Porsche 2009 Annual Report Download - page 132

132 Financials
Basis of presentation
Porsche Automobil Holding SE (“Porsche SE”) is a European Company (Societas Europaea)
and is headquartered at Porscheplatz 1 in 70435 Stuttgart, Germany. It is registered at the Stutt-
gart local court under HRB 724512. The business objective of Porsche SE is the management of
companies and the administration of investments in companies, in particular companies active in
the following business fields: the development, design, manufacture and distribution of vehicles and
engines of all kinds and other technical products as well as of parts and components thereof. The
company may engage in all kinds of business and take all measures that are related to the business
purpose or that it deems directly or indirectly useful for achieving that purpose. This also includes
financial services.
The consolidated financial statements of Porsche SE as of 31 July 2010 were prepared in
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as endorsed by the European
Union. The standards published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), London,
that are applicable as of the reporting date as well as the interpretations issued by the International
Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) that are valid for the fiscal year have been
taken into account. The requirements of the standards and interpretations applied were satisfied in
full. The financial statements thus give a true and fair view of the net assets, financial position and
results of operations and cash flows of the Porsche SE group (Porsche SE and its subsidiaries).
These consolidated financial statements comply with the requirements of Sec. 315a HGB
[“Handelsgesetzbuch”: German Commercial Code]. This clause represents the legal basis for group
accounting according to international financial reporting standards in Germany in conjunction with
Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on
the adoption of international financial reporting standards.
The Porsche SE group’s fiscal year is the period from 1 August of a year until 31 July of the
following year. With regard to the creation of an integrated automotive group with the Volkswagen
group, the annual general meeting of Porsche SE adopted a resolution on 29 January 2010 to
change the fiscal year of the company to run concurrently with the calendar year effective
1 January 2011. A short fiscal year will be created for the period from 1 August 2010 to
31 December 2010.
The group’s presentation currency is the euro. Unless otherwise stated, all figures in the
notes are presented in millions of euro (€ million). In some instances, the composition of the individ-
ual items of the financial statements has been changed. The comparative information has been
restated accordingly. The restatements have been marked as such and explained. The income and
expenses from investments accounted for at equity constitute the main contributions to profit/loss
for Porsche SE as a holding company due to the changes in the composition of the Porsche SE
group described in the section “Consolidated group”. For this reason, income from investments
accounted for at equity is now presented within profit or loss before financial result in the income
statement. The profit or loss before financial result presented for the comparative period was re-
stated accordingly, increasing by €400 million as a result. The financial result was reduced accord-
ingly.
Notes to the consolidated financial statements of the
Porsche SE group as of 31 July 2010