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78 Experian Annual Report 2009
Notes to the Group nancial statements
for the year ended 31 March 2009
1. Corporate information
Experian plc (the ‘Company’), which is the ultimate parent company of the Experian group of companies (‘Experian’ or
the ‘Group’), is incorporated and registered in Jersey under Jersey Companies Law as a public company limited by shares.
The Company’s shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Experian is a business services group. The Company
changed its name from Experian Group Limited on 21 July 2008.
The consolidated nancial statements of Experian plc and its subsidiary undertakings were approved by the board on
19 May 2009.
2. Basis of preparation and signicant accounting policies
Basis of preparation
The Groupnancial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’) as adopted
for use in the European Union (the ‘EU’) and as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (‘IASB’). These are those
standards, subsequent amendments and related interpretations issued and adopted by the IASB that have been endorsed by the EU.
Although the Company is incorporated and registered in Jersey, the Group nancial statements include disclosures sufcient to
comply with those parts of the UK Companies Acts 1985 and 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS.
The Group nancial statements are presented in US dollars, as this is the most representative currency of the Group’s
operations, and they are rounded to the nearest million. They are prepared on the historical cost basis modied for the
revaluation of certain nancial instruments. The principal exchange rates used in preparing the Group nancial statements
are set out in note 5. The Company nancial statements which are set out on pages 138 to 146 are prepared and presented
in sterling. The nancial statements for the Company for the year ended 31 March 2010 will be prepared and presented in
US dollars as the US dollar has become the dominant currency to which the Company is now exposed.
As indicated on page 88, during the year ended 31 March 2009, there have been a number of new accounting standards,
amendments and interpretations effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2008. None of these has had a
material impact on the results or nancial position of the Group for the year under review.
In compliance with the requirements for companies whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, the nancial statements
of the Company are included within the Group annual report. The Company has elected to prepare itsnancial statements under UK
accounting standards.
Comparative information
There have been a number of developments which change the presentation of the comparative nancial information and these
are summarised as follows:
Experian disposed of its transaction processing activities in France on 31 October 2008. As a consequence, in
-
accordance with the requirements of IFRS 5 ‘Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations’,
the results and cash ows of that business for the year ended 31 March 2008 have been reclassied as discontinued.
The results of the EMEA/Asia Pacic geographical segment and the Credit Services business segment (shown within
note 4) have been restated accordingly.
Following a review of the Group’s assessment of risks and rewards, there have been a number of changes in the
-
reporting of revenues and prots across the Group’s four business segments so that these more appropriately reect
the nature of the underlying businesses and align the risks and rewards of certain smaller businesses with those of
the business segments in which they are now reported. Further information on the nature of these changes is given in
note 4.
Except as indicated above, the Group nancial statements have been prepared on a basis consistent with that reported for the
year ended 31 March 2008.
Financial statements