Accounting policies

Accounting policies

Alliander N.V. is a public limited liability company, registered in Arnhem, the Netherlands. The 2015 financial statements were signed by the members of the Management Board and the members of the Supervisory Board on 22 February 2016. The Supervisory Board will submit the financial statements for adoption by the General Meeting of Shareholders on 7 April 2016.

The accounting policies are based on the assumption of a going concern. As permitted by Section 402, Part 9, Book 2, of the Netherlands Civil Code, the company income statement is presented in abridged form.

The Alliander group

Alliander N.V. is a public limited liability company, registered in Arnhem, the Netherlands. The principal activities of Alliander and its subsidiaries (also referred to here as ‘Alliander', ‘the Alliander group', ‘the group' or similar expressions) are the operation of electricity and gas networks covering roughly one third of the Netherlands and the provision of related services.

The subsidiaries Liander and Endinet own and manage the regional gas and electricity networks in the provinces of Gelderland, Friesland, Noord-Holland and parts of Zuid-Holland, Flevoland and Noord-Brabant. Under the Electricity Act 1998 and the Gas Act the management of the networks and regional distribution of energy are the exclusive responsibility of the network operator. Liandon provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of complex energy infrastructures. Alliander AG carries on network operation and public lighting activities in Germany. The subsidiary Stam is a medium-sized firm of contractors based in Noord-Holland, engaging in network construction and maintenance work. The activities of Alliander Telecom N.V. and the joint operation CDMA Utilities B.V. concern the group's data communications.

Through its subsidiaries, including Allego, Alliander Duurzame Gebiedsontwikkeling, Hoom, Smart Connections, Mpare, Smart Society Services and Energy Exchange Enablers set up in recent years, Alliander has taken the initiative in and is facilitating developments and activities aimed at creating a sustainable energy supply for the Netherlands. The increase in sustainable forms of electricity generation on a more decentralised level places demands on the power distribution infrastructure and represents a challenge for network companies. Alliander sees it as its responsibility, together with other market participants, to facilitate this greater sustainability at an acceptable cost to society.

Sale of Endinet and purchase of networks in Friesland/Noordoostpolder

On 24 March 2015, Alliander and Enexis signed heads of agreement on the exchange of regional energy networks. The agreement laid down the terms and conditions of the exchange, including the precise extent of the networks to be exchanged, the specific activities involved and important agreements on the procedure to be followed.

The contract (SPA) to acquire parts of the Enexis networks in Friesland and the Noordoostpolder (Activabedrijf Enexis Friesland B.V. – AEF B.V.) with effect from 1 January 2016 and simultaneously to sell to Enexis the networks in the geographical areas of Eindhoven and Zuidoost-Brabant (Endinet Groep B.V. ) was signed on 27 July. The transaction involved Alliander selling the shares of Endinet Groep B.V. to Enexis and buying the shares of AEF B.V. (networks in Friesland and the Noordoostpolder) from Enexis with an additional payment by Enexis of €365 million.

AEF has 51,000 electricity and 196,000 gas connections in Friesland and 28,000 electricity and 27,000 gas connections in the Noordoostpolder. The AEF networks lie at the heart of the area serviced by Liander and their acquisition will make for more efficient operations. The acquisition is also entirely in line with the strategy of having a single network operator for both electricity and gas in any one area or region.

Alliander acquired total control of AEF B.V. on 1 January 2016 and will be including the company in the Alliander consolidation with effect from that date. Enexis has had total control of Endinet Groep B.V. with effect from 1 January 2016 and Endinet Groep B.V. has ceased to be included in the Alliander consolidation with effect from that date.

For the financial statements as at 31 December 2015 this means that, in compliance with IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, the assets and liabilities of Endinet Groep B.V. have been classified in the balance sheet as assets and liabilities held for sale with effect from 24 March 2015 and Endinet’s net profit has been presented in the income statement as profit after tax from discontinued operations. Likewise, in compliance with the held-for-sale classification (IFRS 5), depreciation ceased to be recognised on the Endinet Groep assets carried on Alliander’s consolidated balance sheet with effect from 24 March 2015. All intercompany items between Alliander and Endinet were also eliminated prior to recognition of Endinet as ‘held for sale’ and ‘discontinued operations’. The discontinued-operations classification means that Endinet Groep’s net profit is presented with that description in the Alliander income statement. For comparison purposes, the same treatment has been applied to the figures for Alliander in 2014.

Since this is a transaction that took place on 1 January 2016 (an event after the balance sheet date) but one which predated the publication of the financial statements, the purchase of AEF B.V. and the sale of Endinet have been accounted for in the 2015 financial statements as events after the balance sheet date. The corresponding detailed disclosure required by IFRS 3 has been included in note [36]. The two transactions do not have any effect on the 2015 figures but will be accounted for in the 2016 reporting period.

Non-controlling interests

There is a third-party non-controlling interest in one of Alliander's activities. This concerns a 5% interest on the part of the Municipality of Nijmegen in Indigo B.V., a subsidiary of Alliander Duurzame Gebiedsontwikkeling, see note [12].