A responsible organisation
07HISPASAT is committed to providing telecommunications services that generate added value, for customers and shareholders as well as the other interest groups with which it interacts: suppliers, employees and the community.
On this path towards business excellence, HISPASAT has included sustainability as a key element of its management, present in the business strategy and operations to favour the continuous improvement of the organisation in all aspects of its activity.
By doing so, HISPASAT is enhancing its ability to create value from sustainability and associated management plans, aimed both at promoting the social value provided by satellites and encouraging talent development and quality employment, as well as environmental protection.
Sustainability policy and strategy
For HISPASAT, sustainability is the ability to generate social and environmental well-being in the setting where it operates for all its stakeholders, whilst creating economic value and maintaining its leadership as a Spanish satellite operator.
Value creation through HISPASAT services in its coverage areas
Social development and support for improving communications. Reducing the digital divide and access to connectivity in areas with no connection.
Work in the area of emergencies and security to re-establish communications in disaster situations.
Mobility services: extending connectivity to moving vehicles (trains, boats, planes).
Social action in projects helping the community, related to the provision of services linked to satellite connection in educational, cultural and sports projects.
Sustainable management, focused on the different areas and people that our activity impacts, is an inseparable part of excellent management, fosters trust in HISPASAT and provides opportunities to achieve more and better levels of competitiveness.
Since 2015 the company has had a Sustainability Policy aligned with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the ten principles of the Global Compact, which establishes commitments in three areas: responsible financial management and business ethics, respect for the environment and developing people and the community.
These three broad strategic areas are included in the HISPASAT 2015-2020 Sustainability Master Plan, which in turn translates into activities focused on the management of the main material issues and making progress along the path towards excellent sustainable management.
Responsible financial management and business ethics
Relevant issues
– Anti-corruption.
– Code of ethics and regulations by country.
– Transparency and accountability.
– Human Rights.
Tools
Developing a culture of integrity, ethical traceability and transparency.
Encouraging the implementation of good corporate governance practices.
Objetives
Ensuring efficient financial management that generates value for our shareholders and indirect wealth for the community.
Providing quality services in accordance with our customers’ requirements.
SDG
Respect for the environment
Relevant issues
– Consumption of resources.
– Climate change and emissions.
– Supplier evaluations.
– Positive social and environmental criteria.
Tools
Assessing and reducing the environmental impacts of our activities.
Improving the energy efficiency of our facilities.
Reducing the use of other resources and materials.
Promoting appropriate waste management.
Objetives
Contributing proactively to protecting the quality of the environment.
SDG
Developing people and the community
Relevant issues
– Supplier evaluations.
– Occupational health and safety.
– Employment.
– Professional development.
– Holding onto talent.
– Diversity and equal opportunities.
– Satisfaction with the service.
Tools
Encouraging personal and social progress in their environment and in society as a whole.
Objetives
Guaranteeing equal opportunities for all employees of the organisation.
Promoting family reconciliation.
Encouraging a safe working environment.
Assisting employees’ professional development.
Fostering the retention and development of talent in the company.
Guaranteeing respect for human rights in the value chain.
Consolidating our commitment to the community:
– Providing access to communications in rural areas, disaster action plans.
– Social action in areas where we can contribute added value:
• Education and culture.
• Promoting sport and health.
• Inclusion of people with disabilities.
SDG
Ethics, integrity and transparency
Ethics and compliance are key pillars for the proper operation of HISPASAT’s business activities. This means behaving with the utmost integrity when undertaking the obligations and commitments that the company is tasked with, as well as when relating to and working with its stakeholders.
HISPASAT has a set of corporate standards of conduct, which establish the values and guidelines for behaviour that must be assumed by all those who use it when performing their professional activities.
Ethics and Crime Prevention Committee
Supervises the efficacy of internal controls.
Made up of HISPASAT’s Director of Resources and Organisation and Director of Legal Advice and the Managing Director of HISPAMAR Satélites.
Functions included in the Internal Operating Regulations of the Ethics and Crime Prevention Committee.
Compliance Officer
Maximum responsibility with regard to Compliance matters.
Code of Ethics
Set of rules that govern the ethical behaviour of HISPASAT employees both internally and externally in their relationships with third parties.
Internal regulations concerning the Resolution of Queries and non-compliance.
Ethics Channel
Channel of communication between HISPASAT and its managers and employees, where they can ask questions and/or make suggestions or share possible instances of non-compliance.
Identifies all the activities of the organisation in which criminal acts could be committed.
Crime Risk Map
Crime Prevention Protocol passed by HISPASAT’s Board of Directors on 18 July 2018 ➔ controls to prevent or mitigate possible risks as much as possible.
During 2019 there were no queries or reports by employees through the Ethics Channel
The principles included in the HISPASAT Code of Ethics form the foundations on which all employees must base their decision-making. They are all responsible for contributing to compliance with their day-to-day behaviour. The goal is that all professionals, regardless of their position or responsibilities, have a better awareness of the implications, privileges and responsibilities that come with being part of one of the leading international satellite operators. Any company employee can report conduct that is either unlawful or fails to comply with the Code by means of the e-form available on the company Intranet.
HISPASAT’s Mission, Vision and Values provide the source of the main ethical principles of the Code of Ethics, which is used to guide staff in undertaking their activities in a responsible manner.
Values
Rigour and transparency
Teamwork
Honesty and integrity
Responsibility and initiative
Continuous improvement and innovation
Vision
To be leaders in satellite communications in America, Spain and Portugal. Develop a solid position in Europe from the East, Middle East and North Africa that ensures us a place among the top five companies of worldwide satellite communications.
To be a leader in providing innovative products and services that ensure our profitability and growth and enable us to respond to the challenges and current and future needs of our customers.
Mission
To connect people in any region and be recognised leaders in the provision of advanced communication services via satellite.
Maintain a permanent awareness of the obligation to satisfy our customers´ needs through quality, efficiency and reliability, creating value for our shareholders and interest groups, as well as for the promotion of territorial balance, societal integration and the development of our employees.
The Code distinguishes between internal and external conduct and deals with issues such as diversity and equal opportunities, conflicts of interest, honesty and trust, relations with different company stakeholders and the truthfulness of communications, among other matters. Every year employees are asked to renew their acceptance of the Code of Ethics.
Contracts with suppliers and customers include a clause relating to complying with the Code of Ethics.
HISPASAT’s basic ethical principles
Respect for the law
Business and professional activities must be undertaken with strict adherence to the law.
Integrity
Maintain faultless behaviour, aligned with rectitude and honesty, avoiding all forms of corruption.
Transparency
Share appropriate and faithful information with the management.
Responsibility
Assume responsibilities and act in accordance with them.
Professionalism
Maintain the highest professional standards.
Safety
Provide optimal working conditions in terms of health and safety, and communicate this priority throughout the organisation.
Objectivity
When judging, avoid the influence of prejudice, conflict of interest or undue interference.
Confidentiality
Respect the confidentiality of information.
Proactive in protecting the environment
As part of its general commitment to sustainability and excellence, HISPASAT is committed to protecting the environment and preserving nature. Among its strategic objectives, the company includes respect for and proactive contribution to defending the environment, as stated in the 2015-2020 Sustainability Master Plan.
· Energy and water use
· Office materials
· Waste
· Vehicle fleet and company trips
· Located 36,000 km from Earth, they use basically solar energy.
· End of their useful life: as established in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee recommendations for properly maintaining the geostationary orbit, they are sent to the “graveyard orbit”, located 300 km above that.
In recent years, HISPASAT has undertaken various activities aimed at reducing and mitigating its environmental impacts.
In 2017 the company drew up an inventory of greenhouse gases linked to the two HISPASAT work centres in the Madrid region (Spain). The corresponding reduction plan establishes actions in the area of energy efficiency – improvements in electricity consumption and optimisation of travel for business trips – and consumption of raw materials, especially paper.
Since 2018, the HISPASAT satellite control centre at Arganda del Rey (Madrid) has only used electricity from renewable sources or high-efficiency co-generation, accredited with the corresponding origin guarantee certificate.
In 2019 HISPASAT has continued to make progress here, for example by approving the installation of a photovoltaic plant at its satellite control centre at Arganda del Rey (Madrid). With an installed potential of around 782,000 kW, it is estimated that this plant will be operational in 2020, and we are forecasting that it will contribute 26% of the energy required for the centre to function, representing a total saving over its useful life of €1.5 million. This is an economic impact that complements the environmental benefit derived from the reduction in emissions associated with the electricity consumption necessary for the company’s activities.
The company is also still working on renewing its fleet of vehicles, with the aim of reducing emissions, at the end of the year, of a fleet of 30 renting vehicles, 11 are already hybrid / electric. Also and promoting the involvement of employees in reducing paper use and correctly managing the waste that they generate. Among the awareness-raising actions carried out, it is worth mentioning the company’s participation for the fourth consecutive year in the “Earth Hour” initiative, promoted by WWF, switching off the lights in the Madrid facility.
2019 environmental indicators
| 2018 | 2019 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper consumption (t) | 2,11 | 1,47 | 3,58 |
| Recycled paper consumption (t) | 0,59 | 0,26 | 0,85 |
| Electricity kw/h | 3.313.079 | 3.293.069 | 6.606.148 |
| Arganda | 3.036.661 | 3.008.010 | 6.044.671 |
| Tres Cantos | 276.418 | 285.059 | 561.477 |
| Consumption of liquid fuel (liters) | 93.658,03 | 98.290,94 | 191.948,97 |
| Diesel | 65.029 | 71.397 | 136.426 |
| Fleet vehicles | 28.629 | 26.894 | 55.523 |
| Water (m3) | 3.033,00 | 2.799,00 | 5.832 |
| Canal | 1.033,00 | 799,00 | 1.832 |
| Pozo | 2.000,00 | 2.000 | 4.000 |
| Hazardous waste generated (t) | 00 | 2.260,00 | 2.260 |
| Non-hazardous waste generated (t) | 860 | 180,00 | 1.040 |
Targeting people’s progression
People are one of the main cornerstones of our Sustainability Policy. Externally, we are contributing to the sustainable development of the communities where we live and work through the creation of direct and indirect employment and wealth generation, redistributed through our tax contributions and complemented with initiatives for social action. Internally, we are working to provide an optimal working environment in which HISPASAT staff can develop their potential to the full.
Quality stable employment
On a daily basis, the people who work at HISPASAT make an effort to enhance the company’s excellence.
Incorporating, promoting and maintaining talent within the organisation, promoting the personal and professional growth of all the people who make up HISPASAT’s staff, making them participants in the business project that we are developing, is essential to enhance commitment and consolidate HISPASAT’s leadership in its sector.
How we manage talent
Selecting, training and developing the best professionals.
Involving all professionals with the values and culture of the organisation.
Developing talent management initiatives in line with business objectives.
Designing a value offering for employees throughout their whole working life in the organisation.
Fostering long-term commitment and pride in belonging.
Our principles of action
An appropriate labour relations framework able to adapt the organisation to business and social needs, promoting the goals of competitiveness and efficiency in business.
Labour relations based on harmony and cooperation between HISPASAT, its employees and the unions.
Equal opportunities.
Non discrimination.
Respect for diversity.
Reconciliation of personal and work life, respecting the legislation in force in each country and following best practice internationally.
A remuneration model that is capable of attracting and retaining the best professionals.
Assessing the contribution of all professionals to the creation of value at HISPASAT.
A value offering that favours the selection, recruitment and retention of talent.
This approach to understanding people management is reflected in specific figures:
professionals in 2019
194% indefinite contracts
100Men: 128 (66%)
Women: 66 (34%)
30 to 50 years old: 116 (60%)
over 50 years old: 51 (26%)
under 30 years old: 27 (14%)
Technicians: 147 (76%)
Management team: 30 (15%)
Support staff: 17 (9%)
Details of staff per country where the company is present as of the end of 2019
Spain
Men
- Management team
- Technicians
- Support staff
- Total
Women
- Management team
- Technicians
- Support staff
- Total
Brazil, Argentina, Colombia y United States
Men
- Management team
- Technicians
- Support staff
- Total
Women
- Management team
- Technicians
- Support staff
- Total
In order to attract, motivate and retain staff that are ready to tackle the challenges that the company is facing, HISPASAT has a remuneration system based on the following principles:
Promoting a remuneration system based on the principles of balance and positioning in line with the market, which recognises the skills, responsibilities, merit and performance of employees.
Salary equity for comparable positions.
Competitive base salaries that comply with current legislation.
Defining variable remuneration linked to short and long-term incentives that promote the achievement of business results and objectives.
The HISPASAT job map includes aspects like functional knowledge, business knowledge, leadership and the impact areas of each role.
Remunerations paid in 2019
Management team average (€)
- Women
- Men
Technicians average (€)
- Women
- Men
Support staff average (€)
- Women
- Men
Training and development focused on talent
The constant strengthening of the company’s intellectual capital, its ability to add value to the market, is essential to sustain leadership in a cutting-edge technology sector.
Recruiting talent
The selection and hiring process is key for involving the people who join HISPASAT in the values and culture of the organisation, ensuring that they are able to contribute to the success of the business. Thus, activities in this field strive for:
• The efficacy of selection processes for its people, ensuring that they are professional and high quality.
• Assessing and choosing candidates according to the profiles needed using strict criteria of merit and skill, guaranteeing transparency and equal treatment for all candidates.
• Presenting candidates with a competitive value offering that promotes the selection and hiring of the very best professionals.
• Describing and valuing jobs within the organisation in a coherent and objective way.
• Committing to the specialisation of profiles depending on the reality of the business.
• Encouraging the horizontal and vertical movement of professionals to cover internal vacancies in their own or other business areas.
In this area HISPATALENT, an initiative aimed at the selection and integration of young talents in HISPASAT, stands out. This is developed from agreements signed between the company and various Spanish universities. It allows participants to combine studies and a job during the first year, and later opt for an internship with the company.
Training
The 2017-2019 HISPASAT Training Plan is aimed at all staff and encompasses matters that are in line with the business strategy and with the company’s various action plans, among other matters. In 2019 a new platform for the integral management of employee training was launched, and this facilitates the management of training needs, the creation of new knowledge associated with training needs, and awareness-raising activities, among other issues.
Over
10.960
hours of training in 2019
Over
80
courses
More than
€ 123.000
invested in training
Training hours by professional category and gender
2018
- Women
- Men
2019
- Women
- Men
HISPASAT also has objective systems for performance evaluation, career plans and individualised professional development. In 2019, 100% of employees received evaluations of their professional performance.
Digital transformation
In 2019, HISPASAT put in place the company Digital Transformation Strategy, initially applicable for the 2019-2021 period, which revolves around the following aspects:
People
Provide HISPASAT professionals with the necessary training and technical skills to allow them to use technology productively.
Organisation
Compete better in the current context, able to respond in an agile, appropriate and automated way to the changing needs of the environment.
Itinerary
A clear and open itinerary able to tackle the changes that may arise during the implementation process.
Opportunities
Collaborative environments that facilitate the identification of opportunities and the development of innovative projects and competitive advantages.
Throughout 2019 the first initiatives in the framework of this initiative have been implemented, and the following are noteworthy:
• Improving the digital skills of HISPASAT professionals and developing their digital maturity.
• Raising awareness among employees about points of interest within the digital transformation realm through experience days within what is known as the New HISPASAT Space. All company professionals can voluntarily attend these days.
• Systematising project management methodologies and implementing Agile methodologies based on SCRUM, which will apply to all projects that the company considers to be “adaptive”, i.e. that have a changing scope and objectives where it is hard to determine the requirements in advance.
• Seeking better efficiency in existing processes and procedures by revising them, defining and putting into place RPAs (Robotic Process Automation) and other initiatives that contribute to significantly improving them.
• Digitalising points of contact (JIRA, ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning) and making progress towards having platforms and tools that work in cloud-based settings.
• Analysing business opportunities from Big Data & Analytics or from other more or less disruptive uses of capabilities, and turning them into valuable use cases for the organisation.
In addition, new tools and applications have been brought in, and a new platform to fully automate and professionalise the early stages of the selection process for professionals has been implemented, with the resulting simplification of the activities of identifying, attracting and evaluating candidates. The new platform allows for:
• The agile and coordinated management of vacancies and open selection processes within HISPASAT, independently of the volume of candidates who sign up for them.
• Launching campaigns to attract people on social media and pulling in candidates to the open selection processes that are built around the employer brand, promoted by HISPASAT on the channels and social media where the company has an active presence.
• Objectifying and immediately eliminating the biases that may arise in the early stages of these processes, facilitating the handling of candidates based on the principles of blind CVs, which have been in place at HISPASAT for several years.
• Incorporating filtering forms and tests into the process to assess candidates’ knowledge and skills, helping the organisation to identify the best talent.
Diverse talent that enriches us
At HISPASAT we have an open, inclusive and collaborative work culture, based on merit, where people are encouraged to do their best. At all of its workplaces, HISPASAT respects the applicable legislation and promotes equal opportunities, non-discrimination at work, a culture of diversity and respect for human rights in the workplace. This means:
• Respecting diversity, promoting among its staff non-discrimination for reasons of race, colour, age, gender, marital status, ideology, political opinions, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or any other personal, physical or social characteristics.
• Upholding a commitment to achieving a working environment that is fair and inclusive, where the contribution of every employee is valued and where there is an understanding that a diverse workforce, made up of people who contribute different experience, ideas and opinions, makes us a stronger organisation.
• Offering our employees fair and equal opportunities in hiring, training and development, remuneration and promotions.
• Adopting conciliatory measures that promote respect for the personal and family life of its professionals and facilitate the best balance between this and their responsibilities at work.
In this context, and with the aim of promoting equal opportunities when hiring new members of staff, since 2016 HISPASAT has carried out its selection processes using blind CVs, which do not include the name or personal details of candidates, but only their training and professional merits, in order to avoid gender bias or any other kind of discrimination.
Also, externally, HISPASAT has been actively involved in promoting a greater presence of women in the space sector and in the technical degrees that the industry requires its professionals to study. We already have an above-average representation of women for the sector and, to continue making progress, we carry out different activities:
ENCOURAGING TECHNICAL VOCATIONS FOR WOMEN
Female engineers and technicians from HISPASAT participate in specific workshops with girls and young women in order to serve as an inspiration and stimulus for the attendees so that they focus on these technical careers.
HISPASAT “FEMALE ENGINEER” SCHOLARSHIP
Since 2017 the company has offered this scholarship every year to aid a female student with an excellent academic record to study a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering or Telecommunications related to the aerospace industry.
AGREEMENTS
With the Ministry of Equality, to extend the implementation of the anonymous CV model when hiring staff.
With the Institute of Women to work together on a plan to include female scholarship recipients in technology companies.
At the same time, HISPASAT has three people with disabilities on its staff, and they are perfectly integrated into the ordinary activities of the company. In a complementary way, the company promotes alternative measures linked, fundamentally, to donations or sponsorships in favour of associations or foundations that contribute to society. This is the case, for example, with HISPASAT’s sponsorship of the Fundación Estudiantes (Student Foundation) for young wheelchair basketball players.
A safe and healthy working environment
Health and safety at work is one of HISPASAT’s priorities. The company has a management system aligned with the main standards in this area, certified according to ISO 45001, which brings together the following aspects:
• The inclusion of health and safety at work criteria in all organisational phases and processes and in all decisions, in such a way that the management team and other employees have to assume their responsibilities in this matter.
• Effectively identifying, assessing and controlling work-related risks.
• Adapting job roles to employees by monitoring health and training workers.
• Mechanisms for evaluating occupational health and safety matters in accordance with established standards able to identify possible deviations, exchanging best practices and establishing a general culture of excellence in the prevention of occupational health and safety risks.
• Encouraging the participation of all employees in promoting health and safety, working together to increase safety standards in the organisation.
• Monitoring the health of employees in relation to the risks that exist in their role.
• Improving employee well-being by promoting healthy behaviour.
• Insisting that suppliers and collaborators respect HISPASAT’s rules on safety, making them stakeholders in the preventive culture ingrained in the organisation.
In order to ensure proper risk management, periodic reviews are carried out. For each job that will be evaluated as mentioned, HISPASAT has risk assessment sheets, which include both the identification of those unavoidable risks derived from their activities, and an estimate of their magnitude and a description of their root causes.
In 2019, using the available training tools, 208 hours of health and safety training were given.
HISPASAT constantly carries out preventive monitoring of the health of its workers via an external medical service, responsible for examinations to monitor their health. Thanks to the preventive measures applied, in 2019 there were no incidents or risks of specific illnesses linked to professional activities or related to the work undertaken. No accidents at work were recorded in 2019.
The HISPASAT Occupational Health and Safety Committee, in accordance with the provisions of the relevant labour legislation, is a participation body that carries out regular and periodic consultations on health and safety, competent in all matters related to the company’s prevention policy and, specifically, in matters such as:
• The preparation, implementation and evaluation of risk prevention plans and programmes in the company.
• The promotion of initiatives on methods and procedures for effective risk prevention, as well as making proposals to the company to improve conditions or correct existing deficiencies.
The Committee is made up of two representatives put forward by the company and three prevention delegates chosen from among the workers’ representatives. It meets quarterly, although meetings can be called whenever one of the members requests one. The Committee held four meetings in 2019.
In the same vein, the company has continued to work on actions aimed at increasing employee well-being, which seek to boost creativity, concentration and resistance to stress, thanks to the implementation of positive preventive habits.
As an approach to this concern, the company has set up different initiatives geared towards promoting and incorporating healthy habits into their lifestyles to improve their well-being by working on six main principles, such as healthy food —having healthy menu options available on a daily basis at both work centres—, physical activity, stress management and well-being. This year we can highlight the following initiatives:
Managing sporting challenges
Managing healthy meal options
Fruit delivery day every week in the offices
Making a purchasing platform for health and wellness products available to employees (Zinkcare)
Campaigns to motivate people to carry out sporting and social activities
Procurement of products such as Gympass for everyone to be active in gyms
Consolidating commitment
By offering workers social benefits beyond what is legally required, we contribute to facilitating co-responsibility and reconciling work and personal life, as well as improving their quality of life. By doing so, we strengthen their commitment to the company and we boost motivation, which is key for operational excellence.
The Flexibility Policy seeks to adapt working conditions to the personal needs of employees, to achieve a better work-life balance, whenever possible and at the same time compatible with the needs of service and attention to the business.
Basic principles of the Flexibility Policy
Responsibility
Personalisation
Voluntary
Subordination
Coordination
Reversibility
Accessibility
As a result of the first Organisational Climate survey conducted in 2015, a start was made on applying different measures to promote flexibility in terms of working hours, to allow all employees a better balance. These reconciliation measures apply equally to all staff, irrespective of the type of contract they are on. In 2019 the group had 35 measures in place.
Main conciliation measures
Smart days, on which employees can work from a different location rather than their usual workplace.
Flexible hours.
Shorter working day for employees who need time to look after family members.
Days available to handle personal matters.
Free days at Easter and Christmas to share time with family.
In 2019 HISPASAT began the project to become certified as a Family-friendly Company (EFR), which we expect to complete during 2020.
In addition, among the various social benefits offered, it is worth mentioning the flexible remuneration system, which offers options for paying for childcare, savings or health, among other products; health insurance for employees and families, help with food or transportation, and life and orphan insurance.
From the conclusions of the Climate Survey completed in 2018, various actions were designed that continued to be implemented in 2019. The main ones were:
Developing, communicating and rolling out our own methodology for project management within HISPASAT
Efficiency in project management.
• Definition and implementation of transversal, autonomous and independent teams for each of the projects chosen to be implemented throughout the year.
• Identifying project leads and enhancing their role: skills, autonomy and independence in management.
• Specific project management training.
Improving the effectiveness of meetings and use of e-mail
• Short meetings: two collaboration spaces for standing meetings + monitoring of dedication.
• Best practice guide for e-mail.
Reviewing Brazilian employees’ salaries
• Evaluating the external competitiveness of those professionals and formulating strategies for salary reviews in the coming financial years.
Internal review of the social benefits
Applied to company professionals, in line with the remuneration practices of the various countries where the company has a presence
Approximating the social benefits of HISPASAT employees, always within the local frame of reference.
Labour relations
HISPASAT guarantees the free exercise of union, association and related rights, within the framework of current labour regulations and the collective agreement applicable to professionals. HISPASAT employees in Spain, except for the management team, are covered by the Madrid Community Collective Office Agreement and the Las Palmas Province Collective Office Agreement.
HISPASAT has a Company Committee, which meets regularly with company representatives, as well as an Occupational Health and Safety Committee, in accordance with the applicable legislation. This Committee is made up of two representatives put forward by the company and three prevention delegates chosen from among the workers’ representatives. Meetings are held quarterly (as per Law 31/95 for the Prevention of Occupational Risk), but can also be held whenever one of the parties requests a meeting. The Committee held four meetings in 2019, achieving its objectives.
In terms of internal communications, there are different channels and communication flows along informal and formal routes, such as the suggestions box and the box related to the Code of Ethics. The company also has an Intranet, which is regularly updated, and Yammer, a social media tool to connect and interact openly throughout the organisation.
Corporate governance
The company has in its capital the presence of the Spanish public sector (10.42%) (Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales -SEPI- and Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico e Industrial -CDTI-) and Red Eléctrica Sistemas de Telecomunicaciones S.A.U. (Restel) (89.68%).
Restel’s entry into the shareholding of HISPASAT was formalized on October 3, 2019, the date on which the purchase and sale of the participation that until then Abertis held in the share capital of HISPASAT was raised to the public. Likewise, on that same date, a General Shareholders’ Meeting was held, in which it was agreed to modify the HISPASAT bylaws and the appointment of a new Board of Directors, with the incorporation of several Directors on Restel’s proposal. Following the Meeting, a Board of Directors was held in which Ms. Rosario Martínez Manzanedo was appointed as the new President, on the proposal of SEPI, and Mr. Miguel Ángel Panduro Panadero, as a new Chief Executive Officer, on the proposal of Restel. and the modification of the Council regulations was agreed.
The government and administration of HISPASAT are entrusted to the General Shareholders’ Meeting and the Board of Directors.
HISPASAT generally complies, even though it is not obliged to do so, with the recommendations on corporate governance applied in listed entities, and for this reason it also has three committees within the Board, of an advisory nature, with powers of information, advice and proposal to the Board of Directors on certain matters: the Audit Committee, the Appointments and Remuneration Committee and the Technical and Investment Committee.
The corporate governance agenda has been progressively implemented in HISPASAT in recent years, in order to provide society with a corporate governance structure that is as consistent as possible with the best practices in the market, having created a complete and robust system of corporate policies that support a global and effective operation of society, as well as internal control systems, highlighting the approval of numerous policies in the area of risk management, internal auditing, financial policy and guidelines on tax matters, and has been Strengthened the risk prevention model in terms of liability of legal persons.
In this regard, in 2019 the high activity of the Board and the HISPASAT committees is noteworthy, having dealt with recurrently all the matters that are their own. The General Shareholders’ Meeting is the supreme organ of the expression of the social will. In it, the shareholders adopt the agreements on those matters that the law and the bylaws determine. The Board is responsible for deliberating and agreeing on, among others, the following matters: appointment of administrators and auditors, approval of the annual accounts, modification of the bylaws, mergers, divisions and capital increases. In 2019, the General Shareholders’ Meeting has met three times.
The Board of Directors is made up of representatives of the companies, organizations and institutions present in the shareholding. It is the highest decision-making body and effectively assumes the powers of management, control and representation of the company, which are attributed to it in the Capital Companies Law and in the bylaws. Consequently, it is the responsibility of the Board to guide, approve and review the company’s strategy, business plans and budgets, establishing objectives in these matters and monitoring the execution and results obtained by the managers. Likewise, it is the responsibility of the Board to guide, approve and review the focus on risks, including the company’s strategy, policy and profile in this area. The Board meets at least quarterly, and as many times as it deems appropriate for the proper functioning of the company or when requested by a director. In 2019, the Board of Directors has met thirteen times.
As of December 31, 2019, the Board of Directors was made up of 13 members, 4 women and 9 men. The female presence on the HISPASAT Board of Directors represents 30.8%, slightly exceeding the target recommended in the Good Governance Code for listed companies by 2020.
The Directors are chosen based on suitability criteria, and are renewed every 5 years.
For their work on the Board, the Directors receive a remuneration that in 2019 has amounted, jointly, to a total of 286,534.56 euros.
The composition of the Board of Directors is as follows.
PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD: ROSARIO MARTÍNEZ MANZANEDO
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: MIGUEL ÁNGEL PANDURO PANADERO
MEMBERS:
JORDI SEVILLA SEGURA
ROBERTO GARCÍA MERINO
CONSTANTINO MÉNDEZ MARTÍNEZ
MRS. CARMEN GÓMEZ DE BARREDA TOUS DE MONSALVE
ÁNGEL MAHOU FERNÁNDEZ
MRS. MARÍA TERESA QUIRÓS ALVAREZ
MRS. SILVIA BRUNO DE LA CRUZ
FRANCISCO JAVIER LORIENTE SAINZ
JUAN CARLOS CORTÉS PULIDO
LORENZO AVELLO LÓPEZ
SANTIAGO BOLIBAR PIÑEIRO
Finally, the Committees of the Board of Directors have the following functions:
• Audit committee: reviews the company’s accounts, proposes the appointment of the auditor and reviews the internal control and risk management systems.
• Appointments and remuneration committee: evaluates the performance of senior managers and periodically reviews their remuneration systems, and submits to the Board proposals for the appointment and removal of senior managers.
• Technical and investment commission: carries out a technical, technological and investment analysis of the different alternatives and solutions present in the market for satellites, launchers and other components that make up satellite systems, and analyzes the possibilities and alternatives for investments and of industrial returns for the Spanish industry.
Group structure
The main activity of the HISPASAT Group is leasing space capacity and providing managed broadband services by operating and commercially developing its satellite fleet in orbit and the associated land segment. These activities are carried out through the Group’s parent company, HISPASAT, S.A., which operates and markets Group satellites that are not located in Brazilian orbital positions and that represent 40.0% of the consolidated turnover and 51.9% of the total shares of the Group and through the following companies: HISPASAT Canarias, S.L., single-member company, HISPAMAR Satélites, S.A., HISPAMAR Exterior, S.L., single-member company, and HISPASAT de México, S.A. de C.V., which together operate and market the satellites located in Brazilian ownership orbital positions and represent the remaining 60.0% of the turnover and 48.1% of the total shares of the Group
The Group has a presence in five countries: Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, and it serves clients from over 26 countries.