Notes to the statement of income

Operating income in other activities

For the full-year, apart from incidental items, operating income was adversely impacted by insurance costs and higher pension costs, due to changes in discount rates and de-risking of pension liabilities. Corporate costs were higher due to planned functional transformation projects and favorable items in 2014 related to the sale of assets.

Incidental items

For the full-year operating income was positively impacted by incidental items. The divestment of the Paper Chemicals business in Q2 resulted in a book profit net of related costs of €31 million, reported in Specialty Chemicals.

In Q4, operating income in other activities was impacted by incidental items, including a recovery related to the 2014 fraud case and several adjustments to provisions, mainly for legacy items and post-retirement benefits.

Net financing expenses

Net financing expenses decreased for both the full-year and Q4, mainly due to lower interest expenses on net debt as a result of repayment of high interest bonds and lower interest on provisions.

Operating income to net income

Tax

The full-year effective tax rate was 28 percent (2014: 30 percent). The tax rate was lower as a result of non-taxable income such as the gain on the divestment of the Paper Chemicals business and prior year adjustments.