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Welcome to the frst issue oF INSIGHT For 2015, complete with new

sections and an updated design, brought to you by Prysmian Group,

which entered the new year having met its targets For 2014. The

Full-year perFormance confrmed signs oF a slight recovery in sales

volumes, accompanied by a generally stable level oF proftability.

This was thanks to decisive contributions from the strategic

Submarine Cables and Systems businesses and from Optical Cables.

The results For 2014 were particularly signifcant, achieved against

the backdrop of a scenario that remained challenging. The year saw

demand recover For some businesses, such as Optical Cables and

Renewables, but there was ongoing weakness in the more cyclical

sectors, including Trade & Installers and Power Distribution, as well

as a slowdown in the Oil & Gas market. In this context, the Prysmian

Group has relentlessly pursued its actions to contain costs and

reorganise its manufacturing footprint.

In this issue, we ±OCUS ON the outlook For the cable industry in Europe,

where infrastructure spending announced by the EU Commission is

expected to beneft the energy and telecommunications sectors. We

also devote the GLOBAL SCENARIO section to Prysmian’s continuing

story oF success in Russia, as it celebrated its fFth anniversary in the

continent-wide country. The newly added STAGING THE ±UTURE section

looks at the e²ort oF the US administration to liFt the obstacles to a

more capillary distributed broadband inFrastructure, while also Focusing

on major projects in the power generation and distribution business in

di²erent countries around the world.

We also report on several major contracts secured by Prysmian in strategic

markets, such as South-East Asia, the Middle East and Northern Europe,

over the past Few months. PEOPLE, another newly added section, explains

how young students produced an award-winning thesis on ‘Technology for

Human Beings’ in a competition promoted by Prysmian Group, together

with Human ±oundation.

Editorial Team - Insight

2014 targets met

Major contracts secured

EDITORIAL COLUMN