Notes to the company financial statements
Notes to the company financial statements
General
These company financial statements and the consolidated financial statements jointly form the company’s financial statements in accordance with the articles of association. The financial information of the company is included in the consolidated financial statements.
The company financial statements comprise the company statement of financial position and the company statement of profit and loss; the notes to the company financial statements form an integral part of the company financial statements.
Basis for preparation
The company financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code. To determine the accounting policies for the measurement of assets and liabilities and the determination of the results of our company financial statements, we make use of the option offered in Section 2:362(8) of the Dutch Civil Code. This means that the accounting policies for the measurement of assets and liabilities and the determination of the results of the company financial statements are the same as for the consolidated financial statements prepared on the basis of EU-IFRS (‘combination 3’).
We have included information about the use of financial instruments and associated risks in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. The same applies to the notes to events after the balance sheet date, the notes to transactions with related parties, the notes to off-balance sheet obligations and the notes to the remuneration of members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board.
If no other policies are mentioned, we refer the reader to the policies described in the consolidated financial statements. To interpret these company financial statements correctly, the company financial statements ought to be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements. The accounting policies used for measuring assets and liabilities and determining the results have not changed compared to the previous financial year. The accounting policies used for presentation are also unchanged compared to the previous financial year, with the exception of the following items:
Other reserves and legal reserves
Due to an adjustment in the other reserves and legal reserves (including the remeasurement reserve), the comparative figures for 2022 in the company financial statements differ from the figures included in the 2022 company financial statements. For a portion of the retained earnings of some joint ventures we may not, officially, distribute a dividend without restrictions, because this requires the consent of the other shareholders, for example.
A legal reserve must be formed for the difference between the share in the retained earnings and direct movements in equity of the relevant participating interests on the one hand, and the amount of dividend to which we are entitled on the other. At the end of 2023, we formed a legal reserve for participating interests amounting to € 127 million, charged to other reserves. Furthermore, from 2023 we will present the cash flow hedge separately under remeasurement reserves instead of including it under other reserves. At year-end 2023, this reserve totalled € 6.7 million negative. For comparison purposes, we have also adjusted the comparative figures for 2022 to reflect these adjustments. At year-end 2022, the legal reserve for participating interests was € 114.3 million; the addition to the cash flow hedge reserve as part of the remeasurement reserve totalled € 5.6 million negative. The adjustment had no consequences for the total equity, net result or cash flows in either 2022 or 2023. Also in previous years there were no dividend payments that should not have been made.
Participating interests in group companies
Group companies are all entities over which we have direct or indirect control. Participating interests in group companies are recognised in the company financial statements at their net asset value, with goodwill being separately disclosed under intangible fixed assets, if any, by applying the accounting policies for the measurement of assets and liabilities and the determination of the results as set out in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. If and to the extent that we are unable to transfer results to our company without restriction, we add the results (or the relevant part of the results) to a legal reserve.
Share in result of participating interests
The share in the result of participating interests comprises our share in the results of these participating interests. Results from transactions in which assets and liabilities are transferred between us and our participating interests and between individual participating interests are eliminated where they cannot be regarded as realised.
Equity
General
We present equity instruments under equity. We deduct profits distributed to the holders of these instruments from equity.
Remeasurement reserve
Increases in the value of assets measured at current value are included in the remeasurement reserve, with the exception of financial instruments measured at current value: increases in the value of these assets are taken immediately to the result. Furthermore, we form a remeasurement reserve for these assets charged to other reserves if there are insufficiently frequent quoted market prices.
We form the remeasurement reserve for each individual asset, with the exception of changes in the value of the related positions, which we consider jointly, and it will never be more than the difference between the carrying amount based on historical cost and the carrying amount based on current value. We reduce the remeasurement reserve in line with the actual remeasurement (related to systematic depreciation of the asset). Any impairment of a particular asset aside from the systematic depreciation is also deducted from the remeasurement reserve.
If we dispose of an asset, any remeasurement reserve relating to that asset is released to the other reserves. When determining the remeasurement reserve, an amount for deferred tax liabilities, where applicable, is deducted, calculated at the current tax rate.
Legal reserve for participating interests
This reserve is equal to the share in the results (calculated based on our accounting policies) and direct movements in equity of the participating interests since initial measurement at net asset value, less profit distributions to which we have become entitled since initial measurement at net asset value, and less profit distributions we can carry out without restrictions. The legal reserve is determined on an individual basis.
Income taxes
N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and its wholly-owned Dutch group companies constitute a fiscal unity for corporate income tax. With the exception of the group companies Gasunie Transport Services B.V., Gasunie Assets B.V. and Maasvlakte Storage B.V., we do not allocate corporate income tax to group companies. Gasunie’s tax expense included in the company statement of profit and loss therefore relates to all the companies in the fiscal unity, with the exception of the portion of the tax expense allocated to the companies specified above. When determining the allocation of corporate income tax to Gasunie Transport Services, Gasunie Assets B.V. and Maasvlakte Storage B.V., we calculate the amount of the current and deferred taxes as if each of these group partners were ‘fiscally independent’, i.e. not deemed to be part of the fiscal unity.