• (1) Dividend proposed by the Board of Directors on March 11, 2009, equal to €0.49 per share (of which €0.20 paid as an interim dividend in November 2008).
• (2) Calculated on Group net income.
• (3) Calculated on average share price in December.

Over the course of 2008 the financial markets continued to decline, registering lows in September and October in conjunction with the collapse of a number of international financial institutions.

The acute phase of the crisis began in September, as its effects spread from the banking and financial world to the real economy. In response to these developments, the world economy experienced a steep decline in confidence and weak sales, which together with the Enel –Annual Report 2008 – Report on operations 30 increasingly difficulty of accessing credit, prompted firms to cut orders, thereby triggering a sharp contraction in economic activity and the labor market.

In order to cope with the crisis, national governments prepared rescue plans and corrective measures to mitigate the impact on the real economy, increasing spending and investment and intervening in those industries hit the hardest by the crisis or sectors of strategic importance, with the intention of supporting employment and bolstering the social safety net.

In this environment, the Federal Reserve pursued an expansionary monetary policy stance, reducing interest rates in a series of steps by a total of 4 percentage points, from 4.25% to a target range of 0.25%. The European Central Bank followed suit, lowering rates from 4.0% to 2.50% over the course of 2008, with two additional reductions in early 2009 lowering the rate to 1.5%.

In the light of the pronounced weakness of the financial sector and the steep fall in economic activity in recent months, world stock markets have plunged, with the decline accompanied by considerable volatility. In these conditions, the main European markets closed the year with losses and continued to fall in the first few months of 2009: the CAC (France) has lost some 55% since the start of 2008, the FTSE100 (United Kingdom) about 45%, the DAX (Germany) about 54% and the IBEX (Spain) 55%. In the same period, indices in the Italian market posted some of the worst results in Europe, with the S&P MIB falling by 67% and Mibtel by about 64%.

The deterioration in the international economic situation and the uncertainty in the financial markets also impacted the utilities sector, whose decline was linked above all to the sharp worsening of conditions in the commodities market and energy prices, as well as the general perception of the increased risk level of equity markets. The benchmark utilities indices, the FTSE Electricity index and the Bloomberg World Electricity index, have dropped by 52% since January 2008.

Enel stock closed 2008 at €4.5225, declining in line with European markets discussed above. In the first few months of 2009, the stock was more greatly influenced by the slump in the Italian stock market. Average daily trading volume on the electronic stock market was 47.8 million shares in 2008, up about 3.7% compared with the 46.1 million registered in 2007. On November 27, 2008, Enel paid an interim dividend on 2008 profits of €0.20 per share, which together with the dividend paid on June 26 brought total dividends paid during the year to €0.49 per share.

At December 31, 2008, the Ministry for the Economy and Finance held 21.1% of Enel, while Cassa Depositi e Prestiti held 10.1%, institutional investors 33.7% and private investors the remaining 35.1%.

• financial data, presentations, on-line updates on the share price;
• information on corporate bodies and the regulations of shareholders’ meetings;
• periodic updates on corporate governance issues.

We have also created contact centers for private investors (which can be reached by phone at +39 (06) 8305 4000 or by e-mail at azionisti.retail@enel.it) and for institutional investors (phone: +39 (06) 8305 7975, e-mail: investor.relations@enel.it).

Performance of Enel share price and the MIB 30, S&P MIB and FTSE Electricity E300 indices

(daily trading volume/listed price) – January 2008 to March 9, 2009