Ryanair 2006 Annual Report Download - page 28

Ryanair Holdings plc is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in the
Republic of Ireland, (also referred to hereafter as “we”, “our”, “us”, “Ryanair”,
“the company” or “the group”) and is a low fares airline headquartered in Dublin,
Ireland. The financial statements were authorised for issue by the directors on
August 21, 2006. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance
with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as more particularly
detailed below. The following accounting policies have been applied consistently to
all periods presented except as otherwise set out below. For a discussion of our
critical accounting policies; please refer to page 13 of the Operating and Financial
Review.
Statement of Accounting Policies
28
ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2006
Basis of Preparation
The Consolidated and Company Financial Statements have
been prepared in accordance with International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union
(EU) that are effective at March 31, 2006 with the exception of
the Amendment to IAS 19, which the group has chosen to adopt
early. The individual financial statements of the company have
been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU,
as applied in accordance with the Companies Acts 1963 to
2005. On publishing the company financial statements
together with group financial statements the group is taking
advantage of the exemption contained in Section 148(8) of the
Companies Act 1963 not to present its individual income
statement and related notes that form a part of these
approved financial statements. These are our first
Consolidated and Company Financial Statements prepared in
accordance with IFRS, and comparative information, which
was previously presented in accordance with Irish generally
accepted accounting principles (Irish GAAP) for the year
ended March 31, 2005, has been restated under IFRS, with the
exception of IAS 32 and 39 which were adopted with effect
from April 1, 2005. An explanation of the effect of the
transition to IFRS is provided in Note 27 to the Consolidated
Financial Statements.
These Consolidated and Company Financial Statements are
presented in Euro rounded to the nearest thousand, being the
functional currency of the parent company and the majority of
the group companies. They are prepared on the historical cost
basis, except for financial instruments and derivative financial
instruments, which are stated at fair value. Any non-current
assets classified as held for sale are stated at the lower of
cost or fair value less costs to sell.
The preparation of financial statements requires management
to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect
the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and
liabilities, income and expenses. These estimates and
associated assumptions are based on historical experience
and various other factors believed to be reasonable under the
circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making
the judgements about carrying values of assets and liabilities
that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual
results could differ materially from these estimates. These
underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the
period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects
only that period, or in the period of the revision and future
periods if these are also affected.
Statement of Compliance
The Consolidated and Company Financial Statements have
been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the EU
and were effective at March 31, 2006 further to the IAS
Regulation (EC 1606/2002) with the exception of the
Amendment to IAS 19, which the group has chosen to adopt
early. The company financial statements are also prepared in
accordance with the Companies Acts 1963 to 2005 except for
the exemption elected to be used by the group under Section
148(8) of the Companies Act 1963, in relation to the publication
of its income statement. As these are our first Consolidated
and Company Financial Statements prepared in accordance
with IFRS, IFRS 1, “First-time Adoption of International
Financial Reporting Standards,” has been applied. For
additional information on the transition to IFRS, please refer
to note 27 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The IFRS as adopted by the EU and applied by us in the
preparation of these financial statements are those that were
effective at March 31, 2006 with the exception of IAS 19, which
the group has chosen to adopt early. The following provides a
brief outline on the likely impact on future financial
statements of relevant IFRSs adopted by the EU which are not
yet effective and have not been adopted in these financial
statements;
• Amendment to IAS 1- Capital disclosures (effective January 1,
2007): this amendment will require additional disclosure
about our capital structure.
• Amendments to IAS 39- Cash Flow Hedge Accounting of
Forecast Intragroup Transactions (effective for fiscal periods
beginning on or after January 1, 2006): this amendment is not
expected to affect us significantly.