Analysis of income statement items

Income from equity investments (€875 million) consist of: (i) dividends (€853 million) distributed by the subsidiaries Snam Rete Gas S.p.A. (€425 million), Italgas S.p.A. (€213 million) and Stogit S.p.A. (€112 million), as well as companies under joint control Trans Austria Gasleitung GmbH (€77 million), TIGF Holding S.A.S. (€15 million), Gasbridge 1 B.V. and Gasbridge 2 B.V. (€11 million)³⁹; and (ii) income from the subscription of a bond convertible into shares issued by TIGF Investissements S.A.S. (€22 million). The increase of €339 million compared with 2014 is due to the higher dividends distributed by investee companies.

Interest income and other financial income (€355 million) essentially refers to interest income from the intragroup loans granted by Snam to subsidiaries.

Interest expense and other financial expense (€395 million) refers to the costs relating to short- and long-term financial debt, and concerns expenses on bonds⁴⁰ (€364 million) and on loans from banks and other financial institutions (€31 million). The decrease in interest expense and other financial expense (€40 million) was due mainly to a reduction in the average cost of borrowing, partly as a result of the measures implemented by Snam to improve the Group’s financial structure⁴¹.

Revenue from services rendered (€186 million) refers to the chargebacks to subsidiaries of the costs incurred to perform services managed centrally by Snam S.p.A. These services are governed by contracts concluded between the Parent Company and its subsidiaries in the following areas: ICT, personnel and organisation, planning, administration, finance and control, general services, property and security services, legal and corporate affairs and compliance, health, safety and environment, regulation, external relations and communication, internal audit and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). The pricing model for service contracts is based on the chargeback of costs incurred to provide the services on a full-cost basis.

Other income (€12 million) essentially refers to revenue from leasing and maintaining fibre-optic telecommunications cables for third parties.

Personnel cost amounted to €68 million, in line with the previous year.

The number of employees at 31 December 2015 (713 people) is broken down below by professional status:

Costs for non-financial services and other costs (€134 million) consist mainly of expenses for the provision of services that are charged back to subsidiaries.