Management of impacts, risks and opportunities

G1-1 – Business conduct concepts and corporate culture

Corporate culture

Energie AG puts great value on an open, respectful and appreciative corporate culture that offers scope for innovation and fresh ideas while creating an environment in which employees can enjoy their work. Every individual should have the chance to reach their full potential and contribute different perspectives.

As part of its strategic realignment, Energie AG is focusing on cultural development and has decided to reorganise its innovation management. Energie AG engages in a range of innovation activities to strengthen its innovative power and foster a positive corporate culture.

From the outset, the “LOOP” strategy and organisation project ran in parallel with a culture and change project aimed at harmonising cultural alignment with strategic objectives. The cultural transformation is pursued along the three lines of action of culture, change and agility. A key factor is the establishment of a “change agent community” of employees from all units of Energie AG. They act as ambassadors for specific cultural units and also provide feedback on the status of change in the respective areas.

To optimise internal processes and operating procedures, internal ideas competitions (NEULAND project, Loominati platform) are held to draw on the wealth of practical experience and creative potential of its employees.

Cultural transformation – Cultural Compass

Corporate culture

Contents: The Cultural Compass covers six cultural directions: future viability, cooperation agreements and partnerships, customer experience, responsibility, sustainability and diversity. The Cultural Compass platform arising from this is a tool for supporting the cultural transformation to ensure a regular dialogue about the current direction of the cultural compass. Employees can use the platform to submit initiatives that contribute to one of the six cultural directions. The initiatives submitted illustrate the practical implementation of culture and strategy in operational work and serve as inspiration for other areas (e.g. sharing expertise and collaborating across units).

General objectives: The Cultural Compass and the associated Cultural Compass platform allow cultural processes to be at the centre of the discussion and give employees the opportunity to actively participate in cultural development.

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: The initiatives are reviewed and considered by the project team on submission and further steps are communicated to the employees.

Scope: The scope of the Cultural Compass covers employees in Austria.

Responsibilities: The Group Strategy holding unit acts as the driving force behind the issue of “change and culture” at the Energie AG Group. The Managing Directors and the management of the Group companies as well as the holding company managers are responsible for advancing actions that promote this shared culture in their divisions and contributing to this cultural transformation.

Involvement of stakeholders: The Cultural Compass was developed through a bottom-up process combined with a top-down process. Involving managers and employees in the development process meant that their views and interests were taken into account.

Implementation support: The Cultural Compass was distributed in print form to all employees in Austria and is also available on the intranet. The current direction of the Cultural Compass is shown on screens in the Energie AG buildings and shared online on the internal communication platform. The Group newsletter provides regular information on “change and culture”. The Cultural Compass was presented to the Management Board and senior managers.

Strengthening innovative power

Corporate culture

Contents: The framework for Energie AG’s innovation work is formed by the Group’s overall strategy. It covers all types of innovation (processes, products/services, business models) and combines centralised and decentralised activities.

General objectives: Innovation work seeks to strengthen the Group’s innovative power, to promote the development of innovations within the Group and to open up new sources of revenue and value creation for the Group through new products, services and business models. The six defined topic areas are the nucleus of innovation work and provide focus and direction. These are “Full Circularity” (finding, closing and enabling cycles); accelerating decarbonisation and acting sustainably; climate change fitness (ongoing adaptation to climate change and its effects); exploiting the opportunities of decentralised energy generation; energy efficiency and minimal use of resources (saving energy and using as few resources as possible); tech tools for increasing the quality and efficiency of the work done at Energie AG.

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: An interdisciplinary innovation team drives innovation efforts and implements targeted innovation priorities and corrective action.

Scope: The Group Innovation holding unit supports the innovation work of all units of the Group. This team also pursues its own innovation activities (business-related and directly attributable) and is responsible for them ((de)centralised approach as a strategic principle). The innovation work is also targeting external expansion and the development of a beneficial innovation ecosystem for the Energie AG Group.

Responsibilities: The Group Innovation holding unit was implemented on 1 October 2023 with the goal of establishing a coordinated innovation management system in the Group. Wertstatt 8 GmbH continues to drive innovation projects for developing new business models for Energie AG. The two teams work together methodically, professionally and within a network. The Managing Directors and the management of the Group companies as well as the holding company managers are responsible for driving innovation in their divisions and contributing to strengthening the Group’s innovative power.

Stakeholder inclusion: The strategic principles for innovation were developed with external support as part of the “Innovation” module of the “LOOP” strategy and organisation project. The central elements of innovation management – working with thematic areas of interest, establishing an innovation board and appointing a central innovation team – were approved by the Management Board.

Implementation support: The actions for improved innovation and the six defined innovation areas were communicated to the Management Board, senior executives and the wider workforce. Current actions to further develop the culture of innovation and achieve the strategic direction in innovation are also being prepared and will gradually be made accessible to the wider workforce through a number of communication channels (e.g. Group newsletter, internal communications platform, intranet, employee magazine, etc.).

Active ideas management

Corporate culture

Contents: Ideas management is the process through which employees can contribute their ideas for improving processes and structures within the Energie AG Group. Employees identify areas for improvement and are recognised by having their suggestions for improvement taken seriously and, where possible, implemented. Ideas management is also used to ensure that successful ideas are maintained and that Group processes and procedures are continuously developed and improved. Suggestions can be made for technical improvements as well as for administrative or organisational processes and structures.

General objectives: The primary goal of ideas management is to leverage the expertise and creative potential of the Group’s employees for continuous improvement.

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: The Technical Management holding unit acts as a central organiser and is responsible for maintaining and developing ideas management and for the corresponding central communication activities (including reporting to the Management Board). Contact persons in Technical Management support the ideas management process from the submission of the improvement suggestion to its implementation and approval, including the associated reporting. The “Guidelines for Ideas Management” were created to supplement the “Ideas management at Energie AG Oberösterreich” Group Policy.

In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, 236 ideas were submitted (previous year: 223).

Scope: The Group policy and the guidelines apply to the Energie AG Group and are available in German.

Responsibilities: The Managing Directors and the management of the Group companies as well as the holding company managers are responsible for ensuring that ideas management continues to flourish in their area of responsibility. They appoint the necessary suitable employees to perform the ideas management duties in their unit (Ideas Management Supervisors).

Stakeholder involvement: A comment process, regulated in the “Rules for the preparation and amendment of Group policies” Group Policy, has been implemented. This Group policy and the guidelines are adjusted as required based on feedback from the Group companies.

Implementation support: The employees must be informed of the identity of the relevant Ideas Management Supervisors. They are responsible for ideas management, i.e. for the introduction, maintenance and further development of ideas management in their organisational unit on behalf of the Managing Directors or the holding company management. They support the employees of the organisational unit through the ideas management process. The Group policy and guidelines are made available to all employees on the intranet.

Business conduct

Transparent values – Code of Conduct “This is how we think; this is how we act”

Protection of whistleblowers; corruption and bribery

Contents: Energie AG is committed to providing the highest level of reliability and quality as a business partner and employer. In this context, it is particularly important to Energie AG that its ethical and moral standards are transparent and comprehensible and that laws and internal policies are complied with.

General objectives: The Code of Conduct is intended to act as a guideline and decision-making aid to help employees act appropriately.

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: Topics covered by the Code of Conduct are monitored using compliance checks, see Comprehensive compliance management.

The Code of Conduct explicitly refers to the reporting channels and the whistleblower protection system. In addition, employees can also make reports regarding unlawful behaviour or behaviour that contradicts the Code of Conduct or similar internal rules to their line manager, the responsible management, the Compliance Officer or the Group Internal Audit holding unit.

The Code of Conduct is part of the onboarding process for new employees and is covered in various in-person training sessions.

Scope: The Code of Conduct applies to all employees of the Energie AG Group and to all individuals who perform the same functions as employees (e.g. temporary workers). This includes all employees and members of the Management Board of Energie AG and members of the management bodies of Group companies in which Energie AG holds a participating interest of more than 50% or over which Energie AG can exercise a controlling influence. All other companies in which Energie AG holds a direct or indirect interest are also advised to implement this Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct also allows customers, suppliers and other business partners to acquaint themselves with the guidelines and use them as a guide when conducting business with Energie AG.

Responsibilities: Responsibility lies with the Management Board of Energie AG.

Stakeholder involvement: The Code of Conduct was created as part of a joint project by the Energie AG Compliance Officer in cooperation with several specialist departments and with the involvement of employees and managers.

Implementation support: The Code of Conduct “This is how we think; this is how we act” is available both on the intranet and on the Energie AG homepage.

Protecting whistleblowers

Protection of whistleblowers

Contents: The Energie AG Group strives to make it easier for potential whistleblowers to submit reports and to guarantee comprehensive protection. The whistleblower system makes it possible for employees to report company-related unlawful and/or unethical behaviour without discrimination or retaliation.

General objectives: Confidential handling of whistleblower reports

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: Compliance checks and audits are used to ensure compliance, see Comprehensive compliance management.

The incident management policy defines the process for incoming reports. The following steps have been defined for the process of identifying, reporting and investigating concerns about unlawful behaviour or behaviour that conflicts with the Code of Conduct or similar internal rules: receipt of report, initial evaluation, case handling, closure and follow-up. This is done with the greatest possible care and confidentiality while fully preserving integrity and privacy. Investigations and enquiries are only carried out if there is sufficient “initial suspicion” of a gross violation of the law with a connection to the company.

The compliance training concept stipulates that employees should be informed on the whistleblower system at least once every three years. As part of the introduction of the whistleblower system, training and awareness programmes were carried out for managers and employees. Employees, including those without computer access, received a whistleblowing folder as part of the process. Information about the whistleblower system is available on the intranet and is part of the compliance information provided during the Christmas period.

At Energie AG, open communication is the foundation for reporting and clarifying misconduct. The Management Board of Energie AG therefore encourages all employees to report suspected misconduct immediately.

Employees have the option of using the web-based whistleblower system or submitting a personal report to a contact person. Employees can contact either their direct line manager, the Managing Directors of the relevant Group company, the Group Internal Audit team or the Compliance Officer. The contact persons can be notified in writing (e.g. by e-mail) or verbally (in person or by telephone). External whistleblowers can also use the compliance hotline or the compliance e-mail address.

Reports received are immediately forwarded by the contact persons to the Compliance Officer. Within seven days of receiving a report, whistleblowers will receive confirmation that the report has been received. Every report received will be investigated, unless the report contains no substantiated facts. Depending on the nature of the suspected misconduct, the Compliance Officer will involve internal/external legal experts (on a case-by-case basis) – the Group Internal Audit if need be – to clarify the reported violation. Depending on the outcome of the investigation and where necessary due to any misconduct discovered, the company will take appropriate corrective action and/or impose sanctions. Within three months of confirmation of receipt of the report, whistleblowers will receive notification of whether investigations have been initiated or follow-up actions taken. If the investigations are still ongoing, further information will be provided to the whistleblower once the investigations have been completed or discontinued. Feedback to the whistleblowers will be provided unless this is not possible due to anonymity.

Regardless of the reporting channel chosen, whistleblowers are free to decide whether they wish to remain anonymous or reveal their identity. All whistleblowers are assured strict confidentiality with regard to their identity as well as the contents of the reported circumstances. The content of the report will be treated in strict confidence with regard to all persons who are not personally involved in receiving the report, conducting the investigation or deciding on any follow-up action. In exceptional cases, it may be necessary to disclose the identity of whistleblowers if the matter becomes the subject of an official investigation or court proceedings and the parties involved must be summoned. Energie AG assures whistleblowers who report a violation of laws, regulations or internal policies in good faith that they will be protected against retaliation and other adverse consequences. Any employee who retaliates against whistleblowers will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

All employees reporting misconduct must act in good faith and have reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosed behaviour constitutes a violation of applicable laws, regulations or internal policies. Any allegation that proves to be malicious or which the person making the allegation knows to be false will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Bullying and denunciation are not tolerated in the Energie AG Group.

All personal data processing related to reports received and investigations conducted is carried out in accordance with data protection regulations. Personal data that is obviously not relevant for the processing of a report will be deleted immediately.

Scope: This policy applies for Energie AG and all Group companies. Individuals who perform the same functions as employees (e.g. temporary workers) are also included. The whistleblower system policy has been translated and adapted to Czech law for the Czech Republic Segment. The provision of external reporting channels also covers affected interest groups in the upstream and downstream value chain.

Responsibilities: The Management Board and Managing Directors of the Group companies

Stakeholder involvement: The whistleblower system and corresponding incident management policies and processes were implemented as part of a Group-wide project by the Compliance Officer of Energie AG with the involvement of several internal stakeholders, including Personalmanagement GmbH, Human Resources Strategy and Controlling, the board office, the Works Council and employees.

Implementation support: The information and policies on the whistleblower system and incident management are available on Energie AG’s intranet and in PowerData (sharepoint for the Czech Republic Segment) for all employees with computer access. In addition, a service link for the whistleblower system has been integrated into the intranet homepage. New employees are informed of the policies when they join the company. The external reporting channels and other relevant information are available to external stakeholders on the Energie AG website.

Comprehensive compliance management

Corruption and bribery

Contents: Because of its business activities, Energie AG is subject to a range of legal and regulatory conditions that it must observe. Violations may result in personal liability on the part of Energie AG’s management bodies and employees, cause considerable economic damage to the Company and cause lasting damage to the Group’s reputation.

The Code of Conduct “This is how we think; this is how we act” and the Code of Conduct for Contractors assures compliance with the relevant laws and regulations. With its Compliance Management System, Energie AG strives to act upon the principles laid down in its codes of conduct.

General objectives: internal Group policies regulate the systematic approach to compliance and define content, responsibilities and the division of roles, documentation and reporting obligations for Energie AG’s Compliance Management System. The policies are intended to define the terms compliance and compliance management system as used within the Group and to ensure that they are understood uniformly, to define the compliance organisation in terms of structure and processes, to define responsibilities, to define minimum requirements for the compliance management system, to ensure suitable standardised reporting and to regulate the handling of compliance violations.

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: Compliance checks and monitoring activities are used to verify adherence to the Code of Conduct and Energie AG’s compliance regulations and are reported to Energie AG’s management bodies at regular intervals. In addition, the review process for compliance checks allows the effectiveness of the Compliance Management System to be verified and improvement actions to be implemented in line with due diligence obligations. Compliance monitoring is part of Energie AG’s ICS and, because of the risk areas of the Compliance Management System, differs from other ICS monitoring only in terms of the type of checks. During ICS audits, compliance checks are audited and examined in their entirety in accordance with the PDCA cycle (“Plan, Do, Check, Act”) of a management system. In Energie AG’s governance, risk and compliance management system, compliance checks are defined based on process risks in accordance with the risk-based approach. To minimise any risks, compliance checks are defined for adherence to the training concept, for example, or for compliance with the deadlines in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act. In addition to compliance checks, internal compliance audits are a means of reviewing the effectiveness, appropriateness and efficiency of the Compliance Management System. This additional control mechanism is carried out at regular intervals. This is carried out by the Group Internal Audit team. If necessary, external experts who are bound to confidentiality may also be appointed.

Scope: The regulations outlined in the “Compliance Management System” Group Policy apply to Energie AG and all Group companies that Energie AG controls directly or indirectly within the meaning of § 15 of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act (AktG). Individuals who perform the same functions as employees (e.g. temporary workers) are also included.

Responsibilities: Responsibility lies with the Management Board of Energie AG.

Stakeholder involvement: A comment process, regulated in the “Rules for the preparation and amendment of Group policies” Group Policy, has been implemented.

Implementation support: The information on the Compliance Management System is available on Energie AG’s intranet and in PowerData (sharepoint for the Czech Republic Segment) for all employees with computer access. The Compliance Officer is available to answer questions in this regard. The external reporting channels and other relevant information are available to external stakeholders on the Energie AG website.

Prevention of corruption

Corruption and bribery

Contents: Energie AG is committed to the ethical and moral principles set out in the Code of Conduct “This is how we think; this is how we act”. This commitment is also required of business partners in the Code of Conduct for Contractors, see S2 Workers in the value chain, Responsible buyer – Code of Conduct for Contractors. The Energie AG Group aims to engage in open and honest cooperation to generate added value for stakeholders and shareholders. Policies and regulations such as the “Anti-corruption” Group Policy and the principles set out therein support these goals.

General objectives: To provide clear instructions for employees on how to act and behave in order to comply with the legal requirements and the requirements of Energie AG to prevent corruption; to protect employees from disciplinary consequences and consequences under criminal law and civil law; to meet the high standards that are placed on Energie AG and that it sets for itself, and thereby to strengthen trust in the company

All forms of corruption relating to Energie AG’s business activities are prohibited. Non-compliance with the policies can lead to damage to the Group’s reputation, but can also have disciplinary consequences or consequences under criminal law and civil law for individual employees.

Material impacts, opportunities and risks:

Also see ESRS 2, SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with the strategy and business model.

Monitoring process: Compliance checks and audits are used to ensure and verify compliance.

Scope: The “Anti-Corruption” Group Policy applies to all employees and members of the Management Board of Energie AG as well as the employees and members of the management bodies of Group companies in which Energie AG holds a participating interest of more than 50% and/or over which Energie AG can exercise a controlling influence. Individuals who perform the same functions as employees (e.g. temporary workers) are also included.

Responsibilities: Individual employees are responsible for complying with the Code of Conduct.

Stakeholder involvement: A comment process, regulated in the “Rules for the preparation and amendment of Group policies” Group Policy, has been implemented.

Implementation support: See Comprehensive compliance management.

G1-3 – Prevention and detection of corruption and bribery

The Code of Conduct “This is how we think; this is how we act” and the Code of Conduct for Contractors provides essential information for the own workforce and for suppliers. Allegations or incidents relating to corruption and bribery can be reported using the whistleblower system or other reporting channels made available on the Energie AG homepage. Energie AG does not tolerate any corrupt behaviour on the part of employees or suppliers. For this reason, an internal policy has been implemented and a compliance training concept put in place. For suppliers the “Code of conduct for Contractors” applies. Reported incidents are investigated according to a process designed for this purpose, which defines roles, responsibilities and detailed instructions for action, see Business conduct.

Energie AG has implemented its own process for any investigations. This defines roles and responsibilities and also provides instructions for dealing with incidents. In principle, the person responsible for the investigation is independent of the management chain involved in the matter.

The Compliance Officer reports to the Management Board every six months, which in turn reports to the Audit Committee on compliance management at Energie AG. At the following Supervisory Board meeting, the Chair of the Supervisory Board will report on this to the full Supervisory Board.

Compliance policies, information and documents are communicated within the Group in an appropriate form, e.g. on the intranet, newsletter, employee magazine, PowerData, etc. There is also a Group-wide policy on how Group policies are to be drawn up and communicated. In addition, the compliance organisation and in particular the Compliance Coordinators have a role in disseminating information on the roll-out of compliance action. As part of the onboarding process, new employees sign a compliance declaration of commitment and undertake to read the Code of Conduct, the Group policies on the Compliance Management System, antitrust law, corruption and data protection and to complete the learning modules on anti-corruption, data protection and antitrust law.

Employees of Energie AG are considered public officials and are therefore subject to strict legal standards, particularly with regard to personal integrity. Corrupt behaviour can affect all areas and can have devastating economic, social and cultural consequences. In this regard, roles within the company that are most at risk with regard to corruption and bribery are those that deal directly and on a daily basis with customers, business partners and third parties, both professionally and in a private context.

The compliance training concept covers all Energie AG employees in Austria. In this regard, the training concept covers all roles that deal directly and on a daily basis with customers, business partners and third parties, both professionally and in a private context. The Energie AG Group’s training concept and the compliance checks defined for this purpose are aimed at increasing awareness to ensure compliance with the principles of corporate governance and to promote compliant behaviour among employees. Energie AG is committed to protecting the company and its employees from misconduct and to promoting an overall culture of compliance. The compliance training concept is intended to communicate the values of cooperation so that compliant behaviour is understood to be a matter of course.

The training concept is designed to cover two perspectives. Specific actions on compliance training and awareness to be complied with are provided from the Group’s perspective, e.g. during the onboarding process or recurring training sessions such as web-based anti-corruption, antitrust law and data protection training. In addition, each holding, business and service unit can define further appropriate, suitable and effective compliance training programmes for a specific target group in consultation with the Compliance Officer.

The “Anti-Corruption” web-based learning module offered in Austria has so far been completed by 86.8% of the employees in the country. It is not yet possible to determine the percentage of high-risk roles.

As part of compliance reporting, biannual meetings are held with the Management Board regarding the Compliance Management System and reports are submitted to the Audit Committee meetings of Energie AG. Energie AG reports matters relating to compliance from the Audit Committee meetings of the Supervisory Board to the Supervisory Board. When new members of the Management Board, Managing Directors and holding company managers join the company, a compliance meeting is held with the Compliance Officer. In the Czech Republic Segment, mandatory annual compliance dialogue days are held for managers.

G1-4 -Incidents of corruption and bribery

Corruption and bribery

In this report, Energie AG outlines its sustainability policies and actions to counter the identified impacts, risks and opportunities in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. Its overarching goal is to decarbonise the entire cycle from generation to distribution and recovery. The expansion of renewable electricity generation plays a vital role in this. The focus of its activities continues to be on the reliable supply of preferably sustainable products and services from Energie AG to customers. The Group will continue to consistently position itself as an attractive and fair employer and responsible buyer, and will also continue to address key issues such as future-oriented technologies, innovation and digitalisation. Finally, financial stability and robust creditworthiness are both essential to and the result of a consistent transformation towards sustainability. For these reasons, Energie AG’s commitment to sustainability in relation to the environment, social affairs and corporate governance will continue to be the focus in the 2024/2025 fiscal year.

Linz, 2 December 2024

The Management Board of Energie AG Oberösterreich

Dr. Leonhard Schitter MA
CEO

Dr. Andreas Kolar
CFO

Dipl-Ing. Alexander Kirchner MBA
CTO