Shareholders and the Financial Community

Group companies are committed to ensuring equal treatment for all categories of shareholders, thereby avoiding any preferential treatment. The reciprocal benefits that derive from belonging to a group of companies are pursued in accordance with the relevant legislation and the autonomous interests of each Group Company as it seeks to create value. (Article 3 of the Ethical Code ).

Over the years, the Pirelli Group has developed one of the world's most advanced systems of governance, making strenuous efforts to appoint independent directors and other members of the board of directors representing the minority interests.  Independents are also co-ordinated by a "Lead Independent Director ", who is responsible for dealing with and co-ordinating all their needs.  Specially appointed committees within the company also ensure that all internal operations proceed smoothly.

It is in the very best interests of Pirelli & C. S.p.A. to maintain a constant dialog with shareholders and institutional investors, as is also set forth in the company's internal Investor Relations Policy, which states, "The level of trust and reliability that a firm is deemed to hold among investors, and more broadly in the financial community, depends in fact from the relationship between the firm and its stakeholders."
To that end, in the early 90s, the Company established an office that deals specifically with Investor Relations. This office is responsible for actively and constantly pursuing a specific programme of communication and disclosure with the financial community, with a particular emphasis on (institutional and retail) investors, financial analysts, and sellers.

Relations with the financial community take the form of live meetings or conference calls reporting regularly on the Company's financial performance and standing and related development strategies. More than 200 such meetings were held in 2007, many of which with investors in new financial markets for Pirelli, such as the Emirates (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), China (Shanghai and Hong Kong), and Japan (Tokyo). Relations were also developed with the stock markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo.

The places particular emphasis and commitment on relations with the ratings agencies that deal with sustainability. In 2007, Pirelli saw a sharp increase in its ratings in the Dow Jones Sustainability, FTSE4Good, Kempen, Axia and ASPI indexes.
At the beginning of 2008, Pirelli was also declared the 2008 World sustainability Leader in the "Autoparts and Tyres" Sector and a Gold Class Company by the Sustainability Asset Management Group (SAM), within the prestigious Sustainability Yearbook 2008, published by the Sustainable Asset Management Group in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers and presented in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

A further indication of the importance that Pirelli attaches to the market is the fact that both the Group parent company, Pirelli & C. S.p.A., and its subsidiary Pirelli & C. Real Estate S.p.A. have prepared an innovative information tool exclusively for retail investors: the Shareholders' Manual, which may be downloaded from the "Investors" area of the Pirelli Group web site.