Net financing costs showed a negative result of € 22.6 million (negative € 90.7 million) while net gains on investments were positive, amounting to € 1.2 million (positive for € 1.7 million).
With reference to the variation of the net financial expenses, totalling € 22.1 million, please note that the first half of 2015 was characterized by a lower average indebtedness and by lower interest rates, partly due to the renegotiation of the corporate financial debt during the period.
The caption includes financial costs equal to € 5.9 million (€ 7.2 million) that derive from the calculation of the amortized costs that did not give way to a monetary disbursement in the period subject to comment, having been totally liquidated during the preceding years.
Moreover, the variation of the result concerning financial management activities, in relation to the corresponding value for the same period of the last year reflects, among other things, the effect that this decision has on the Group, with the aim of converting its net profit expressed in the Venezuelan currency (the so-called Bolivar Fuerte or VEF) instead of the two different official currencies that were used in the previous two years. In fact, in the Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 6,171 of February 10, 2015, the Ministry of Popular Power for the Economy, Finance and Public Banking (MPPEFBP) and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) published the “Convenio Cambiario 33”, through which the SICAD II exchange rate was introduced and a new official floating exchange rate was created, of which we have already commented in the notes for the consolidated financial statement as at December 31, 2014 section. The Group established that the SIMADI is the appropriate exchange rate to be used for converting the amounts into the Venezuelan currency, as it best represents the ratio according to which future financial flows, expressed in current currency can be regulated, in the event that these are verified at the valuation date, even considering the possibility of accessing the Venezuelan currency market and the Group's special needs for obtaining a different currency from the functional one.
In particular:
- With reference to the adoption of the Simadi exchange, carried out during the first half of 2015, the update of the estimates determined an overall reduction of the value of the net assets, in local currency, for a total amount of approximately € 4 million.
- With regard to the first half of 2014, the currency named SICAD 2 was adopted. It stopped being used from June 30, 2014. The effect of adopting this exchange rate in the first half of 2014 was equal to € 55 million.