DHL 2008 Annual Report Download - page 136

Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2008
Notes
Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements of Deutsche Post AG
1 Basis of accounting
As a listed company, Deutsche Post  prepared its con-
solidated  nancial statements in accordance with the International
Financial Reporting Standards  as adopted by the  and the
provisions of commercial law to be additionally applied in accord-
ance with Section  a  of the Handelsgesetzbuch ( – German
commercial code).  e  nancial statements represent an annual
 nancial report within the meaning of the Transparenzrichtlinie-
Umsetzungsgesetz ( – Transparency directive implementing act)
(Section  v of the Wertpapierhandelsgesetz (WpHG – German secu-
rities trading act)) dated  January .
 e requirements of the standards applied have been satis-
 ed in full, and the consolidated  nancial statements therefore pro-
vide a true and fair view of the Group’s 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. In order to improve the clarity of pres-
entation, various items in the balance sheet and in the income state-
ment have been combined.  ese items are disclosed and explained
separately in the Notes.  e income statement has been classi ed in
accordance with the nature of expense method.
 e accounting policies, as well as the explanations and dis-
closures in the Notes to the  consolidated  nancial statements
for  nancial year , are generally based on the same account-
ing policies used in the  consolidated  nancial statements.
Exceptions to this are the changes in international accounting under
 described in Note 4 that have been required to be applied
by the Group since  January  and the restatement of prior-
period amounts ( Note 5 ).  e accounting policies are explained
in Note 7.
 e  nancial year of Deutsche Post  and its consolidated
subsidiaries is the calendar year. Deutsche Post , whose regis-
tered o ce is in Germany, is entered in the commercial register of
the Bonn Local Court.
 ese consolidated  nancial statements were authorised for
issue by a resolution of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post 
dated  February .
The consolidated financial statements are prepared in
euros . Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are given in mil-
lions of euros ( million,  m).
2 Consolidated group
In addition to Deutsche Post , the consolidated  nan-
cial statements for the period ended  December  generally
include all German and foreign operating companies in which
Deutsche Post  directly or indirectly holds a majority of voting
rights, or whose activities it can in some other way control.  e com-
panies are consolidated from the date on which the Group is able
to exercise control.
 e companies listed in the table below are consolidated in
addition to the parent company Deutsche Post .
Consolidated group
2007 2008
Number of fully consolidated companies
(subsidiaries)
German 113 106
Foreign 857 854
Number of proportionately consolidated
joint ventures
German 1 1
Foreign 12 18
Number of companies accounted for at equity
(associates)
German 3 3
Foreign 18 12
 e list of the Group’s shareholdings in accordance with Sec-
tion   Nos.  to  and  of the  is published in the Electronic
Federal Gazette. In addition, a complete list of Deutsche Post ’s
shareholdings has been  led with the commercial register of the Bonn
Local Court. A list of the signi cant subsidiaries, joint ventures and
associates included in the consolidated  nancial statements is pre-
sented in Note 57.
The following table gives an overview of the significant
acquisitions, increases in shareholdings and new company forma-
tions required to be included in  nancial year :
Companies included for the fi rst time
Date of acquisition/
Equity interest % Inclusion method initial inclusion Notes
EXPRESS
Express Couriers Australia Pty Ltd., Australia 50
Proportionately
consolidated February 2008 Formed
Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc., USA 49 Fully consolidated November 2008
Fully consolidated based on
contractual arrangements
SUPPLY CHAIN/CIS
Williams Lea Holdings Plc, United Kingdom 96 Fully consolidated April 2008
Increase in shareholding
(30 %)
DHL Logistics (China) Co. Ltd., China (formerly
Exel-Sinotrans Freight Forwarding Co. Ltd., China) 100 Fully consolidated April 2008
Increase in shareholding
(50 %)
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