BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 31
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Technical investments by Snam, Italian shareholder of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in the first half of 2020 totalled 457 million euros (408 million euros in the first half of 2019), up by 49 million euros or 12 percent more than in the same period last year, despite the slowdown due to COVID-19, Trend reports citing Snam.
The investments related mainly to the transportation (388 million euros; 340 million euros in the first half of 2019) and storage (43 million euros; 60 million euros in the first half of 2019) business segments. On the basis of the information available to date, it is expected that by the end of the year there will be a substantial recovery of delays in relation to the investments planned for 2020.
Net financial expenses amounted to 67 million euros, down 18 million euros, or 21.2 percent, compared with the first half of 2019, mainly due to measures taken to optimise the financial structure and treasury management and the pro-rata contribution from the OLT Shareholder Loan, despite the higher average debt for the period, mainly influenced by the outlay for the acquisition of the jointly controlled interest in OLT, the share buyback as well as the absorption of working capital of the period.
Net cash flow from operations (749 million euros) allowed the company to cover entirely the net technical investments for the period (net of debts for investments) of 457 million euros. Including the disbursement related to the acquisition of the jointly controlled interest in OLT (334 million euros, including ancillary charges for the acquisition of the investment; 316 million euros net of redemptions for the period), Free Cash Flow was negative by 83 million euros. Net financial debt at 30 June 2020 amounted to 12,888 million euros, an increase of 965 million euros compared with 31 December 2019, largely due to the payment of the 2019 dividend to shareholders and the purchase of treasury shares (881 million euros in total).
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