Consolidated Annual Accounts 2017

4 Third-party exploitation includes the growth noted above of the exploitation of our content beyond the traditional windows. At the beginning of the year, Atresmedia Studios was created to reinforce this business line. Its object is to design, create and product exclusive fiction content for the main Spanish and international content distribution platforms. In carrying out its businesses, Atresmedia will continue to focus on cost control as a key feature of its management approach, as it has over the past few years. With the weight of new activities set to rise, efficient resource allocation and operational efficiency will also be crucial for tapping new revenue sources, preserving our positioning in core markets, and maintaining or improving operating margins. Research and development activities The Company does directly carry out any research and development activities. However, it invests, on an ongoing basis, in all new technologies related to engineering, systems and content distribution. On this front, Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A. has and uses state-of-the-art technology, enabling it to be at the forefront in the deployment of digital activities and in the internet. Acquisitions of treasury share No transactions were carried out with treasury shares in 2017. Accordingly, 791,880 treasury shares were still held at year-end, representing 0.351% of share capital. These shares were acquired to implement the remuneration scheme entailing the delivery of shares to certain directors and senior executives. Average supplier payment period “Average supplier payment period” is the time elapsed between the delivery of the goods or the rendering of the services by the supplier and the actual payment of the transaction. The statutory payment limit applicable under Law 3/2004, of 29 December, establishing measures to combat late payment in commercial transactions and the transitional provisions set out in Law 15/2010, of 5 July, was 60 days as from 2013. The average supplier payment period in 2017 was 55 days. Use of financial instruments and main financial risks The Company uses financial instruments to hedge the foreign currency risk on the purchases of broadcasting rights in the year. At 31 December 2017, the Company had entered into hedging instruments on its foreign currency asset and liability positions amounting to USD 144,895 thousand, at a weighted average exchange rate of 1.1467 (USD/EUR). The net fair value of these hedging instruments gave rise to a financial asset of EUR 8,064 thousand and a financial liability of EUR 23 thousand at year-end. Also, interest rate swaps were arranged to fix the financial cost arising from the floating rates established in the syndicated financing agreement entered into in July 2017. The fair value of these swaps at 31 December 2017 gave rise to a financial liability of EUR 1,164 thousand.