Italia www.telecomitalia.com 89 84,25 2 3 UniCredit Group www.unicreditgroup.eu 87,75 76,25 3 2 Edison www.edison.it 85,5 78 4 4 ENI www.eni.it 83,5 75 5 5 Pirelli & C www.pirelli.com 80,5 73 6 8 Hera www.gruppohera.it 74,5 62 7 8 Snam Rete Gas www.snamretegas.it 74,25 62 8 6 Autogrill www.autogrill.com 74 72,5 9 71 Parmalat www.parmalat.com 70,75 23,5 10 55 Seat Pagine Gialle www.seat.it 66,25 30,75 11 15 Generali www.generali.com 66 56 12 7 Benetton www.benettongroup.com 63,5 64,5 13 28 UBI Banca1 www.ubibanca.it 63,25 46,75 14 10 Erg www.erg.it 62,75 59,5 15 25 Indesit www.indesitcompany.com 59,5 48 16 12 Intesa SanPaolo2 www.intesasanpaolo.com 58,75 59 17 18 Mediolanum www.mediolanum.it 57,5 53,75 18 39 Terna www.terna.it 57,25 38,5 19 23 Pirelli Real Estate www.pirellirealestate.com 56 50,25 20 27 Banca MPS www.mps.it 55 47 21 10 Alleanza www.alleanzaassicurazioni.it 54,75 59,5 22 33 www.enel.it 54,5 42,25 23 16 Fastweb www.company.fastweb.it 53,5 55,5 24 22 Italcementi www.italcementigroup.com 53,25 50,75 25 30 ASM www.asm.it 53 44,5 26 14 CIR www.cirgroup.com 52,75 56,25 27 60 Unipol Gruppo Finanziario www.unipolgf.it 52,25 28,75 27 20 Finmeccanica www.nmeccanica.com 51,5 51,5 29 43 Amplifon www.amplifon.com 51 36,25 30 19 www.gruppomediaset.it 50,5 52,5 31 21 Tiscali www.tiscali.com 50,5 51,25 31 17 Mondadori www.mondadori.it 50,5 55 33 24 Campari www.camparigroup.com 49,5 49,25 34 31 Fiat www.atgroup.com 49,25 43,5 35 45 Bulgari www.bulgari.com 48,5 35,5 35 38 www.mediobanca.it 48,5 41 37 - Prysmian www.prysmian.com 48,25 - 38 35 Recordati www.recordati.com 47 41,5 39 50 ACEA www.aceaspa.it 46,75 32,5 40 34 Atlantia3 www..it 45,75 42 40 29 www.buzziunicem.it 45,75 46,25 42 32 www.saipem.it 45 42,5 43 - Saras www.saras.it 44,25 - 44 - Iride www.gruppo-iride.it 43,25 - 44 35 Telecom Italia Media www.telecomitaliamedia.it 43,25 41,5 46 57 RCS MediaGroup www.rcsmediagroup.it 42 30,5 46 37 Banca Italease www.italease.it 42 41,25 48 52 Fondiaria SAI www.fondiaria-sai.it 41,5 31,75 49 52 Valentino Fashion Group www.valentinofashiongroup.com 40 31,75 50 40 Il www.il.it 39,75 37,75 51 51 Beni Stabili www.benistabili.it 39,5 32

8 (10) H&H Webranking 2007 Italy Top80

Rank Rank Company Name Corporate website URL Score Score 2007 2006 2007 2006 51 42 AEM www.aem.it 39,5 37 53 57 Alitalia www.alitalia.it 38,25 30,5 54 - Banca Generali www.bancagenerali.it 37,75 - 54 59 Geox www.geox.biz 37,75 29,5 56 48 www.cattolicaassicurazioni.it 37,5 34 57 49 Lottomatica www.gruppolottomatica.it 37,25 33,25 58 - Piaggio www.piaggiogroup.com 36,75 - 59 61 www.credem.it 36,25 28,5 60 55 www.azimut.it 35,25 30,75 60 47 Luxottica www.luxottica.com 35,25 34,5 62 44 IFI www.gruppoi.com 35 36 63 67 Impregilo www.impregilo.it 33,25 26,5 64 - Gemina www.gemina.it 32,25 - 65 73 Banca CR Firenze www.bancacrrenze.it 31,75 21,75 66 64 Risanamento www.risanamentospa.it 31,25 28 67 - Cementir www.cementir.it 29,75 - 67 61 Gruppo Editoriale L´Espresso www.gruppoespresso.it 29,75 28,5 69 74 Milano Assicurazioni www.milass.it 28,75 19 70 65 Salo Group www.salo.com 28,5 27,75 71 75 Banca Popolare Milano www.bpm.it 28 18,75 71 66 Italmobiliare www.italmobiliare.it 28 26,75 73 70 Tods Group www.todsgroup.com 26,5 24,5 74 69 Banco Popolare4 www.bancopopolare.it 25,25 26,25 75 83 Autostrada To-Mi www.autostradatomi.it 23,5 10,25 76 80 Credito Bergamasco www.creberg.it 22,75 16 77 - Credito Valtellinese www.creval.it 22 - 77 77 Banca Carige www.carige.it 22 17 79 78 Banca Intermobiliare www.bimbank.it 20,5 16,5 80 82 Sias www.grupposias.it 19,5 11 81 79 Banca Popolare Dell’Emilia www.bper.it 19 16,25 Romagna 82 76 Banca Popolare Sondrio www.popso.it 18,25 18,25

Note: New entrants to the ranking are highlighted in bold. Previous years results can be viewed on www.webranking.eu. The maximum possibile score is 100 points. The 82 companies were selected on the basis of market capitalization in June of 2007 (Bloomberg/FT). Websites were evaluated twice by two different individuals from the beginning of July to the 31st of August. The top ten sites were re-evaluated a third time.

1 2006 score from Banche Popolari Unite website 2 2006 score from the Banca Intesa website. SanPaolo scored 57 points 3 Ex Autostrade 4 2006 score from Banca Popolare Italiana website

9(10) Note on transparency

Over the last six years, H&H Italy has carried out a number of initiatives in order to further explain the reasoning behind the H&H Webranking survey as well as to promote a culture of on-line nancial communication. Initiatives include:

• Regular provision of detailed information by email to all the participating companies including: - Information about the research and its various deadlines. - Invitation to all companies to inform us about any changes on the websites during the evaluation process in order to make sure that the websites have been correctly evaluated - Possibility for the companies to ask specic questions and receive clarications about the research - Presentation of new criteria in an extensive executive summary provided both in Italian and in English • Individual meetings regarding the methodology of the research with concrete explanations to the company’s performance • Provision of personalised highlights of the score of each company divided by section • Seminar on online nancial transparency organised with Corriere della Sera and Borsa Italiana • Ad hoc website (www.webranking.nu) with information on the Webranking survey

H&H offers detailed reports on the H&H Webranking Survey (results of the Questionnaire and practical explanations of the criteria) and ad hoc analysis of websites of the reviewed companies, including European best practice examples and suggestion on how to improve.

H&H have provided 24 Italian companies with research and advisory. Below we present a list of the Italian companies that we have worked with.

Websites included in the survey: Autogrill, Alleanza Assicurazioni, ASM, Banca Intesa, Benetton, Edison, Eni, Fastweb, Finmeccanica, Generali, Hera, Indesit, Mediolanum, Mondadori, MPS, Parmalat, Pirelli, Pirelli RE, Saipem, Seat Pagine Gialle, Snam Rete Gas, Telecom Italia, UBI Banca, UniCredit e Unipol

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