Prysmian, ambitious development plan in China aimed at a growth of around 50% of its business by 2010.

New organizational and company structure: creation of a China Holding Company headquartered in newly opened offices in Beijing.

Beijing   -   25/06/2008 - 12:00 AM

New organizational and company structure: creation of a China Holding Company
headquartered in newly opened offices in Beijing.

Opening of New plant inTianjin. In China Prysmian 5 plants and over 1000 employees.
Prysmian's major projects in China include, the cabling of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Village,
high voltage networks for China State Grid in several cities and the cabling of the Beijing's underground.

Beijing, 25 June 2008. Prysmian Cables & Systems, a worldwide leading player in the energy and telecom cables sectors, has presented today in a meeting with local and international press in Beijing, the development plan outlining its activities in China. The company aims at achieving growth of about 50% of its business by 2010 with new investments also planned to increase the production capacity. The investments made in China over the last few years and those outlined in the plan totally amount to approximately 100 million Euro. Among the actions for Prysmian's growth strategy in China, is the implementation of a new organizational and company structure, with the creation of a holding company that will link the Group's five main Companies operating in the Country, with 5 production facilities and over 1,000 employees. Prysmian's development strategy in China can also leverage on a new production plant for industrial cables in Tianjin, which will be inaugurated tomorrow in the presence of the Italian ambassador in China, Mr. Riccardo Sessa. To further strengthen the relationships with Chinese Institutions, the business community and the strategic customers, Prysmian has located its Chinese headquarters in newly opened offices in Beijing, where the new holding company, Prysmian China Investment Co Ltd, is established.

"We have been present in China for more than 10 years, since the opening of the first production plant in 1997", declared Mr. Valerio Battista, Prysmian's Group worldwide CEO. "We have always believed in the huge potential of this country, which we consider one of the main areas for our Group's strategic growth. This confidence has been well rewarded as China was among the countries where we achieved the best performance of turnover in 2007, with an increase of 16 percent from 2006. Now, with the new organizational structure and new production facilities, we are ready to seize more significant increase opportunities, ensuring the development of new infrastructures for energy and telecommunications."

Paolo Bazzoni, CEO of Prysmian China added, "In China we wish to grow as a company strongly rooted in the territory and not as foreign Group. That is why we are investing both in the development of production facilities and technological know-how, as well as in further growth of local human resources, which represent our most important asset."

THE STRATEGY OF GROWTH IN CHINA
Prysmian's growth strategy in China is focussed on development in the higher added value and technology content sectors, which could benefit from strong economic growth and ongoing investments in infrastructures promoted in the country. In particular, Prysmian is focusing on business such as high voltage networks, special cables for industrial applications and fibre optic telecom cables.

Prysmian has already made significant investments to increase production capacity in the sector of high voltage cables and systems and further investments are planned in the next few years in order to almost double the current production capacity. The aim is to further strengthen its technological leadership in the country, particularly in the supply of high power systems, even with tensions higher than 220 kV and up to 500 kV, able to provide electrical energy to entire cities, (Prysmian has been chosen by China State Grid for the development of a new high voltage link for Shanghai's power network and the high voltage connections for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Village).

In the industrial cables sector Prysmian's growth strategy can leverage on the new Tianjin plant, which employs about 300 resources and has a annual production capacity of approximately 10,000 tons. At the plant special cables for sectors such as Oil & Gas, Railways, Mining, Windfarm and Nuclear Energy are designed and manufactured. Prysmian also aims to strengthen its leadership in China,with further development in the renewables energy sector. Prysmian had already invested in the special cables sector with the acquisition of the Angel group's assets in 2006. Among the most important projects Prysmian is currently involved in is the supply of special cables for the new Chinese high-speed trains, which are manufactured by Alstom. Prysmian has also been involved in supplying products for Beijing's underground cabling.

In the Telecom cables sector, Prysmian plans to develop the Chinese domestic market (currently the most significant part of the Wuxi plant's production is exported), in particular through the supply of fibre optic cables for the development of local telecom networks and Fiber to the Home.

With regards to the structure, the new holding company will improve the activities' management of the group of companies and plants in China, particularly in the Purchase, Commercial, Finance and Human Resources department, to support the growth through a more efficient organization. Prysmian is also engaged in the improvement of high profile local resources through know-how development programmes and training programmes both in technological and in commercial areas.

THE SECTOR OF ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS CABLE AND SYSTEMS IN CHINA
The Chinese market represents about 20 percent of the worldwide cables market, with higher growth expectations than the world average. In particular, the greatest growth is expected in the segments of high and higher voltage cables and systems with high transmission power (up to 500 kV) industrial cables, where an increase of 15 percent is expected in the next three years, and telecom cables for both fibre optic local networks and the promising Fiber to the Home.

Prysmian in China
The Prysmian Group ranks among the top Italian multinational groups in China, with a turnover of around 150 million euro in 2007. Formerly Pirelli Cavi, Prysmian's presence in China dates back to 1997 with the opening of its first Joint Venture manufacturing company. Headquartered in newly opened offices in Beijing, in China Prysmian currently employs around 1000 people in its 5 manufacturing plants, located in Tianjin (special cables for Industrial applications); Baoying in Jiangsu Province (market leader in High Voltage cables and systems); Wuxi, also in Jiangsu, (Optic and Copper cables for Telecommunications). Moreover, Prysmian Shanghai Trading imports and distributes Prysmian's leading range of cable accessories for MV and HV cables.

The Prysmian Group
A leading player in the industry of high-technology cables and systems for energy and telecommunication, the Prysmian Group is a truly global company with sales exceeding 5 billion euro in 2007 and a strong position in higher-added value market segments. With its two business, Energy Cables & Systems (submarine and underground cables for power transmission and distribution, for industrial applications and for the distribution of electricity to residential and commercial buildings) and Telecom Cables & Systems (optical cables and fibres and copper cables for video, data and voice transmission), Prysmian boasts a global presence with subsidiaries in 36 countries, 54 plants in 21 countries, 7 Research & Development Centres in Europe, USA and South America, and over 12,000 employees. Specialising in the development of products and systems designed to meet clients' specific requirements, Prysmian's key strengths include: a focus on Research & Development, the capacity to innovative on products and production processes, and the use of advanced proprietary technologies. Prysmian is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange Blue Chip index.