Today, VodafoneZiggo publishes its Integrated Annual Report for 2023: Connection in action. In addition to financial results, VodafoneZiggo provides extensive insight into its efforts in the areas of sustainability, digital inclusion and governance. With this, the company is taking action towards compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which recently entered into force.
Specific attention is devoted in the report to issues of importance to both VodafoneZiggo and its stakeholders, including the further reduction of the company's CO2 emissions. The social importance of a reliable and secure network is also high on the agenda.
© 2023 was also a year that focused on technological innovation and artificial intelligence (AI). These three images were specially created by Fizzbake using AI technology, based on the report's theme of 'Connection in Action', and with a particular focus on connection and human-environment interaction.
A reliable and secure network
Every day, VodafoneZiggo connects millions of people in the Netherlands. In 2023, the company strengthened its position by investing over 22% of the annual turnover in improvements to its network, products, services and customer experience. In addition, VodafoneZiggo continues to differentiate itself in a competitive market with an extensive range of entertainment and sports for its customers.
Ritchy Drost, CFO of VodafoneZiggo, explains: "Our customers rely on us for something that is now indispensable: a reliable and secure connection wherever they are. Moreover, we are focusing our attention in particular on digital inclusion, to enable everyone to participate in the digital society."
Double materiality analysis
In 2023, VodafoneZiggo conducted its first double materiality analysis, to identify the most relevant themes for the company and its stakeholders. "The key word here is 'double'," Drost explains. "We approach sustainability issues from two perspectives: the impact of our organisation on people and the environment, as well as how sustainability developments present opportunities and risks for our organisation. Examples include new carbon taxes and opportunities to develop circular and sustainable products."
The results of this analysis will form the basis for reporting under the CSRD and provide important input for the company's strategy and decision-making.
Further decrease in CO2 emissions
The analysis shows that reducing CO2 emissions remains a priority. VodafoneZiggo aims to reduce its emissions by 50% by 2025 compared to 2018. By 2023, CO2 emissions fell by 19%, achieving a total reduction of 44% compared to 2018. The company not only focuses on the impact of its own activities (Scope 1 and 2), but also works intensively with suppliers and partners to reduce emissions in the value chain (Scope 3).
To reduce its environmental impact, VodafoneZiggo improved the efficiency of its network in 2023 and took several measures to reduce CO2 emissions from employees, such as offering train tickets and deploying electric vehicles for use by technicians. Moreover, VodafoneZiggo is supporting business customers in becoming more sustainable by promoting hybrid working, further digitisation and smart (cloud-based) solutions. In addition, VodafoneZiggo is reducing customers' energy consumption with energy-efficient products, such as the new Mediabox Next Mini, which uses four times less power than its predecessor.
Financial results
On 16 February, VodafoneZiggo published its financial results, which showed that all financial targets for 2023 were met. Total turnover for the year was over €4.1 billion, an increase of 1.2% compared to 2022. Operating income for the whole of 2023 was €1.8 billion, down €91 million from the previous year. This was mainly due to higher energy and salary costs. The year ended with a strong fourth quarter, in which revenue grew 4.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. This marked the strongest single-quarter growth in revenue since the start of the joint venture in 2017.
The full Integrated Annual Report 2023 is available online.
Digital accessibility
VodafoneZiggo aims to make its products and services user-friendly for everyone, regardless of their skills. Steps have also been taken for the Integrated Annual Report to promote accessibility, such as optimising contrast ratios, which improves perceivability.