Snam Profits Dip, Plans €5bn Capex
Italian gas grid Snam said March 7 it will invest some €5bn during 2017-2021. Of that €4.7bn will be in Italy, including to extend its grid length by 1%.
Snam also reported that its 2016 statutory profits were 31% lower at €861mn; that included the contribution of discontinued operations following the separation of Italgas from Snam, effective November 7 2016. Excluding that contribution, profit was €761mn.
Italgas, which runs gas distribution in several big Italian cities, is now 26.05%-owned by firms controlled by state fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) while 13.5% is retained by Snam, itself part owned by CDP and China's State Grid Europe. Institutions and small investors hold most of the balance.
Photo credit: Italgas
Gas injected into its network increased by 5% to 70.63bn m3 in 2016, while storage capacity increased by 0.5bn m3 versus a year ago to 12bn m3 at end-2016. Snam’s sole LNG terminal at Panigaglia unloaded five tankers and regasified 0.21bn m3 last year, from just one and 0.03bn m3 in 2015.
Last year Snam and Allianz acquired a 49% interest of Gas Connect Austria (GCA), for a total outlay by Snam of €135mn. Snam also signed agreements to promote gas as an automotive fuel (CNG).
Mark Smedley