INTRODUCTION

Approach to Sustainability
SICIT has been included in the portfolio of Italian Corporates for Sustainability (mid/small selection) in the latest report dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility published by Equita SIM.

The portfolio selection includes those companies combining appealing fundamentals with the highest contribution to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the report, SICIT is exposed to government’s initiatives aimed at fostering precision farming (UN SDG #2: end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) as 55% of its revenues stem from bio stimulants produced through the recycling of waste from the tanning industry.

Group key stakeholders
Stakeholders play a key role in the Group’s growth and sustainable development path. SICIT is committed to taking their needs and expectations into account when defining and implementing its business strategies.

The main stakeholders of SICIT have been identified through an analysis of the context in which SICIT operates, regarding the reference sector and the activities carried out.

SICIT also adopts practices of dialogue and involvement of the main stakeholders. The main channels of dialogue and interaction are summarised below; the methods and frequency of stakeholder involvement vary according to the issues considered relevant and the opportunities for discussion during the year.

Stakeholder Engagement/interaction
Employees
  • Projects and/or initiatives for company welfare
  • Breach reporting system
  • Insertion schemes for new employees
  • Company meetings to discuss results and future objectives
  • Communication boards in the plants and offices
Trade associations
  • Regular discussions
Clients
  • Regular meetings
  • Surveys/market research
  • Continuous dialogue through communication channels (e.g. e-mail, telephone, social media, post)
  • Customer service
  • Company website
  • Participation in the main trade fairs
  • Presence at events
Supplier/ Suppliers of input raw materials
  • Regular meetings
  • Relationship with purchasing department and the Quality Control laboratory
Shareholders and financial community
  • Meetings organised throughout the year (e.g. Shareholders’ Meeting, presentation to analysts, roadshows for special projects)
  • Company website (‘Investor Relations’ section)
Local communities
  • Projects to support social initiatives
  • Participation in local events
  • Mass media
Regulatory bodies and authorities
  • Meetings with representatives of institutions
Universities and Research Center
  • Internship and development of thesis
  • Collaborations with schools and the academic community to develop new product and process
  • Research and development

Materiality Assessment
In order to identify the economic, social and environmental aspects that are relevant to SICIT and that influence or could significantly influence stakeholders’ assessments, actions and decisions, SICIT carried out in 2020 its first materiality analysis. This analysis highlighted the most relevant issues that reflect the organisation’s significant economic, environmental and social impacts and substantially influence stakeholder assessments and decisions.

The analysis also included a benchmarking activity that reviewed the sustainability issues on which the main players in the sector report and the issues identified by the main reporting systems or in sector publications.

Below there are material topics arising from the analysis, divided by macro-area, which will be reported in this Sustainability Report.

Macro-area Material Topic
Governance and Compliance
  • Corporate Governance
  • Business ethics and regulatory compliance
  • Anti-corruption
Economic Responsibility
  • Economic performance and value creation
Supply Chain Responsibility
  • Sustainable supply chain management
Environmental Responsibility
  • Environmental impact
Product Responsibility
  • Innovation, R&D
  • Product quality and safety
Social Responsibility – Employees
  • Occupational Health and Safety
  • Employees development and well-being
Social Responsibility – Communities
  • Local communities

RESULTS

Direct economic value generated and distributed
Summary of key economic data
The 2019 was a year of profound transformation for SICIT, in which the prerequisites were created to accelerate its medium-long term growth and internationalisation. Overall, thanks to everyone’s work, SICIT managed to overcome the many challenges ahead, closing the period with moderate growth and excellent profitability.

The first half of 2020 saw the outbreak of the public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Coronavirus) and the adoption of restrictive measures by Governments and Authorities to deal with it. During such period, Sicit Group and its subsidiary Sicit Chemitech continued to operate. Indeed, the above restrictive measures did not apply to their respective activities. The companies have also implemented protocols and measures to protect workers from the risk of contagion in their production sites, in line with regulatory requirements, as well as remote working methods for non-core functions. With respect to production, the Group’s production activities continued also by bringing the relevant procedures into line with the new safety protocols introduced from time to time by government decrees. The Group did not make use of employment aids (ordinary or extraordinary lay-off schemes) and all employees remained operational and, with respect to revenue, there were no cancellations of orders by customers, requests to shift deliveries or delivery difficulties that had a negative impact on revenue in the first half of 2020.

The creation and distribution of value for its stakeholders is a constant commitment of SICIT.

The economic value represents the wealth produced by SICIT, distributed to stakeholders. Through its activities, SICIT contributes to the growth of the social, economic and environmental context in which it operates. The economic value generated by SICIT, as illustrated below, is distributed to employees (salaries), suppliers (cost of sales), public administration (taxes), shareholders (dividends), banks (financial charges) and communities (sponsorships and donations).

The economic value directly generated by SICIT in 2019 is over 57 million euros, driven mainly by the share of consolidated revenues which in 2019 amounted to 56.7 million euros, an increase of 1.5 million euros compared to 2018 (equal to 55.1 million euros, +2.7%).

For further details on SICIT’s performance and financial position, please refer to SICIT’s Consolidated Financial Statements at 31 December 2019*.

Direct economic value generated and distributed**

2019
thousands of euros %
Direct economic value generated 57,629
Economic value retained 7,182
Economic value distributed, of which: 50,447
Remuneration to suppliers 29,346 58%
Remuneration to collaborators 8,489 17%
Remuneration to lenders 14 0%
Remuneration to investors (adjusted) 8,800 17%
Remuneration to public administration (adjusted) 3,691 7%
Community investments 107 0,2%

The economic value distributed amounts to 50.4 million Euros, 58% of which derives from the remuneration to suppliers that is composed of the cost of sales, research and development costs, commercial costs and distributed general and administrative costs. Collaborators remuneration represents 17% of the economic value distributed while public administration remuneration represents 7%. In addition, 17% of the economic value was distributed to shareholders. During 2019, the resources allocated by SICIT to support the community amounted to over 107 thousand Euros. Finally, the value retained by the Group determined by the difference between the economic value directly generated and the economic value distributed was 7.2 million Euros.

Topic boundary

MATERIAL TOPIC GRI STANDARD IMPACT BOUNDARY INVOLVEMENT OF SICIT
Corporate Governance Parent Company Caused by the Group
Business ethics and regulatory compliance ANTI-COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR (GRI 206)
SOCIOECONOMIC COMPLIANCE (GRI 419)
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE (GRI 307)
NON -DISCRIMINATION (GRI 406)
Group Caused by the Group
Anti-corruption ANTI-CORRUPTION (GRI 205) Group Caused by the Group
Economic performance and value creation ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE (GRI 201) Group Caused by the Group
Sustainable supply chain management PROCUREMENT PRACTICES (GRI 204) Group Caused by the Group
Environmental impact ENERGY (GRI 302)
EMISSIONS (GRI 305)
EFFLUENTS AND WASTE (GRI 306)
MATERIALS (GRI 301)
WATER AND EFFLUENTS (GRI 303)
Group and Electricity suppliers Caused by the Group and directly linked to the Group through its business relationships
Product quality and safety CUSTOMER HEALTH AND SAFETY (GRI 416) Group Caused by the Group
Innovation, R&D Group Caused by the Group
Employees development and well-being NEW EMPLOYEE HIRES AND EMPLOYEE TURNOVER (GRI 401)
TRAINING AND EDUCATION (GRI 404)
DIVERSITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY (GRI 405)
Group Caused by the Group
Occupational Health and Safety OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (GRI 403) Employees*** of the Group Caused by the Group
Local communities LOCAL COMMUNITIES Group Caused by the Group

* In order to be consistent with the new accounting standards adopted by SICIT from 2020, the economic data refer to the “Consolidated financial statements as at Dec. 31, 2019 – Restated according to IFRS principles and drafted or specific purpose (SICIT Group)”.
** Excluding figurative/imputed effects referred to Fair Value for merger and warrants.
*** The scope of health and safety data includes employees only. The Group assesses the possibility of collecting data from external collaborators, in order to report any accidents.