16 Shareholders’ equity

Shareholders’ equity of €6,953 million (€7,172 million at 31 December 2014) breaks down as follows:

Below is a breakdown of the shareholders’ equity of Snam at 30 June 2015.

Share capital

The share capital as at 30 June 2015 consisted of 3,500,638,294 shares without nominal value (unchanged from 31 December 2014), with a total value of €3,696,851,994 (unchanged from 31 December 2014).

Legal reserve

The legal reserve at 30 June 2015 totalled €739 million (€714 million at 31 December 2014). The increase of €25 million relates to the reclassification, from the share premium reserve, of the amount necessary to reach the limit provided for by Article 2430 of the Italian Civil Code approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting of 29 April 2015.

Share premium reserve

The share premium reserve at 30 June 2015 totalled €1,603 million (€1,700 million at 31 December 2014). The reduction of €97 million relates to the reclassification to the legal reserve (€25 million) approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting of 29 April 2015 and to the use of part of the reserve for the payment to shareholders of the 2014 dividend (€72 million).

Consolidation reserve

The negative consolidation reserve of €1,701 million (unchanged from 31 December 2014) relates to the value derived from the difference between the acquisition cost of the Italgas and Stogit equity investments (€4,628 million, including the additional transaction expenses and price adjustment following the agreements reached at transaction closing) and the relative shareholders’ equity attributable to the group on the transaction completion date (€2,004 million and €923 million, respectively, for Italgas and Stogit).

Cash flow hedge reserve

The cash flow hedge reserve (-€3 million, unchanged compared with 31 December 2014) includes the fair-value measurement of cash flow hedging derivatives relating to a CCS described in Note 13 “Other current and non-current liabilities”.

Other reserves

Other reserves (€42 million; -€1 million at 31 December 2014) relate to the effects of the valuation of the equity investments using the equity method.

Retained earnings

Retained earnings totalled €1,987 million (€1,592 million at 31 December 2014). The change of €395 million was due to the balance between: (i) the portion allocated to the payment to shareholders of the 2014 dividend (-€333 million); and (ii) the allocation of the residual profit for 2014 (+€728 million).

Reserve for remeasurement of defined-benefit plans – IAS 19

The reserve for remeasurement of employee benefit plans at 30 June 2015 (-€19 million; -€20 million at 31 December 2014) includes the actuarial losses, net of tax effect, recorded under other components of comprehensive income, pursuant to the provisions of IAS 19.

Treasury shares

At 30 June 2015, the total number of treasury shares held by the company was 1,127,250 (the same as at 31 December 2014), equal to 0.03% of the share capital. Their market value at 30 June 2015 was around €5 million¹³. At this date, all stock options had been exercised. There are therefore no remaining treasury shares committed to these plans.

Dividends

On 29 April 2015, the Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting of Snam S.p.A. resolved to distribute the 2014 ordinary dividend of €0.25 per share; the dividend (€875 million) was made available for payment as of 20 May 2015, with an ex-dividend date of 18 May 2015 and a record date of 19 May 2015.