Unilever 2005 Annual Report Download - page 7

04 Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2005
General information
The Unilever Group
Unilever N.V. (NV) is a public limited company registered in the
Netherlands, which has listings of shares or certificates (depositary
receipts) of NV on the stock exchanges in Amsterdam, New York,
Frankfurt and Zürich.
Unilever PLC (PLC) is a public limited company registered in
England which has shares listed on the London Stock Exchange
and, as American Depositary Receipts, on the New York
Stock Exchange.
The two parent companies, NV and PLC, together with their
group companies, operate as a single economic entity (the
Unilever Group, also referred to as Unilever or the Group). NV
and PLC and their group companies constitute a single reporting
entity for the purposes of presenting consolidated accounts.
Accordingly, the accounts of the Unilever Group are presented by
both NV and PLC as their respective consolidated accounts.
Publications
This publication is produced in both Dutch and English and
comprises the full Annual Report and Accounts for 2005 of the
Unilever Group. This document complies with Netherlands and
United Kingdom regulations. It also forms the basis of the NV and
PLC Annual Reports on Form 20-F to the Securities and Exchange
Commission in the United States for the year ended 31 December
2005, and cross references to Form 20-F are set out on page 191.
It is made available to all shareholders who request or elect to
receive it, and on our website at
www.unilever.com/investorcentre.
The separate publication, ‘Unilever Annual Review 2005’,
containing a Summary Financial Statement with figures expressed
in euros, with translations into pounds sterling and US dollars, is
also published in Dutch and English. It is a short form document
that is prepared in accordance with the United Kingdom
regulations for Summary Financial Statements. The Unilever
Annual Review 2005 is mailed to all registered shareholders and
to other shareholders who are either entitled or have asked to
receive it, and is also made available on the website at
www.unilever.com/investorcentre.
Accounting standards
With effect from 1 January 2005, Unilever adopted International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the EU, with a
transition date of 1 January 2004. For further details of this
change please refer to note 35 on page 144. For Unilever, there
are currently no differences between IFRSs as issued by the
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and IFRSs as
adopted by the EU, and therefore no reconciliation is presented.
Reporting currency and exchange rates
Details of key exchange rates used in preparation of these
accounts are given on page 156, together with Noon Buying
Rates in New York for the equivalent dates.
Basis of discussion and analysis
In parts of this document, notably the Group Chief Executive’s
discussion on pages 6 and 7 and the review of operations by
region on pages 26 to 28, discussion of performance is based on
constant rates of exchange. This removes the impact of currency
movements on translation into euros, and more clearly portrays
the underlying performance of the operations themselves. The
constant rate used is the annual average rate for the prior year.
The year-on-year trend in euros is the same as that which would
arise if the results were shown in sterling or US dollars at constant
exchange rates.
€is used in this report to denote amounts in euros.
£and pare used in this report to denote amounts in pounds
sterling and pence respectively.
Fl. is used in this report to denote amounts in Dutch guilders.
$is used in this report to denote amounts in United States
dollars, except where specifically stated otherwise.
The brand names shown in italics in this report are trademarks
owned by or licensed to companies within the Unilever Group.
Cautionary statement
This document may contain forward-looking statements, including
‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words
such as ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘intends’ or the negative of these
terms and other similar expressions of future performance or
results and their negatives are intended to identify such forward
looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based
upon current expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated
developments and other factors affecting the Group. They are not
historical facts, nor are they guarantees of future performance.
Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements, including, among others,
competitive pricing and activities, consumption levels, costs, the
ability to maintain and manage key customer relationships and
supply chain sources, currency values, interest rates, the ability to
integrate acquisitions and complete planned divestitures, physical
risks, environmental risks, the ability to manage regulatory, tax
and legal matters and resolve pending matters within current
estimates, legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments, political,
economic and social conditions in the geographic markets where
the Group operates and new or changed priorities of the Boards.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the
Group are described in the Group’s filings with the London Stock
Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report and Accounts
on Form 20-F. These forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable
law or regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any
change in the Group’s expectations with regard thereto or any
change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based.