73 348
73
Net cash flow provided by operating activities (before
changes in net working capital) amounted to Euro 400
million at the end of 2014.
The increase of Euro 1 million in working capital described
earlier absorbed only a small part of the above cash flow.
After Euro 72 million in tax payments and Euro 36 million in
dividend receipts, net cash flow from operating activities in
the year was therefore a positive Euro 363 million.
Net operating investments in 2014 amounted to Euro 155
million; investments by the Energy Products segment
mainly referred to the conversion of the cable ship owned
by Prysmian PowerLink Services Ltd to allow it to perform
different types of installation work according to customer
needs, to the purchase of the Pikkala site in Finland, and
to production capacity increases at the Arco Felice plant in
Naples and the Drammen plant in Norway for the realisa-
tion of the Exxon Mobile and Baltic 2 submarine projects;
expenditure by the Energy Products segment was mainly
to increase production capacity at the Abbeville plant in the
United States to cope with the growth in local demand for
the E&I business, while expenditure by the Telecom segment
was mostly to increase production capacity at the Sorocaba
plant in Brazil for the construction of preforms needed in
optical fibre manufacturing.
A total of Euro 110 million in net finance costs and Euro 90
million in dividends were also paid during the year, while
Euro 20 million was spent on purchasing treasury shares.