DHL 2012 Annual Report Download - page 198

    
e international business activities of Deutsche Post DHL
expose it to currency risks that are split internally for risk manage-
ment purposes into balance sheet currency risks and currency
risks from planned future transactions.
Balance sheet currency risks arise from the measurement
and settlement of items in foreign currencies that have been recog-
nised if the exchange rate on the measurement or settlement date
diers from the rate on recognition. e resulting foreign exchange
dierences directly impact prot or loss. In order to mitigate this
impact as far as possible, all signicant balance sheet currency risks
within the Group are centralised at Deutsche Post  through the
in-house bank function. e centralised risks are aggregated by
Corporate Treasury to calculate a net position per currency and
hedged externally based on value-at-risk limits. e currency-
related value at risk (  / one-month holding period) for the port-
folio concerned totalled  million (previous year:  million) at
the reporting date; the limit was a maximum of  million.
e notional amount of the currency forwards and currency
swaps used to manage balance sheet currency risks amounted to
, million at the reporting date (previous year: , mil-
lion); the fair value was  million (previous year: – million).
e adjustment to internal Group nancing in December  led
to a temporary year-on-year increase in the notional hedging vol-
ume. For simplication purposes, fair value hedge accounting was
not applied to the derivatives used, which are reported as trading
derivatives instead.
Currency risks arise from planned foreign currency trans-
actions if the future foreign currency transactions are settled at
exchange rates that dier from the rates originally planned or
calculated. ese currency risks are also captured centrally in
Corporate Treasury and managed on a rolling -month basis as
part of a hedging programme. e goal is to hedge an average of
up to   of all signicant currency risks over a -month period.
is makes it possible to plan reliably and reduce uctuations in
earnings caused by currency movements. At the reporting date,
an average of approximately   of the foreign currency risk of
the currencies concerned was hedged for the next  months. e
relevant hedging trans actions are recognised using cash ow hedge
accounting; Note ..
In total, currency forwards and currency swaps with a no-
tional amount of , million (previous year: , million)
were outstanding at the balance sheet date. e corresponding fair
value was  million (previous year: – million). At the end of
the year there were no currency options, as in the previous year.
e Group also held cross-currency swaps with a notional amount
of  million (previous year:  million) and a fair value of
 million (previous year – million) to hedge long-term foreign
currency nancing.
Currency risks resulting from translating assets and liabilities
of foreign operations into the Group’s currency (translation risk)
were not hedged as at  December .
Of the unrealised gains or losses from currency derivatives
recognised in equity as at  December  in accordance with
 ,  million (previous year: – million) is expected to be
recognised in income in the course of .
  requires the disclosure of quantitative risk data show-
ing how prot or loss and equity are aected by changes in exchange
rates at the reporting date. e impact of these changes in exchange
rates on the portfolio of foreign currency nancial instruments is
assessed by means of a value-at-risk calculation (  condence /
one-month holding period). It is assumed that the portfolio as
at the reporting date is representative for the full year. Eects of
hypothetical changes in exchange rates on trans lation risk do not
fall within the scope of  . e following assumptions are used
as a basis for the sensitivity analysis:
Primary nancial instruments in foreign currencies used by
Group companies were hedged by Deutsche Post ’s in-house
bank, with Deutsche Post  setting and guaranteeing monthly
exchange rates. Exchange rate-related changes therefore have no
eect on the prot or loss and equity of the Group companies.
Where, in individual cases, Group companies are not permitted to
participate in in-house banking for legal reasons, their currency
risks from primary nancial instruments are fully hedged locally
through the use of derivatives. ey therefore have no impact on
the Group’s risk position.
Deutsche Post DHL Annual Report 
194