The consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (hereinafter “IFRS” or “international accounting standards”) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and adopted by the European Commission pursuant to Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 and to Article 9 of Legislative Decree 38/2005.
The consolidated financial statements are prepared under the going-concern assumption using the historical cost method, taking into account value adjustments where necessary, except the items which, according to IFRS, must be measured at fair value, as described in the measurement criteria.
The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of Snam S.p.A. and of companies over which the Company has the right to exercise direct or indirect control from the date of acquisition until the date when such control is relinquished, determine financial and operational decisions, and obtain the benefits thereof.
The exclusion from the scope of consolidation of some subsidiaries, which are insignificant both individually and collectively, has not had any material2 effect for the purposes of accurately representing the financial position, results and cash flows of the Group. These investee companies are valued according to the criteria indicated in the section “Equity investments”.
Consolidated companies, non-consolidated subsidiaries, companies under joint control, associates and other significant equity investments, reporting for which is covered by Article 126 of Consob Resolution 11971 of 14 May 1999, as subsequently amended, are indicated separately in the annex “Significant shareholdings, associates and equity investments of Snam at 31 December 2012”, which is an integral part of these notes. The same annex also reports the change in the scope of consolidation which took place during the year.
The financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012, which were approved by the Snam Board of Directors on 27 February 2013, have been audited by the Independent Auditors Reconta Ernst & Young S.p.A. As the main auditor, Reconta Ernst & Young is fully responsible for auditing the Group’s consolidated financial statements; in the rare cases where other auditors are involved, Reconta Ernst & Young is liable for their work.
Given their size, amounts in the financial statements and respective notes are expressed in millions of euros.
2 The IFRS Framework states: “Information is material if its omission or misstatement could influence the economic decision of users taken on the basis of the financial statements”.
