DHL 2006 Annual Report Download - page 112

Notes
to the Consolidated Financial Statements
of Deutsche Post AG for the Period
Ended December 31, 2006
1 Basis of accounting
As a listed company, Deutsche Post AG prepared its consolidated nancial
statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRSs) required to be applied in the EU and the commercial law
provisions to be additionally applied in accordance with Section a() of the
Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB – German Commercial Code).
e requirements of the standards applied have been satised in full, and
the consolidated nancial statements of Deutsche Post World Net therefore
provide a true and fair view of its net assets, nancial position, and results
of operations.
e consolidated nancial statements consist of the income statement,
balance sheet, cash ow statement, statement of changes in equity as well
as the Notes.
e accounting policies, as well as the explanations and disclosures in the
Notes to the IFRS consolidated nancial statements for scal year , are
generally based on the same accounting policies used in the  consolidated
nancial statements. Exceptions to this are the revised and new accounting
standards that have been required to be applied by the Group since January ,
. ese exceptions are explained in Note  (New developments in
international accounting under IFRSs and the restatement of prior-period
amounts). e accounting policies are explained in Note .
e scal year of Deutsche Post AG and its consolidated subsidiaries is the
calendar year. Deutsche Post AG, whose registered oce is in Bonn, is entered
in the commercial register of the Bonn Local Court.
e consolidated nancial statements are prepared in euros (). Unless other-
wise stated, all amounts are given in millions of euros ( million, m).
2 Significant differences between International Financial Reporting
Standards and German accounting principles
e accompanying consolidated nancial statements incorporate the following
signicant accounting policies that dier from German law:
•Internally generated intangible assets are recognized where these meet the
criteria for recognition as assets.
•Under IFRSs, goodwill resulting from the acquisition of subsidiaries to be
consolidated must be recognized. Goodwill from acquisitions is not
amortized, but instead tested annually for impairment.
•Pension provisions are measured using the projected unit credit method
reecting future compensation and retirement benet trends as well as the
corridor rule in accordance with IAS . Both indirect and direct pension
obligations (dened benet plans) were included in the computation of
pension obligations.
•Other provisions are only recognized to the extent that obligations to third
parties are more likely than not to arise ( plus rule). Accruals, which
are characterized by a far higher level of certainty in terms of the timing
and amount of settlement of the obligation, are carried under liabilities.
•Deferred tax assets and liabilities from temporary dierences as well as
deferred tax assets and liabilities from loss carryforwards are accounted
for using the balance sheet approach on the basis of the enacted or expected
tax rates applicable to future distributions.
•In accordance with IAS , all nancial instruments, including derivatives,
are recognized and measured at amortized cost or fair value, depending on
the category to which they are assigned.
•In the case of nance leases, assets are capitalized and the residual liability
is recognized as an expense using the allocation criteria set out in IAS .
3 Consolidated group
In addition to Deutsche Post AG, the consolidated nancial statements for the
period ended December , , generally include all German and foreign
operating companies in which Deutsche Post AG directly or indirectly holds
a majority of voting rights, or whose activities it can in some other way
control. e companies are consolidated from the date on which Deutsche
Post World Net is able to exercise control.
e companies listed in the table below are consolidated in addition to the
parent company Deutsche Post AG.
Consolidated group
2005 2006
Number of fully consolidated companies
(subsidiaries)
German 101 133
Foreign 521 9201)
Number of proportionately consolidated
joint ventures
German 2 2
Foreign 3 6
Number of companies accounted for at equity
(associates)
German 4 4
Foreign 29 32
1) The increase in fully consolidated companies is substantially due to the consolidation of the Exel
Group as of the first quarter of 2006, including its individual companies.
e following table gives an overview of signicant acquisitions required to
be consolidated and increases in equity interests in scal year :
108
Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2006