The context in which the Group currently operates, characterised by rapid macroeconomic changes, financial markets instability and progressive developments of legal and regulatory compliance regulations, requires clear strategies and effective management processes aimed at preserving and maximising value.
To strengthen the internal controls and risk management system, in 2015, the Group introduced a risk management framework, which it keeps up-to-date, extended to all group operating companies to identify, assess, manage and monitor risks in accordance with industry best practices.
The Group Risk Officer, heading up the risk management unit, is in charge of developing, implementing and circulating the risk management framework and assists senior management with strategic and commercial planning and operations as well as the comprehensive, in-depth analysis of relevant factors for the business and the local contexts in which the Group operates, identifying and monitoring related risks.
As part of the risk management system, the Group defined the universe of risk events that have a potential impact on operations (so-called “Risk Universe”), ranked into five main risk categories and analysed along three risk dimensions that are considered relevant for the group business’s features and characteristics, as well as the context in which it operates.
Business context related risks
External risks that may compromise the Group’s achievement of its objectives, i.e. all events whose occurrence are not influenced by corporate decisions. This category includes all risks arising from a country’s macroeconomic and socio-political dynamics, sector trends and competitive scenario, as well as from industry specific technological innovation and regulatory developments.
Because of the nature of such risks, the Group must rely on its forecasting and managing abilities. Specifically, Salini Impregilo integrated risk vision in its strategic and business planning processes through the definition of commercial and risk guidelines and the development of a process for the prioritisation and selection of initiatives to be pursued, also and most of all based on the assessment of relevant risks linked to the country and/or sector in which operations are planned, rather than to the counterparty. Risk control is also ensured by monitoring the progress of strategic objectives also in terms of composition and diversification of the portfolio and its development over time in terms of risk profile.
Strategic risks
These risks arise from strategic, business and organisational risks that may adversely impact the Group’s performance and ultimately result in the non-achievement of strategic objectives. They include risks resulting from the choice of business or organisational models through which the Group intends to operate, those arising from M&A transactions, or the ineffective management of the order portfolio or the relationships with key counterparties (customers, partners, suppliers, sub-contractors, etc.).
Salini Impregilo considers risk as a key element for the preliminary assessment of decisions and strategic choices, so much so that it has envisaged integrating the strategy definition and development process with that for the identification, measurement and management of risks. The choices pertaining to the adoption of a business or organisational model, the assessment about the opportunity of proceeding with an extraordinary transaction or establishing a partnership are subject to preliminary analysis and evaluation of the related risks and opportunities, with the concurrent identification of risk management methods and strategies to be promptly activated should such risks arise.
Financial risks
All risks linked to the availability of Group resources, depending on the management of receivables and cash and cash equivalents and/or the volatility of market variables such as interest and exchange rates.
Specifically, liquidity management has the objective of ensuring the financial autonomy of contracts in progress, taking into account the structure of consortia and special purpose entities, which can tie the availability of financial resources to the performance of the relevant projects. Moreover, liquidity management takes into account restrictions to currency transfers imposed by the legislation of some countries.
Salini Impregilo also considers specific risk areas such as the counterparty’s credit rating and raw materials price volatility, equipping itself with effective financial planning tools.
Legal and compliance risks
This risk class includes risks for the management of legal issues and/or risks related to compliance with laws and regulations (e.g. taxation, local legislation, etc.) required in order to operate in the sector and/or specific countries. Salini Impregilo deems that monitoring contractual issues linked to contract management and, particularly, the relationship with relevant counterparties, is fundamental. This also includes any internal and external fraud risks, and, more generally, the compliance with procedures and policies established by the Group to govern its operations.
With respect to the aforementioned factors, Salini Impregilo implements a regulatory risk monitoring and management policy in order to minimise the impact of such risk, through a multi-level control system that entails collaborative and ongoing liaison with relevant counterparties and business units affected by regulatory developments and the comprehensive assessment of any potential impacts.
Operational risks
These are risks that could jeopardize value creation and are due to an inefficient and/or ineffective management of the Group’s core business, particularly those linked to bid management and actual execution of contracts. The various risk areas that fall into this class include bid design and planning, effective supply chain, logistics and inventory management, as well as those linked to the management of IT systems, personnel and planning and reporting.
These risks arise during the performance of contracts, should Group policies and procedures not be adequate for the management of risk factors linked to the level of complexity of the project or unforeseeable events.
To this end, the Group intends to monitor such risks starting at the bidding stage of each contract with a risk/benefit analysis of the project in the event of its award and its impact on the portfolio structure, both in terms of risk concentration and overall risk profile. At this time, Salini Impregilo, as part of a wider process, prepares a pre-bid risk assessment aimed at identifying potential risks and impacts linked to the project, as well as the necessary mitigation and/or contingency measures to counter them. The risk surveillance activity is then performed again at tender stage and monitored and updated during contract execution in order to promptly detect the risk exposure development and promptly implement adequate mitigation measures.
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Within the framework of the afore-mentioned framework for the identification and classification of risks applicable to group operations, Salini Impregilo has adopted a cross-functional approach for the analysis of risk dimensions that are considered more relevant due to the specific features of its business. These dimensions include various risk areas identified and belonging to different risk classes.
Country risk
The Group pursues its objectives by operating almost everywhere in the world, leveraging business opportunities in different countries and, hence, exposing itself to the risks resulting from the characteristics and conditions dictated by them, such as the political, economic and social scenario, local regulations, taxation and operational complexity and, last but not least, safety conditions.
Being aware of and constantly monitoring country risk through specific indicators enables the Group first and foremost to define informed commercial strategies, as well as to gain an optimal understanding of the operating scenario and, therefore, adopt precautions and/or implement actions aimed at removing barriers and mitigate potential threats.
Counterparty risk
The counterparty dimension identifies potential criticalities linked to relationships with the Group’s customers, shareholders, subcontractors and suppliers, so as to create a comprehensive overview of the features of the partners with which Salini Impregilo may start or continue to collaborate. For each of the above counterparty types, risk factors linked to financial and operational reliability apply to a different extent, as does the potential strategic role of a partnership for a specific business initiative, as well as all aspects linked to legal and other compliance that safeguard the lawfulness of the relationship.
Contract risk
The contract dimension is key for an effective analysis of all risks linked to the Group’s core business, since it is considered to define tools capable of identifying and monitoring so-called contract risks starting from the bidding stage in a risk prevention perspective, as part of an in-depth analysis of the risks and opportunities linked to the pursuit of a specific activity. Another fundamental aspect is the ongoing tracking of risks once they have been consciously taken on by management, managing the resulting risk exposure in a proactive, dynamic way, as well as its ongoing development over time.
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The analysis of key risk dimensions and the relevant risk areas has the aim of providing management with a two-sided overview: a detailed one (i.e. at individual country, counterparty, contract level) and a portfolio one (for assessment of the overall exposure to such dimension), in order to assess the Group’s risk profile as well as its compliance with the exposure limits imposed by its risk management capacity. Moreover, the portfolio overview enables the performance of systematic assessments about the potential development of the risk profile upon occurrence of certain events and/or specific choices that may result in any changes to it, through the use of dedicated risk management tools.
The risk management framework, as outlined above and subject to further and future developments, has been designed to support decision-making and operational processes at every stage of the management of projects, in order to reduce the possibility that certain events may compromise the Group’s normal business operations or its strategic objectives: to this end, it is integrated in strategic and business planning processes, which, therefore, cannot be separated from the Group’s risk profile, as well as from its choices in terms of risk appetite.