Vodafone 2015 Annual Report Download - page 119

3. Operating prot/(loss)
Detailed below are the key amounts recognised in arriving at our operating prot/(loss)
2015 2014 2013
£m £m £m
Net foreign exchange losses 816 21
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment (note 11):
Owned assets 5,002 3,990 3,600
Leased assets 44 48 37
Amortisation of intangible assets (note 10) 4,519 3,522 3,024
Impairment of goodwill in subsidiaries, associates and joint arrangements (note 4) –6,600 7,700
Negative goodwill1– – (473)
Research and development expenditure 140 214 307
Staff costs (note 25) 4,194 3,875 3,620
Operating lease rentals payable:
Plant and machinery 774 651 506
Other assets including xed line rentals 1,529 1,502 1,297
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 49 85 77
Own costs capitalised attributable to the construction or acquisition of property, plant and equipment (547) (455) (356)
Note:
1 Negative goodwill arising on the acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc on 27 July 2012.
The total remuneration of the Group’s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and other member rms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International
Limited, for services provided to the Group during the year ended 31 March 2015 is analysed below.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was appointed as the Group’s auditor for the year ended 31 March 2015. Accordingly, comparative gures in the table
below for the years ended 31 March 2014 and 31 March 2013 are in respect of remuneration paid to the Group’s previous auditor, Deloitte LLP and
other member rms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
2015 2014 2013
£m £m £m
Parent company 2 1 1
Subsidiaries 10 8 7
Audit fees: 12 9 8
Audit-related fees1 1 1 1
Other assurance services2, 3 13 –
Tax fees32– –
Non-audit fees: 4 4 1
Total fees 16 13 9
Notes:
1 Relates to fees for statutory and regulatory lings.
2 Amount for 2014 primarily arose from regulatory lings and shareholder documentation requirements in respect of the disposal of Verizon Wireless and the acquisition of the outstanding
minority stake in Vodafone Italy.
3 At the time of the Board decision to recommend PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the statutory auditor for the year ended 31 March 2015 in February 2014, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were
providing a range of services to the Group. All services that were prohibited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) for a statutory auditor to provide, ceased by 31 March 2014.
All engagements that are not prohibited by the SEC, but would not have met the Group’s own internal approval policy for non-audit services, ceased by 30 June 2014 to enable a transition
to alternative suppliers, where required. These services had a value of approximately £3 million through to completion and are included in the table above.
A description of the work performed by the Audit and Risk Committee in order to safeguard auditor independence when non-audit services are
provided is set out in “Corporate governance” on page 67.
Overview Strategy review Performance Governance Financials Additional information Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2015
117