Dear Readers,

2020 was a year that we will all remember for many reasons. It was a year in which past, present and future were strongly intertwined: it reminded us of our history, it asked us to face great challenges, and it spurred us to look forward to building a more inclusive and sustainable future.  

It was the year that marked our 70^th anniversary, a path we followed together.

In 1950, Algernon Charles Holland founded Amplifon in Milan with a key goal: help people feel better by providing them with hearing solutions in response to the hearing damage brought about by the war. Seventy years later, that goal has not changed. Indeed, it has been multiplied by 17,500 – the number of our people who every day devote their passion and professionalism to helping people rediscover all the emotions of sound. During this important year, we continued to invest in innovation and highly personalized services to provide people with a full and exciting life. We completed the roll-out of our Amplifon Product Experience in the United States and Germany and launched it in the United Kingdom, with excellent results since the very first weeks. In line with the strategy of strengthening our position in our core markets, we successfully continued with the GAES integration process in Spain and finalized the acquisitions of Attune Hearing in Australia and the hearing care business of PJC Investments, the second-largest Miracle-Ear franchisee in the United States, which will allow us to expand our network of direct shops in the world’s largest market. 

It was the year in which we faced great global challenges together.

This past year made enormous risks tangible, with a health crisis of historic proportions and profound social, economic and financial consequences. But at the same time, it made us even stronger: in a very short time, we were able to implement what would probably have taken years of planning. We were measured against ourselves and against the world around us, and we managed to achieve extraordinary successes thanks to our agility and execution capabilities. From the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, we made it our priority to safeguard the health of our people and provide proper support to our customers. The service we offer was defined as ‘essential’ in most of the countries where we operate, and for this reason we immediately implemented a sound safety protocol for our offices and shops that enabled us to continue to offer the assistance and support our customers needed. 

We launched several initiatives to facilitate internal dialog and proximity with our employees during the longer periods of remote working by means our “Stronger Together” program. Moreover, we also introduced a new Whistleblowing System to ensure a safe, respectful and protected workplace. To prevent physical isolation from being aggravated by possible hearing loss, we found new ways of serving our customers and staying close to the seniors, who more than anyone else suffered from isolation during the lockdown periods. And that was possible only thanks to the efforts of our hearing care specialists and our Foundations. Although performance over the year was affected by the pandemic and the imposition of lockdown measures, we promptly reacted in the very early months of 2020 with actions aimed at mitigating its financial impacts. These actions produced excellent results, given the extremely challenging context, thus demonstrating the resilience and strength of our business and our financial structure. 

It was also the year in which we laid the foundations for a more sustainable future, together.

The changes that we experienced in 2020, and that we are continuing to experience, will represent a great store of experience that we will carry forward with us in the coming years. It is precisely this experience that has prompted us to look forward and concretely implement the areas of commitment of our Sustainability Policy through the definition of a Sustainability Plan, with future targets consistent with our business strategy and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Conscious of our role in society, we have set ourselves the task of raising awareness about hearing care and increasing its accessibility, offering ever more innovative and engaging experiences. We have committed ourselves to investing in the growth and development of our talents, investing in engagement and training and providing them with an increasingly inclusive environment. We have set ourselves the objective of constantly enhancing the positive impact of our activities through social inclusion, prevention of hearing loss, and awareness-raising about hearing well-being and responsible listening. Inspired by our values of transparency and integrity, we have committed ourselves to acting ever more responsibly towards our stakeholders and the environment throughout the value chain.  

This year was a unique opportunity to appreciate our history, our present, but above all our future.

In this Sustainability Report we are proud to present to you the results that we have achieved, and above all our objectives, in relation to our areas of commitment to sustainability. Aware that what has been achieved so far is only the beginning of a long and beautiful journey, we look to the future with confidence, and hope to engage all of you more and more in this journey together.

Susan Carol Holland - Chairperson and Enrico Vita - Chief Executive Officer