The Planning, Administration, Finance and Control Manager responds to key questions
Has the economic crisis influenced the operations of the company?
The key event of 2009 was the acquisition of Italgas and Stogit, which made Snam Rete Gas a leading operator at European level. The integration with those two companies, beginning in the second half of the year, has enabled us to reach an operating profit that has grown by 25% and a net profit that has increased by 38% over 2008. In a general context of contracting energy demand, our limited exposure to the economic situation as a result of the structure of regulation has allowed us to mitigate the economic impact of the crisis, with a small reduction, of around 2%, in the operating margin of the transmission activity.
What were the reasons for acquiring Italgas and Stogit?
With this operation we have created a single group that operates in the regulated gas activities in Italy. We are the biggest group in continental Europe in terms of capital invested for regulatory purposes (RAB) and with a limited business risk profile. We will be able to increase the creation of value through the development of infrastructures, the sharing of know-how, the improvement of efficiency and the implementation of industrial economies of scope and scale. And we are also taking account of sharing the cultural values deriving from the common membership of Eni.
Will the financial structure be modified?
Our objective is to maintain the current asset structure and financial flexibility in the medium to long term.
How has the market reacted?
The market has appreciated the industrial and strategic reasons for the operation, which is geared towards sustaining the company’s growth. All this represents a tangible and significant opportunity for the creation of value for our shareholders.
How did the increase in capital come about?
The increase in share capital, which was implemented via the issue of shares offered as an option to Snam Rete Gas shareholders based on the number of shares owned, saw the exercising of 1,756,673,448 stock options in the option offer period, which began on 27 April 2009 and concluded on 15 May 2009. Overall 1,610,283,994 new-issue ordinary Snam Rete Gas shares were subscribed, or 99.75% of the 1,614,292,394 shares offered. The non-exercised option rights, numbering 4,372,800 rights, which were valid for subscribing 4,008,400 new ordinary shares, were offered by Snam Rete Gas on the stock exchange from 21 to 27 May 2009. All the rights have been exercised. Overall therefore 1,614,292,394 new-issue ordinary shares were subscribed, or 100% of the shares offered.
What guidelines is Snam Rete Gas assuming with the market after the merging of Italgas and Stogit?
The merging with Stogit and Italgas enables Snam Rete Gas to confirm a solid and significant investment plan, of around € 64 billion (net of expected contributions) in consolidated terms in the 2010-2013 four-year period, geared towards developing the gas system in Italy and sustaining and increasing the company’s opportunities for growth in the medium and long term.
More in depth, what are the plans for transmission and regasification areas?
In these sectors we want to meet the requirements associated with development and gas demand in the medium to long term and increase the flexibility and safety of the transmission system in Italy, improving at the same time the quality of the transmission service without leaving out our contribute to the creation of a European gas hub.
It is expected that the planned measures will enable the company to increase, in the period under consideration, the number of kilometres in the national transmission network (31,531 kilometres in 2009) by around 4% and, in 2013, to increase the installed power in the compressor stations by around 21% over 2009 levels (857 MW in 2009).
And what’s about the distribution area?
We want to optimise the portfolio of concessions in order to maximise its profitability and to work on improving the quality of the gas distribution service.
The planned measures will enable the company to continue sustaining the development of the business with an estimated light growth in the number of users in 2013 of around 8% compared to 2009 (5.8 million users in 2009).
There is still the storage area…
For the storage area we are going to work on improving the overall safety and flexibility of the storage system, through increasing the modulation service capacity and managing the peak capacity, and on optimising the balancing and favouring the liquidity of the gas system in Italy. It is expected that the projects specified in the plan will bring an increase in the modulation capacity of around 35% in the period under consideration (8.9 billion standard cubic metres in 2009) and an increase, in the four-year period, of around 13% of the peak capacity (270 million standard cubic metres in 2009).
