We aim at further strengthening our leadership in all the core markets in which we are already leader, such as Italy, France, Spain and Australia, and reaching leadership in those few markets where we are not leader yet, such as Germany, United States, Canada and China. fostered by both strong organic growth and bolt-on acquisitions.

In the three-year period 2021-2023, particular focus will be placed on the US, by far the largest market worldwide, where we are implementing a new strategy to accelerate growth and capture more value in the value chain leveraging its strategic businesses: Miracle-Ear and Amplifon Hearing Healthcare.

Two other compelling growth opportunities are Australia and China. With the recent acquisition of Bay Audio, we have built another Company stronghold to win in the core Australian market. While in China, as testified by the recently announced second joint venture, we will continue to pursue our growth path via M&A or joint ventures with local partners in new areas, organic growth around the two existing hubs of Beijing and Zhejiang as well as a greenfield investment in Shanghai.

After having launched the Amplifon Product Experience, our proposition will be further enriched leveraging three distinctive assets:

• the undisputed leading brands in the industry;
• a superior customer knowledge deriving from the unmatchable set of data we possess to build the finest customer insights and best serve them through a 360° customer centric model;
• an innovative experience, in which digital technologies play a key role in enriching the experience and improving protocols both within our stores and outside, from the first contact to the after-sale.

In the first two months of 2023 the Company reported solid revenue growth. Market performance in the next few months is key to consolidating this trend and increasing visibility for the entire year. The Company also intends to continue the accelerated bolt-on M&A activity seen in the recent months, also benefitting from a macroeconomic environment which should provide better opportunities in terms of multiples of potential targets. Lastly, since the beginning of the year, the Company implemented globally price increases in order to offset labor cost inflation. The Company does not expect any other significant cost inflation items.

In light of the above, in 2023 Amplifon expects:

• to outperform the reference market organically, gaining market share;
• bolt-on M&A to contribute for around 2% to the Group’s consolidated revenue growth;
• to increase overall profitability thanks to higher operating leverage, even after continuous and significant investments in the business.

In the medium-term the Company remains extremely positive on its prospects of sustainable growth in sales and profitability thanks to the fundamentals of the hearing care market and its further strengthened competitive positioning.

These expectations for 2023 do not include any further global economic activity slowdown due to, among others, the well-known geopolitical, inflation and pandemic related issues.