6.3 Corporate statement of financial position
6.3.1 Investments in subsidiaries
The movement in the investments in subsidiaries is as follows:
PostNL N.V. Investments in subsidiaries in € million
2022, 2023
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Balance at 1 January | 801 | 721 |
| Share in result from subsidiaries | 75 | 60 |
| Dividend received | (150) | (114) |
| Other | (6) | (4) |
| Balance at 31 December | 721 | 662 |
6.3.2 Accounts receivable from group companies
As at 31 December 2023, accounts receivable from group companies amounted to €166 million (2022: €151 million) which mainly related to a receivable from PostNL Finance B.V. The fair value of the accounts receivable from and payable to group companies approximated the carrying value, due to the short-term nature. The allowance for expected credit losses has been assessed to be non-material.
6.3.3 Equity
PostNL N.V. Corporate statement of changes in equity in € million
2022, 2023
| Issued share capital | Additional paid-in capital | Currency translation reserve | Hedge reserve | Financial assets at fair value OCI | Revaluation reserve investments in subsidiaries | Other reserves | Retained earnings | Total shareholders' equity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance at 31 December 2021 | 41 | 163 | 2,502 | (188) | 632 | 3,151 | |||
| Change in accounting framework | 1 | (2) | 20 | (2,502) | 20 | (263) | (2,725) | ||
| Balance at 1 January 2022 | 41 | 163 | 1 | (2) | 20 | 0 | (167) | 370 | 426 |
| Total comprehensive income | 0 | 2 | (8) | 1,077 | (993) | 78 | |||
| Appropriation of net income | 518 | (518) | 0 | ||||||
| Final dividend previous year | (114) | (114) | |||||||
| Interim dividend current year | (50) | (50) | |||||||
| Share buyback | (2) | 0 | (162) | (164) | |||||
| Share-based compensation | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Balance at 31 December 2022 | 39 | 163 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1,267 | (1,306) | 177 |
| Total comprehensive income | 0 | (3) | (6) | 0 | 55 | 47 | |||
| Appropriation of net income | (1,313) | 1,313 | 0 | ||||||
| Final dividend previous year | 0 | (0) | (7) | (7) | |||||
| Interim dividend current year | 0 | (0) | (21) | (21) | |||||
| Share-based compensation | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| Balance at 31 December 2023 | 40 | 165 | 2 | (3) | 6 | 0 | (45) | 34 | 198 |
The currency translation reserve, hedge reserve and the reserve related to the financial assets at fair value through OCI are legal reserves. The total amount of these legal reserves is €5 million (2022: €13 million).
6.3.4 Provisions for pension liabilities
The company is the sponsoring employer of the main Dutch pension plan, which is externally funded in a separate pension fund and cover the majority of PostNL’s employees in the Netherlands.
As main development in 2022, the amended pension plan, triggering a change in pension accounting from defined benefit to defined contribution as of 31 December 2022 and the recording of an accompanying pension settlement, had a significant financial impact on the corporate financial statements of 2022. Reference is made to note 3.5 to the consolidated financial statements.
In accordance with IAS 19.41, and only effective up to 2022, PostNL recognises the net defined benefit cost in the corporate financial statements of the company. The relevant Group companies recognise the costs equal to the contributions payable for the period in their financial statements. In its corporate financial statements, PostNL recognises the contributions received from the relevant Group companies as a benefit that offsets the corporate defined benefit pension expense. As a result, the corporate financial statements of 2022 record a lower defined benefit pension expense of €1,430 million compared to the defined benefit pension expenses of €1,516 million as recorded in the consolidated financial statements of 2022.
The following table reconciles the opening and closing balances of the present value of the defined benefit obligation and the fair value of plan assets, the funded status and the employer pension income for the sponsored pension plan of the company. In line with the disclosure note on pensions included in the consolidated financial statements, the table also shows the corporate settlement impact resulting from the change in pension accounting classification.
PostNL N.V. Detailed overview of changes in corporate defined benefit plans in € million
2022, 2023
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Change in benefit obligation | ||
| Benefit obligation at beginning of year | (10,126) | |
| Service costs | (174) | |
| Interest costs | (104) | |
| Actuarial (losses)/gains | 2,645 | |
| Benefits paid | 261 | |
| Settlement benefit obligation | 7,498 | |
| Benefit obligation at end of year | 0 | |
| Change in plan assets | ||
| Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year | 10,878 | |
| Assumed return on plan assets | 111 | |
| Contributions group companies | 107 | |
| Employer contributions | (0) | |
| Instalment unconditional funding obligation | 28 | |
| Other costs | (8) | |
| Actuarial (losses)/gains | (1,982) | |
| Benefits paid | (261) | |
| Settlement plan assets | (8,873) | |
| Fair value of plan assets at end of year | 0 | |
| Change in funded status | ||
| Funded status at the beginning of year | 752 | |
| Operating expenses (incl. contributions group companies) | (74) | |
| Interest (expenses)/income | 7 | |
| Employer contributions | (0) | |
| Instalment unconditional funding obligation | 28 | |
| Actuarial (losses)/gains | 663 | |
| Settlement of benefit obligation and plan assets | (1,374) | |
| Funded status at end of year | 0 | |
| Components of employer pension expenses | ||
| Service costs | (174) | |
| Interest (expenses)/income | (2) | |
| Other costs | (8) | |
| Contributions group companies | 107 | |
| Pension settlement costs within statement of profit or loss | (1,354) | |
| Post-employment benefit income/(expenses) | (1,430) | |
| Weighted average assumptions as at 31 December | ||
| Discount rate | 3.4% | |
| Rate of benefit increases | 1.7% | |
| Life expectancy 65 year old men/women (in years) | 21.4 / 23.7 |
6.3.5 Eurobonds
As at 31 December 2023, the eurobonds amounted to €299 million non-current and €353 million current (2022: €697 million non-current). For the disclosure on the eurobonds, reference is made to notes 4.1 and 4.5 to the consolidated financial statements.
In 2023, the non-cash changes in the total debt amounted to €1 million (2022: €1 million) and related to the amortisation of costs included in the eurobonds.