DHL 2012 Annual Report Download - page 157

Useful lives
Years 1
Buildings 20 to 50
Technical equipment and machinery 10 to 20
Aircraft 15 to 20
 systems 4 to 5
Transport equipment and vehicle fleet 4 to 18
Other operating and oce equipment 8 to 10
1 The useful lives indicated represent maximum amounts specified by the Group. The actual
useful lives may be shorter due to contractual arrangements or other specific factors such
as time and location.
If there are indications of impairment, an impairment test
must be carried out; see the section headed Impairment.
Impairment
At each balance sheet date, the carrying amounts of intan gible
assets, property, plant and equipment and investment property
are reviewed for indications of impairment. If there are any such
indications, an impairment test must be carried out. is is done
by determining the recoverable amount of the relevant asset and
comparing it with the carrying amount.
In accordance with  , the recoverable amount is the
asset’s fair value less costs to sell or its value in use, whichever is
higher. e value in use is the present value of the pre-tax free cash
ows expected to be derived from the asset in future. e discount
rate used is a pre-tax rate of interest reecting current market
conditions. If the recoverable amount cannot be determined for
an individual asset, the recoverable amount is determined for the
smallest identiable group of assets to which the asset in question
can be allocated and which generates independent cash ows (cash
generating unit – ). If the recoverable amount of an asset is
lower than its carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognised
immediately in respect of the asset. If, aer an impairment loss has
been recognised, a higher recoverable amount is determined for
the asset or the  at a later date, the impairment loss is reversed
up to a carrying amount that does not exceed the recoverable
amount. e increased carrying amount attributable to the reversal
of the impairment loss is limited to the carrying amount that would
have been determined (net of amortisation or depreciation) if no
impairment loss had been recognised in the past. e reversal of
the impairment loss is recognised in the income statement. Impair-
ment losses recognised in respect of goodwill may not be reversed.
Since January , goodwill has been accounted for using
the impairment-only approach in accordance with  . is
stipulates that goodwill must be subsequently measured at cost,
less any cumulative adjustments from impairment losses. Pur-
chased goodwill is therefore no longer amortised and instead is
tested for impairment annually in accordance with  , regard-
less of whether any indication of possible impairment exists, as in
the case of intangible assets with an indenite useful life. In add-
ition, the obligation remains to conduct an impairment test if there
is any indication of impairment. Goodwill resulting from company
acquisitions is allocated to the identiable groups of assets ( s
or groups of  s) that are expected to benet from the synergies
of the acquisition. ese groups represent the lowest reporting level
at which the goodwill is monitored for internal management pur-
poses. e carrying amount of a  to which goodwill has been
allocated is tested for impairment annually and whenever there is
an indication that the unit may be impaired. Where impairment
losses are recognised in connection with a  to which goodwill
has been allocated, the existing carrying amount of the goodwill
is reduced rst. If the amount of the impairment loss exceeds the
carrying amount of the goodwill, the dierence is allocated to the
remaining non-current assets in the .
Finance leases
A lease nancing transaction is an agreement in which the
lessor conveys to the lessee the right to use an asset for a speci-
ed period in return for a payment or a number of payments. In
accordance with  , benecial ownership of leased assets is
attributed to the lessee if the lessee substantially bears all risks and
rewards incident to ownership of the leased asset. To the extent
that benecial ownership is attributable to the Group as the lessee,
the asset is capitalised at the date on which use starts, either at fair
value or at the present value of the minimum lease payments if this
is less than the fair value. A lease liability in the same amount is
recognised under non-current liabilities. e lease is subsequently
measured at amortised cost using the eective interest method.
e depreciation methods and estimated useful lives correspond to
those of comparable purchased assets.
Operating leases
For operating leases, the Group reports the leased asset at
amortised cost as an asset under property, plant and equipment
where it is the lessor. e lease payments recognised in the period
are shown under other operating income. Where the Group is the
lessee, the lease payments made are recognised as lease expense
under materials expense. Lease expenses and income are recog-
nised using the straight-line method.
Investments in associates
Investments in associates are accounted for using the equity
method in accordance with   (Investments in Associates).
Based on the cost of acquisition at the time of purchase of the
investments, the carrying amount of the investment is increased or
reduced annually to reect the share of earnings, dividends distrib-
uted and other changes in the equity of the associates attributable
to the investments of Deutsche Post  or its consolidated sub-
sidiaries. e goodwill contained in the carrying amounts of the
invest ments is accounted for in accordance with  . Invest-
ments in companies accounted for using the equity method are im-
paired if the recoverable amount falls below the carrying amount.
Deutsche Post DHL Annual Report 
Consolidated Financial Statements
Notes
Basis of preparation
153