DHL 2008 Annual Report Download - page 140

Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2008
4 New developments in international accounting under
IFRS
 e following standards, changes to standards and interpre-
tations are required to be applied on or a er  January :
On  October , the  published amendments to
  (Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement) and
to   (Financial Instruments: Disclosures) to re ect current
develop ments in the  nancial markets. As a result of the amend-
ments, it is now possible, subject to certain conditions, to reclassify
 nancial assets at fair value through pro t or loss to other categories.
Furthermore,  nancial assets in the available-for-sale category may
also be reclassi ed as loans and receivables in future, subject to cer-
tain conditions.  ese amendments were adopted into European law
by the Commission of the European Communities by way of Com-
mission Regulation  No.  dated  October  and
entered into e ect on  October .  e Deutsche Postbank Group
has made use of these amendments. Further details can be found
in Note 38.
New accounting pronouncements adopted
by the European Union
  (Operating Segments), which supersedes the existing
  (Segment Reporting), contains new provisions relating to the
presentation of segment reporting.   requires segment report-
ing to be based on the management approach. Under this approach,
the de nition of the segments and the disclosures for each segment
are based on the information used internally by management for the
purposes of allocating resources to the components of the entity and
assessing their performance. Application of   is mandatory for
periods beginning on or a er  January .  e  rst-time appli-
cation of   is not expected to have any signi cant e ects on the
consolidated  nancial statements.
  (Borrowing Costs), which was revised in , requires
borrowing costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition, con-
struction or production of qualifying assets to be capitalised.  e
existing option to recognise borrowing costs immediately as an
expense will no longer be available. Application of   (as revised
in ) is mandatory for  nancial years beginning on or a er  Janu-
ary . Application of the new provisions will have no signi cant
e ects on the consolidated  nancial statements.
In January , the  issued a revision of   (Share-
based Payment).  e revision clari es that vesting conditions are
service conditions and performance conditions only. Cancellations
of the payment plan (annulment) should receive the same accounting
treatment irrespective of whether the payment plan is cancelled by
the entity or by another party. Previously,  . applied explic-
itly only to cancellations by the entity. Application of the revision
is mandatory from  January .  e  rst-time application of the
revised Standard will have no signi cant e ects on the consolidated
 nancial statements.
  (  Group and Treasury Share Transactions)
clari es the issue of how   should be applied to share-based
payment arrangements involving the grant of the entity’s own equity
instruments or equity instruments of another entity within the same
group.  e Interpretation is e ective for  nancial years beginning on
or a er  March . As part of the endorsement by the European
Union, application of the Interpretation is not mandatory as of the
date of initial application envisaged by the , but only starting
in  nancial year .  e  rst-time application of   is not
expected to have any signi cant e ect on the consolidated  nan-
cial statements.
  (Customer Loyalty Programmes) sets out the
accounting treatment of revenues arising in connection with cus-
tomer loyalty programmes operated by the manufacturers or service
providers themselves or by third parties. As part of the endorsement
by the European Union, application of the Interpretation is not man-
datory as of the date of initial application envisaged by the , but
only starting in  nancial year .  e  rst-time application of the
Interpretation will not have any signi cant e ects on the consoli-
dated  nancial statements.
  (  –  e Limit on a De ned Bene t Asset, Min-
imum Funding Requirements and their Interaction) was issued
on  July  and supplements the existing provisions of  
relating to the limit on the measurement of a de ned bene t asset
( .  .). In addition, the Interpretation sets out how the require-
ment to limit a de ned bene t asset should be applied in the event of
statutory or contractual minimum funding requirements. As part of
the endorsement by the European Union in December , appli-
cation of the Interpretation is not mandatory as of the date of ini-
tial application envisaged by the , but only starting in  nancial
years beginning on or a er  December .  e  rst-time appli-
cation of   is not expected to have any signi cant e ects on
the consolidated  nancial statements.
 e revision of   (Presentation of Financial Statements) is
intended to improve users’ ability to analyse and compare the infor-
mation given in  nancial statements.  e changes relate mainly to
revised designations for the income statement, balance sheet and
cash  ow statement, the introduction of a statement of certain non-
owner changes in equity and the obligation to publish an opening
balance sheet for the earliest period presented that is a ected by a
retrospective change of accounting policy or restatement. Application
of the revised Standard is mandatory for  nancial years beginning
on or a er  January .  e  rst-time application of the revised
Standard will have no signi cant e ects on the presentation of the
consolidated  nancial statements.
In February , the  issued amendments to  
(Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation).  e revision
permits puttable instruments to be classi ed as equity in certain
circum stances.  e revision of the Standard is intended to allow
German partnerships to classify their partnership capital as equity
in  consolidated  nancial statements. Application of the revised
Standard is mandatory for periods beginning on or a er  Janu-
ary .  e revised Standard will not apply to the consolidated
 nancial statements.
In May , the  issued amendments relating to  
(First-Time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Stand-
ards) and to   (Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements).
 e amendment to   provides that, in the  opening balance
sheet of its separate  nancial statements, an entity may report the
carrying amount of its investment in subsidiaries, jointly control-
led entities and associates either at the fair value of the investment
at the date of transition to  or at its carrying amount at that date
resulting from previously applied accounting principles, instead of
at cost.  e amendments to   remove the de nition of the cost
136