EDN Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte SA

Note 1 |      General information

History and development of the Company

edenor was organized on July 21, 1992 by Executive Order No. 714/92 in connection with the privatization and concession process of the distribution and sale of electric power carried out by SEGBA.

By means of an International Public Bidding, the PEN awarded 51% of the Company’s capital stock, represented by the Class "A" shares, to the bid made by EASA, the parent company of edenor at that time. The award as well as the transfer contract were approved on August 24, 1992 by Executive Order No. 1,507/92 of the PEN.

On September 1, 1992, EASA took over the operations of edenor.

As a consequence of the merger processes of EASA and its parent IEASA with and into CTLL, and, in turn, of the latter with and into PESA, formalized in 2018, at present, PESA is the controlling company of edenor.

The corporate purpose of edenor is to engage in the distribution and sale of electricity within the concession area. Furthermore, among other activities, the Company may subscribe or acquire shares of other electricity distribution companies, subject to the approval of the regulatory agency, assign the use of the network to provide electricity transmission or other voice, data and image transmission services, and render advisory, training, maintenance, consulting, and management services and know-how related to the distribution of electricity both in Argentina and abroad. These activities may be conducted directly by edenor or through subsidiaries or related companies. In addition, the Company may act as trustee of trusts created under Argentine laws.

The Company’s economic and financial situation     

In the last four years, the Company recorded negative working capital. This situation was not reversed after the application from February 1, 2017 of the new tariff arising from RTI, due mainly to the constant increase of its operating costs, necessary to maintain the level of service, the Argentine economy’s inflationary environment, and the sustained recession since mid-2018, with the consequent impact on the decline in revenue, the extension of collection periods and the constant increase in levels of energy theft.

Despite the previously described situation, it is worth pointing out that, in general terms, the quality of the electricity distribution service has been improved, both in duration and in interruption frequency. In view of the continuous increase of the costs associated with the provision of the service, as well as the need for additional investments to meet the greater seasonal demand, the Company has taken a series of measures aimed at mitigating the negative effects of this situation on its financial structure, minimizing the impact on the sources of employment, the execution of the investment plan, and the carrying out of the essential operation, maintenance and improvement-related works that are necessary to maintain the provision of the public service, object of the concession, in a satisfactory manner in terms of quality and safety.

In this regard, and taking into consideration that the Company operates in a complex economic context, the main variables have recently seen a high degree of volatility, as evidenced, among other, by the following facts:

o          1.7% year-on-year fall of GDP in the third quarter of the year;

o          53.77% cumulative inflation rate between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019;

o          Significant devaluation of the peso from the month of August, giving rise to an unexpected withdrawal of dollar-denominated deposits from the financial system;

o          Fall of the Central Bank’s reserves;

o          Decrease in the reference interest rate in the last month of 2019, but still at high levels.

In view of this situation, the Federal Government decided to implement certain measures, among which the following are included:

9

o          Setting specific time limits for the inflow and settlement of export proceeds;

o          BCRA’s prior authorization for the purchase of external assets for companies;

o          Prior authorization for imports of any kind of goods and services;

o          30% tax on foreign currency-denominated transactions;

o          Deferral of the payment of certain government debt instruments;

o          Fuel price control;

o          Negative real interest rate;

o          Rate schedules maintenance agreement, Nota 2.b.

Additionally, on December 23, 2019, the PEN enacted Law 27,541 on Social Solidarity and Production Reactivation in the framework of the Economic Emergency (Note 2.b), which has a direct impact on the Company’s financial solvency.

Taking into account that the realization of the measures necessary to reverse the manifested negative trend depends on the occurrence of certain events that are not under the Company’s control, the Board of Directors has raised substantial doubt about edenor’s ability to continue as a going concern, which may result in the Company being obliged to defer certain payment obligations or unable to meet expectations for salary increases or the increases recorded in third-party costs.

Nevertheless, these financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue to operate as a going concern and do not include the effects of the adjustments or reclassifications that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties.

Note 2 |      Regulatory framework

a)   Concession

The term of the concession is 95 years, which may be extended for an additional maximum period of 10 years. The term of the concession is divided into management periods: a first period of 15 years and subsequent periods of 10 years each. At the end of each management period, the Class “A” shares representing 51% of edenor‘s share capital, currently held by PESA, must be offered for sale through a public bidding. If PESA makes the highest bid, it will continue to hold the Class “A” shares, and no further disbursements will be necessary. On the contrary, if PESA is not the highest bidder, then the bidder who makes the highest bid shall pay PESA the amount of the bid in accordance with the conditions of the public bidding.  The proceeds from the sale of the Class “A” shares will be delivered to PESA after deducting any amounts receivable to which the Grantor of the concession may be entitled. The current management period will end on January 31, 2021.

The Company has the exclusive right to render electric power distribution and sales services within the concession area to all the customers who are not authorized to obtain their power supply from the MEM, thus being obliged to supply all the electric power that may be required in due time and in accordance with the established quality levels. In addition, the Company must allow free access to its facilities to any MEM agents whenever required, under the terms of the Concession. No specific fee must be paid by the Company under the Concession Agreement during the term of the concession.

The Company is subject to the terms and conditions of its Concession Agreement and the provisions of the regulatory framework comprised of Federal Laws Nos. 14,772, 15,336 and 24,065, Resolutions and regulatory and supplementary regulations issued by the authorities responsible for this matter, with the Company being responsible for the provision of the public service of electricity distribution and sale with a satisfactory quality level, complying for such purpose with the requirements set forth in both the aforementioned agreement and the regulatory framework.

Failure to comply with the established guidelines will result in the application of fines, based on the economic damage suffered by the customer when the service is provided in an unsatisfactory manner, the amounts of which will be determined in accordance with the methodology stipulated in the above-mentioned agreement. The ENRE is the authority in charge of controlling strict compliance with the pre-established guidelines.

10

b)  Electricity rate situation

In the last days of 2019, the PEN enacted, in the framework of the Economic Emergency and as mentioned in Note 1, Law No. 27,541 on Social Solidarity and Production Reactivation, pursuant to which is authorized to initiate either a renegotiation process of the tariff structure in effect or an extraordinary review, as from the date on which the law comes into effect, and for a maximum term of up to one hundred and eighty days, with the aim of reducing the actual tariff burden on households, shops and industries for 2020.

In this context, on December 27, 2019, the ENRE instructed the Company not to apply the electricity rate schedules from January 1, 2020, resulting from the provisions of the Electricity Rate Schedules Maintenance Agreement entered into by and between the Company and the Federal Government on September 19, 2019, as such agreement had lost its applicability due to the electricity rate emergency provided for in the aforementioned law, with the electricity rate schedule that had been approved by ENRE Resolution No. 104/19 dated April 30, 2019 remaining in effect.

The aforementioned Electricity Rate Schedules Maintenance Agreement provided for the following:

o    To maintain the electricity rate schedules that were in effect prior to August 1, 2019 for all electricity rate categories;

o    To postpone until January 1, 2020 the application of the CPD that was to be applied as from August 1, 2019 (adjustment mechanism set forth in ENRE Resolution No. 63/2017), relating to the January-June 2019 period, which amounted to 19.05%;

o    To update the electricity rate schedules in relation to seasonal energy prices as from January 1, 2020;

o    To recover the difference of the CPD and the seasonal energy prices generated on August 1, 2019-December 31, 2019 period, in seven monthly and consecutive installments as from January 1, 2020, adjusted in accordance with the relevant CPD adjustment and the methodology set forth in late payment procedures applied by CAMMESA, respectively;

o    Commitment to maintain the quality of the service and meet the quality parameters set forth in the Concession Agreement;

o    To postpone until March 1, 2020 the payment by the Company of any penalty at its original value plus the relevant adjustments applicable at the time of payment.

Additionally, and within this framework, on October 22, 2019 SRRyME Resolution No. 38/2019 approved the seasonal scheduling for the November 2019 – April 2020 periods and provided as well that the power reference price, the energy reference price for residential consumers and the energy reference price for the Distribution company’s Large Users and for the other non-residential consumers, in effect since August 2019, would remain unchanged until April 2020.

Moreover, the referred to ENRE Resolution No.104/19, approved the values of the Company’s Electricity Rate Schedule and the electricity rate values applicable to the Company’s self-management metering system, effective from May 1, 2019, and informed the Company of the value of the average electricity rate, under the terms of Energy Government Secretariat Resolution No. 366/2018, which modifies the prices at which Distributors acquire energy in the MEM, and which amounts to $ 4,343/KWh.

In this framework, the provisions of Resolution No. 14/19 dated April 30, 2019 of the Electricity Market and Renewable Resources Secretariat, which, among other issues, approve the MEM definitive winter scheduling and modify the Power Reference Prices and the Stabilized Price of Energy (SPE) relating to the May 1-October 31, 2019 period, are taken into consideration.

This Resolution provides that the increases of the Stabilized Price of Energy relating to the May-October 2019 six-month period that had been authorized by Resolution 366/2018 for Residential customers, are to be absorbed by the Federal Government, whereas the increases established for non-residential customers with supplies lower than 300 kW and those relating to customers with supplies higher than 300 kW, GUDI customers, were modified for the May-July and August-October 2019 three-month periods.

11

With regard to the supplies lower than 300 kW (non-residential customers), and those higher than 300 kW, GUDI Customers, the values of the Stabilized Price of Energy were increased for the May-July 2019 and August-October 2019 three-month periods.

The following resolutions issued by the ENRE in the months of January and February complete the 2019 regulatory context:

o    Resolution No. 25/19, which approved, under the terms of ENRE Resolution 366/2018, the values of the Company’s Electricity Rate Schedule, effective from February 1, 2019, and informed of the value of the average electricity rate as from February 1, 2019, under the terms of Energy Government Secretariat Resolution No. 366/2018, which modifies the prices at which Distributors acquire energy in the MEM.

o    Resolution No. 27/19, which approved the CPD value of February 2019 together with the stimulus factor, whose application was deferred until March 2019. Additionally, it determined the value to be applied for the 36 remaining installments resulting from the gradual application system established in ENRE Resolution No. 63/2017, and provided as well that the 50% of the CPD that should have been applied in August 2019 would be recovered in 6 CPD variation-adjusted installments.

With regard to the discounts under the system of caps applicable to customers benefited from the Social Tariff that the Federal Government owed to this Distributor, the Company recorded revenue for $ 923 million, which stated in constant values amounts to $ 1,159.2 million, relating to the December 2017-December 2018 period, as a consequence of the implementation and subsequent cancellation thereof by virtue of the Agreement on the Regularization of Obligations described in note 2.c.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company recognized revenue from the Social Tariff for $ 3,512.7 million, which stated in constant values amounts to $ 3,993.5 million. Additionally, the Company has a receivable for $ 251.4 million for the same concept.

c)   Change of Jurisdiction and Regularization of Obligations

On February 28, 2019, the Federal Government, the PBA and the CABA entered into an agreement to initiate the process of transferring the public service of electricity distribution, duly awarded by the Federal Government to the Company under a concession, to the joint jurisdiction of the PBA and the CABA, with the latter two jointly assuming the capacity as Grantor of the concession of the service. In the aforementioned agreement, the PBA and the CABA agreed to set up a new bipartite agency in charge of the regulation and control of the distribution service, and the Federal Government agreed to take the necessary steps and carry out the necessary administrative procedures to provide a solution to the pending claims with both Distribution companies.

In the framework of such agreement, on May 9, 2019, the Federal Government, the CABA and the PBA entered into an agreement, the Agreement on the Implementation of the Transfer of Jurisdiction, pursuant to which the CABA and the PBA jointly assume, as from the date on which the agreement comes into effect with the relevant ratifications, the regulation and control and the capacity as grantor over the distribution service granted to edenor under a concession. Furthermore, it is provided that the Concession Agreement will remain in full force and effect and the national regulations and provisions issued by both the Energy Secretariat and the ENRE until the effective date of the transfer will be regarded as the applicable regulatory framework; and that the pledge of the Class “A” shares, duly pledged as collateral to secure the performance of the obligations assumed by the Holder of the Concession and/or the majority shareholders under the Concession Agreement, is assigned on an undivided basis by the Federal Government to the CABA and the PBA.

The Company was notified of and assented to the arrangement made by the Federal Government and the new Grantors of the concession in relation to the Transfer and the Implementation Agreements, and undertook both to indemnify them against any claims and to obtain the agreement of the majority of its shareholders. The Agreement on the Implementation of the Transfer of Jurisdiction was ratified by the Provincial Executive Power and the City’s Legislative Power by means of Executive Order 1289/2019 (published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Buenos Aires on October 2, 2019) and Legislative Resolution No. 161/19 (published in the Official Gazette of the CABA on July 17, 2019), respectively.

12

With the enactment of Law 27,541, the ENRE is granted jurisdiction over the public service of electricity distribution during the term the emergency law is in force.

Furthermore, within the framework of the change of jurisdiction and as a condition for the transfer, on May 10, 2019, the Company and the Energy Government Secretariat, on behalf of the Federal Government, entered into an Agreement on the Regularization of Obligations, putting an end to the mutual pending claims originated in the 2006-2016 Transitional Tariff Period.

By virtue of this Agreement, the Company (i) waives any rights to which it may be entitled and abandons any actions against the Federal Government, including the complaint filed by edenor in 2013 for failure to comply with the obligations resulting from the Agreement on the Renegotiation of the Concession Agreement (the "Adjustment Agreement”) entered into on February 13, 2006; (ii) binds itself to settle debts for works and loans for consumption (“mutuums”) originated in the transition period; (iii) undertakes to pay users certain penalty and compensation amounts relating to that period; and (iv) agrees to make investments, in addition to those agreed upon in the RTI, aimed at contributing to improving the reliability and safety of the service.

 In return, the Federal Government partially recognizes the claim duly made by the Company -referred to in caption (i) of the previous paragraph -, by fully offsetting pending obligations with the MEM for electric power purchases made during the transition period, partially cancelling the mutuums for investments granted by CAMMESA also during that period, and cancelling penalties payable to the National Treasury.

The implementation of this agreement implied, on a one-time-only basis, the partial recognition of the claim made by the Company for an amount of $ 6,906.4 million as compensation for the Federal Government’s failure to comply with obligations for 10 years during the Transitional Tariff Period, which stated in constant values amounts to $ 8,673.7 millon, as well as the adjustment of the liabilities recorded at the time of the agreement, replicating the conditions applied to all the sector’s distributors, generating a profit of $ 6,160 million, which stated in constant values amounts to $ 7,736.3 millon. Additionally, $ 306 million from the Federal Government and $ 273 million from the Province of Buenos Aires were recognized, which stated in constant values amounts to $ 362.0 millon and $ 322.8 million, respectively. These effects are disclosed in the “Agreement on the Regularization of Obligations” line item of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, which stated in constant values amount to $ 17,094.8 million, but do not imply any inflow of funds whatsoever for the Company; quite on the contrary, the Company must comply in the next 5 years with the investment plan stipulated in the above-mentioned agreement, which will be aimed at contributing to the improvement of the reliability and/or safety of the service as a whole, in addition to complying with the Investment Plan duly agreed upon in the tariff structure review (RTI) approved by Resolution 63/2017, which, together with the penalties payable to users, the settlement of liabilities for mutuums and works, and the payment of the generated income tax amount, implies an actual disbursement of funds for a total approximate amount of $ 7,600 million, in a 5-year term.

Additionally, it was agreed that the receivable amounts in favor of the Company for the consumption of shantytowns with community meters generated from July 2017 through December 31, 2018 -exclusively with respect to the percentage undertaken by the Federal Government-, relating to the Framework Agreement (Note 2.e.) for $ 470.8 million, and the receivable amount resulting from applying the cap to the bills of users benefited from the Social Tariff for $ 923 million (Note 2.b), would be offset against both part of the debt the Company held with CAMMESA for loans received for the carrying out of works, and the debts the Company held with CAMMESA for the investments made in the Costanera – Puerto Nuevo – Malaver 220kV Interconnection works, carried out through the Trust for the Management of Electric Power Transmission Works (FOTAE), and for the carrying out of the Tecnópolis Substation’s works.

In this regard, and based on the terms of the second clause of the aforementioned agreement, as of December 31, 2019 the Company recorded the update of the amounts related to “penalties to be used for investments” for a total of $ 1,468 million, totaling a liability pending application of $ 4,648 million, which was charged to finance interest cost.

13

Moreover, the Company Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting dated June 10, 2019 not only ratified the actions taken by the Board of Directors in the negotiations and signing of the Agreement on the Implementation of the transfer of jurisdiction and the Agreement on the Regularization of obligations, but also approved the waiver of rights, actions and claims against the Federal Government originated in the Transitional Tariff Period, and the abandonment of the lawsuit filed in 2013 against the Federal Government.

d)    Penalties

The ENRE is empowered to control the quality levels of the technical product and service, the commercial service and the compliance with public safety regulations, as provided for in the Concession Agreement. If the Distribution Company fails to comply with the obligations assumed, the ENRE may apply the penalties stipulated in the aforementioned Agreement.

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company has recognized in its financial statements the penalties accrued, whether imposed or not yet issued by the ENRE, relating to the control periods elapsed as of those dates, which may differ from the actual ones.

Furthermore, ENRE Resolution No. 63/17 has set out the control procedures, the service quality assessment methodologies, and the penalty system, applicable as from February 1, 2017, for the 2017 – 2021 period.

In accordance with the provisions of Sub-Appendix XVI to the referred to Resolution, the Company is required to submit in a term of 60 calendar days the calculation of global indicators, interruptions for which force majeure had been alleged, the calculation of individual indicators, and will determine the related discounts, crediting the amounts thereof within 10 business days. In turn, the ENRE will examine the information submitted by the Company, and in the event that the crediting of such discounts were not verified will impose a fine, payable to the Federal Government, equivalent to twice the value that should have been recorded.

In this regard, the ENRE has implemented an automatic penalty mechanism in order that the discounts on account of deviations from the established limits may be credited to customers within a term of 60 days as from the end of the controlled six-month period.

The penalty system provides that penalties are updated in accordance with the variation of Distributor’s CPD or by the energy tariff average price, as the case may be. Subsequently, in different resolutions concerning penalties relating to the commercial service and the safety on streets and public spaces, the Regulatory Entity provided for the application of increases and adjustments, applying for such purpose a criterion different from the one applied by the Company.

Additionally, and subsequent to the Tariff Structure Review, the ENRE regulated and/or issued new penalty procedures, such as:

ü  ENRE Resolution No. 118/18: It regulated the Compensation for extraordinary service provision interruptions.

ü  ENRE Resolution No. 170/18: It regulated the Penalty System for Deviations from the Investment Plan, a procedure whereby real investments are assessed by comparison with the annual investment plan submitted by the Company, and the investment plan carried out for the 5-year rate period is assessed as against the five-year period plan proposed in the RTI.

ü  ENRE Resolution No. 198/18: New Supplementary Penalty Procedure of Technical Service Quality, which penalizes deviations from quality parameters at feeder level.

ü  ENRE Resolution No. 91/18: Through the filing of charges, the ENRE informs edenor about the penalty procedure to be applied for failure to comply with meter-reading and billing time periods.

ü  ENRE Resolution No. 5/19: Through the filing of charges, the ENRE notifies edenor of the penalty system to be applied for failure to comply with customer service times in commercial offices (Intelligent Routing and Consumer Service System – Sistema Inteligente de Direccionamiento y Atención de Usuarios (SIDyAA))

14

The effects of the resolutions detailed in this note were quantified by the Company and recognized as of December 31, 2019, without implying consent to the criteria applied.

Finally, and in accordance with the provisions of the electricity rate schedule maintenance agreement (Note 2.b), it is agreed that the Company will maintain the quality of the service and comply with the quality parameters set forth in the Concession Agreement, and that the payment of any penalty will be postponed until March 1, 2020 and paid in 6 installments at its original value plus any adjustments that may apply at the time of payment.

e)    Framework agreement

In 2019, the Company and the Federal Government entered into different extension addenda to the new Framework Agreement, extending the term thereof until May 31, 2019.

Additionally, the above-mentioned addenda provided for the following:

-       The Federal Government’s commitment to settle the amounts of its economic contribution for the supply of electricity to shantytowns, after deducting the energy associated with the Social Tariff;

-       That the Company may assign the receivable amounts recognized by this extension to Edesur. In this regard, the relevant agreement on the assignment of receivables was signed, whereby Edesur, in consideration for the assigned receivables, paid edenor the sole, full and final sum of $ 167.8 million.

Consequently, as of December 31, 2019 the Company recognized revenue from the sale of electricity under the Framework Agreement until December 31, 2018 for $ 470.8 million, which stated in constant values amounts to $ 591.3 million, and for the first five months of 2019 for $ 205.5 million, which stated in constant values amount to $ 220.2, both related to the Federal Government’s participation.

Furthermore, within the framework of the transfer of jurisdiction of the public service of electricity distribution that had been provided for by Law No. 27,467, the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires enacted Law No. 15,078 on General Budget, pursuant to which it was provided that the Province of Buenos Aires would pay as from January 1, 2019 for the low-income areas and shantytowns’ consumption of electricity the same amount as that paid in 2018, and that any amount in excess of that would have to be borne by the Municipalities in whose territories the particular shantytowns were located. Such consumption had to be previously approved by the regulatory agencies or local authorities having jurisdiction in each area. In this regard, the Company has become aware that on November 27, 2019, the Municipality of General San Martín filed a petition for the granting of a provisional remedy with the Supreme Court claiming that the section of Law No. 15,078 that refers to this topic was unconstitutional. As of December 31, 2019, the Company did not recognize revenue for this concept.

Finally, in view of the recent measures adopted by national and provincial authorities as of the date of issuance of these financial statements, the Company does not know which guidelines will be followed concerning the consumption of electricity by low-income areas and shantytowns related to the periods that have not been recognized as well as future periods.

f)     Restriction on the transfer of the Company’s common shares

The by-laws provide that Class “A” shareholders may transfer their shares only with the prior approval of the ENRE. The ENRE must communicate its decision within 90 days upon submission of the request for such approval, otherwise the transfer will be deemed approved.

Furthermore, Caja de Valores S.A. (the Public Register Office), which keeps the Share Register of the shares, is entitled (as stated in the by-laws) to reject such entries which, at its criterion, do not comply with the rules for the transfer of common shares included in (i) the Business Organizations Law, (ii) the Concession Agreement and (iii) the By-laws.

In addition, the Class “A” shares will be pledged during the entire term of the concession as collateral to secure the performance of the obligations assumed under the Concession Agreement.

15

In connection with the issuance of Corporate Notes, during the term thereof, PESA is required to be the beneficial owner and owner of record of not less than 51% of the Company’s issued, voting and outstanding shares.

Note 3 |      Basis of preparation

The financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 have been prepared in accordance with IFRS issued by the IASB and IFRIC interpretations, incorporated by the CNV.

These financial statements were approved for issue by the Company’s Board of Directors on March 5, 2020.

Comparative information

The balances as of December 31, 2018, disclosed in these financial statements for comparative purposes, arise as a result of the restatement of the financial statements as of those dates to reflect the effects of inflation as of December 31, 2019. This, as a consequence of the restatement of the financial information described hereunder.

Restatement of financial information

The financial statements as of December 31, 2019, including the prior year’s figures, have been restated to reflect the changes in the general purchasing power of the Company’s functional currency (the Argentine peso), in conformity with the provisions of both IAS 29 “Financial reporting in hyperinflationary economies” and General Resolution No. 777/18 of the National Securities Commission. As a result thereof, the financial statements are stated in terms of the measuring unit current at the end of the reporting period.

According to IAS 29, the restatement of financial statements is necessary when the functional currency of an entity is that of a hyperinflationary economy. To define a state of hyperinflation, IAS 29 provides a series of guidelines, including but not limited to the following, which consist of (i) analyzing the behavior of population, prices, interest rates and wages faced with the development of price indexes and the loss of the currency’s purchasing power, and (ii) as a quantitative feature, which, in practice, is the mostly considered condition, verifying whether the cumulative inflation rate over three years approaches or exceeds 100%.

In 2018 the Argentine economy began to be considered hyperinflationary due to the quantitative factors described in the preceding paragraph, therefore, according to IAS 29, the Argentine economy should be regarded as highly inflationary as from July 1, 2018. The standard states that the adjustment will be resumed from the date on which it was last made, February 2003. Moreover, on July 24, 2018, the FACPCE issued a communication confirming that which has been previously mentioned. Additionally, it should be taken into account that on December 4, 2018 the Official Gazette published Law No. 27,468 pursuant to which the provisions of Executive Order No. 664/2003 of the PEN, which did not allow for the filing of inflation-adjusted financial statements, are no longer in effect. This law states that the provisions of section 62 of Business Organizations Law No. 19,550 -preparation of financial statements to reflect the effects of inflation- will continue to apply, thus reinstating the adjustment for inflation. On December 28, the CNV, reaffirming the provisions of Law No. 27,468, published Resolution No. 777/18 stating that issuing companies shall apply the restatement method of financial statements to reflect the effects of inflation in conformity with IAS 29.

In order to not only assess the aforementioned quantitative condition but also restate the financial statements, the CNV has stated that the series of indexes to be used for the application of IAS 29 is that determined by the FACPCE. That series of indexes combines the IPC published by the INDEC from January 2017 (base month: December 2016) with the IPIM published by the INDEC through that date, computing for the months of November and December 2015 -in respect of which there is no available information from the INDEC on the development of the IPIM-, the variation recorded in the IPC of the City of Buenos Aires.

16

Taking into consideration the above-mentioned index, in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the inflation rate amounted to 53.77%, 47.66% and 24.79%, respectively.

The effects of the application of IAS 29 are summarized below:

Restatement of the statement of financial position

(i)            Monetary items (those with a fixed nominal value in local currency) are not restated inasmuch as they are already expressed in terms of the measuring unit current at the closing date of the reporting period.

(ii)           Non-monetary items carried at historical cost or at the current value of a date prior to the end of the reporting period are restated using coefficients that reflect the variation recorded in the general level of prices from the date of acquisition or revaluation to the closing date of the reporting period. Depreciation charges of property, plant and equipment and amortization charges of intangible assets recognized in profit or loss for the period, as well as any other consumption of non-monetary assets will be determined on the basis of the new restated amounts.

(iii)          The restatement of non-monetary assets in terms of the measuring unit current at the end of the reporting period without an equivalent adjustment for tax purposes, gives rise to a taxable temporary difference and to the recognition of a deferred tax liability, whose contra-account is recognized.

Restatement of the statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income

(i)            Income and expenses are restated from the date when they were recorded, except for those profit or loss items that reflect or include in their determination the consumption of assets carried at the purchasing power of the currency as of a date prior to the recording of the consumption, which are restated based on the date when the asset to which the item is related originated (for example, depreciation, impairment and other consumptions of assets valued at historical cost).

(ii)           The net result from the maintenance of monetary assets and liabilities is presented in a line item separately from the profit or loss for the year called RECPAM.

Restatement of the statement of changes in equity

(i)            The components of equity, except for reserved earnings and unappropriated retained earnings, have been restated from the dates on which they were contributed, or on which they otherwise arose.

(ii)           The restated unappropriated retained earnings were determined by the difference between net assets restated at the date of transition and the other components of opening equity expressed as indicated in the preceding headings.

(iii)          After the restatement at the date of transition indicated in (i) above, all components of equity are restated by applying the general price index from the beginning of the period, and each variation of those components is restated from the date of contribution or the date on which it otherwise arose.

17

Restatement of the statement of cash flows

IAS 29 requires all the items of this statement to be restated in terms of the measuring unit current at the closing date of the reporting period.

The monetary gain or loss generated by cash and cash equivalents is presented in the statement of cash flows separately from cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as a specific item of the reconciliation between cash and cash equivalents at the beginning and end of the period.

Note 4 |      Accounting policies

The main accounting policies used in the preparation of these financial statements are detailed below.

Note 4.1 |   New accounting standards, amendments and interpretations issued by the IASB, effective as of December 31, 2019 and adopted by the Company      

- IFRS 16 “Leases" (published in January 2016).

- IFRS 9 “Financial instruments” (amended in October 2017).

- IFRIC 23 “Uncertainty over Income Tax treatments” (issued in June 2017).

- IAS 28 “Investments in associates and joint ventures” (amended in October 2017).

- IAS 19 “Employee benefits” (amended in February 2018).

- Annual improvements to the IFRS – 2015-2017 Cycle (issued in December 2017)

Detailed below, Note 4.1.1., are the main issues related to the initial application of IFRS 16. The application of the other standards, amendments or interpretations generated no impact on the Company’s results of operations or its financial position, nor did it affect the accounting policies applicable as from January 1, 2019.

Note 4.1.1 |        Impacts of adoption

- IFRS 16 “Leases”: On January 13, 2016, the IASB published IFRS 16, which replaces the current guidance in IAS 17. The Company has elected to apply IFRS 16 retrospectively using the simplified approach, in relation to the lease contracts identified as such under IAS 17, recognizing the cumulative effect of the application as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings as from January 1, 2019, without restating the comparative information.

Until December 31, 2018, only contracts classified as financial leases under IAS 17 were capitalized by the Company, that is, contracts where the Company had substantially all of the risks and rewards of ownership of the leased asset. At the financial lease´s inception, the Company recorded an asset and a liability for the same value, corresponding to the leased property’s fair value, or, if lower, the present value of the minimum lease payments. The corresponding rental obligations, net of finance charges, were included in other liabilities. Each lease payment was allocated between the liability and the finance cost. The finance cost was charged to profit or loss over the lease period so as to produce a constant periodic interest rate on the remaining liability balance for each period. Property, plant and equipment acquired under financial leases were depreciated over the asset’s useful life or, if lower, over the lease term. Leases in which a significant portion of the risks and rewards of ownership were not transferred to the Company were classified as operating leases. Payments made under operating leases (net of any incentive received from the lessor) were charged to profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the lease period.

18

The rest of the identified lease commitments correspond to non-significant contracts ending within 12 months of the date of initial application, which continue to be recognized by the Company on a straight-line basis.

As of the adoption date, the Company has maintained the recorded book value for right-of-use assets and lease liabilities which were classified as finance leases under IAS 17.

Accounting standards, amendments and interpretations effective as from January 1, 2020

- IFRS 3 “Business combinations”, amended in October 2018. It clarifies the definition of a business in order to facilitate its identification in the framework of a business combination as opposed to an acquisition of a group of assets. It is mandatorily effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020.

- IAS 1 “Presentation of financial statements” and IAS 8 “Accounting policies” (amended in October 2018). The amendment clarifies the definition of “material” for ease of understanding. It is mandatorily effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020.

- IFRS 17 “Insurance Contracts”, published in May 2017. It replaces IFRS 4 - an interim standard issued in 2004 that allowed entities to account for insurance contracts using their local accounting requirements, resulting in multiple application approaches. IFRS 17 establishes the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of insurance contracts, and applies to annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2021, with early adoption permitted if entities also apply IFRS 9 and IFRS 15.

The Company is currently analyzing the impact of these new standards and amendments; nevertheless, it estimates that the application thereof will have no impact on the Company’s results of operations or its financial position.

Note 4.2 |      Property, plant and equipment

Additions have been valued at acquisition cost restated to reflect the effects of inflation, net of the related accumulated depreciation. Depreciation has been calculated by applying the straight-line method over the remaining useful life of the assets, which was determined on the basis of engineering studies.

Subsequent costs (major maintenance and reconstruction costs) are either included in the value of the assets or recognized as a separate asset, only if it is probable that the future benefits associated with the assets will flow to the Company, being it possible as well that the costs of the assets may be measured reliably and the investment will improve the condition of the asset beyond its original state. The other maintenance and repair expenses are recognized in profit or loss in the year in which they are incurred.

In accordance with the Concession Agreement, the Company may not pledge the assets used in the provision of the public service nor grant any other security interest thereon in favor of third parties, without prejudice to the Company’s right to freely dispose of those assets which in the future may become inadequate or unnecessary for such purpose. This prohibition does not apply in the case of security interests granted over an asset at the time of its acquisition and/or construction as collateral for payment of the purchase and/or installation price.

The residual value and the remaining useful lives of the assets are reviewed and adjusted, if appropriate, at the end of each fiscal year (reporting period).

Land is not depreciated.

Facilities in service: between 30 and 50 years

Furniture, tools and equipment: between 5 and 20 years

19

Construction in process is valued based on the degree of completion and is recorded at cost restated to reflect the effects of inflation less any impairment loss, if applicable. Cost includes expenses attributable to the construction, when they are part of the cost incurred for the purposes of acquisition, construction or production of property, plant and equipment that require considerable time until they are in condition to be used. These assets begin to be depreciated when they are in economic condition to be used.

Gains and losses on the sale of property, plant and equipment are calculated by comparing the price collected with the carrying amount of the asset, and are recognized within Other operating expense or Other operating income in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

The Company considers three alternative probability-weighted scenarios and analyzes the recoverability of its long-lived assets as described in Critical accounting estimates and judgments (Note 6.c).

The valuation of property, plant and equipment, taken as a whole, does not exceed its recoverable value, which is measured as the higher of value in use and fair value less costs to sell at the end of the year (Note 6.c).

Note 4.3 |      Interests in joint ventures

The main conceptual definitions are as follow:

                      i.        A joint arrangement takes place among two or more parties when they have joint control: joint control is the contractually agreed sharing of control of an arrangement, which exists only when decisions about the relevant activities require the unanimous consent of the parties sharing control.

                     ii.        A joint venture is a joint arrangement whereby the parties that have joint control of the arrangement have rights to the net assets of the arrangement. Such parties are called joint venturers.

                    iii.        A joint operation is a joint arrangement whereby the parties that have joint control of the arrangement have rights to the assets, and obligations for the liabilities, relating to the arrangement. These parties are called joint operators.

The Company accounts for its investment in joint ventures in accordance with the equity method. Under this method, the interest is initially recognized at cost and subsequently adjusted by recognizing the Company’s share in the profit or loss obtained by the joint venture, after acquisition date. The Company recognizes in profit or loss its share of the joint venture’s profit or loss and in other comprehensive income its share of the joint venture’s other comprehensive income.

When the Company carries out transactions in the joint ventures, the unrealized gains and losses are eliminated in accordance with the percentage interest held by the Company in the jointly controlled entity.

The joint ventures’ accounting policies have been modified and adapted, if applicable, to ensure consistency with the policies adopted by the Company.

Furthermore, taking into account that the interests in joint ventures are not regarded as significant balances, the disclosures required under IFRS 12 have not been made.

Note 4.4 |      Revenue recognition

a.      Revenue from sales

Revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration collected or to be collected, taking into account the estimated amount of any discount, thus determining the net amounts.

20

Revenue from the electricity supplied by the Company to low-income areas and shantytowns is recognized to the extent that a renewal of the Framework Agreement is formalized for the period in which the service was rendered. At the date of issuance of these financial statements, the Company is managing the extensions to the Framework Agreement with the National and Provincial States, as the case may be.  (Note 2.e).

Revenue from operations is recognized on an accrual basis and derives mainly from electricity distribution. Such revenue includes electricity supplied, whether billed or unbilled, at the end of each year, which has been valued on the basis of applicable tariffs.

The Company recognizes other revenues from contracts with customers in relation to connection and reconnection services, rights of use on poles and transport of energy to other distribution companies on a monthly basis as services are rendered based on the price established in each contract. Revenues are not adjusted for the effect of financing components as sales’ payments are not deferred over time, which is consistent with market practice.

The aforementioned revenue from operations was recognized when all of the following conditions were met:

1.     the entity transferred to the buyer the significant risks and rewards;

2.     the amount of revenue was measured reliably;

3.     it is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the entity;

4.     the costs incurred or to be incurred, in respect of the transaction, were measured reliably.

b.         Interest income

Interest income is recognized by applying the effective interest rate method. Interest income is recorded in the accounting on a time basis by reference to the principal amount outstanding and the applicable effective rate.

Interest income is recognized when it is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the Company and the amount of the transaction can be measured reliably.

Note 4.5 |      Effects of the changes in foreign currency exchange rates

a.      Functional and presentation currency

The information included in the financial statements is measured using the Company’s functional currency, which is the currency of the main economic environment in which the entity operates. The financial statements are measured in pesos (legal currency in Argentina), restated to reflect the effects of inflation as indicated in Note 3, which is also the presentation currency.

b.      Transactions and balances