Experian 2010 Annual Report Download - page 154

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Experian Annual Report 2010 Financial statements152
Notes to the parent company nancial
statements
for the year ended 31 March 2010
A. Corporate information
Experian plc (the ‘Company’) is incorporated and registered in Jersey under Jersey Companies Law as a public company limited
by shares and is resident in Ireland. The principal legislation under which the Company operates is Jersey Companies Law and
regulations made thereunder. The address of its registered ofce is 22 Grenville Street, St Helier, Jersey JE4 8PX.
The principal activity of the Company is to act as the ultimate holding company of the Experian group of companies (the ‘Group’)
and its shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange’s Regulated Market. Experian is a global information services group.
B. Basis of preparation and signicant accounting policies
Basis of preparation
The separate nancial statements of the Company are presented in compliance with the requirements for companies whose
shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange’s Regulated Market. They have been prepared on a going concern basis
and under the historical cost convention, modied by the revaluation of certain nancial instruments, and in accordance with
the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (‘UK GAAP’). Although the Company is
incorporated and registered in Jersey, the parent company nancial statements are designed to include disclosures sufcient to
comply with those parts of the UK Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under UK GAAP.
As indicated in the directors’ report, with effect from 1 April 2009, the directors deemed that the currency of the primary
economic environment in which the Company operates was no longer sterling and that it was more appropriate for the Company
to adopt the US dollar as its functional currency and to report in US dollars. Accordingly these nancial statements are
presented in US dollars and comparative gures, which were originally reported in sterling, have been represented. The sterling
exchange rate with the US dollar used for the purposes of the representation of the Company’s assets and liabilities at 31 March
2009 was £1 = US$1.43 and an average rate was used for the purposes of the representation of the results for the year then
ended.
These nancial statements comprise the prot and loss account, balance sheet and related notes. Under the terms of Financial
Reporting Standard (‘FRS’) 1 ‘Cash Flow Statements’, the Company is exempt from publishing a cash ow statement and, under
the terms of FRS 8 ‘Related Party Disclosures’, is also exempt from disclosing transactions with other wholly-owned members
of the Group.
The Experian plc Group nancial statements for the year ended 31 March 2010 contain nancial instrument disclosures required
by IFRS 7 ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation’ and these would also comply with the disclosures required by
FRS 29 ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation’. Accordingly, the Company has taken advantage of the exemption
in FRS 29 and has not presented separate nancial instrument disclosures.
Signicant accounting policies
The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these nancial statements are set out below. These policies have
been consistently applied to both years presented.
Tangible xed assets
Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the estimated life of the asset and the remaining life of the lease.
Leases
Payments made under operating leases are charged in the prot and loss account on a straight line basis over the period of the
lease.
Investments in group undertakings
Investments in group undertakings are stated at cost less any provisions necessary for permanent diminution in value.
Impairment of xed assets
Where there is an indication of impairment, xed assets are subject to review for impairment in accordance with FRS 11
‘Impairment of Fixed Assets and Goodwill’. Any impairment is recognised in the year in which it occurs.
Debtors and creditors
Debtors are initially recognised at fair value and carried at the lower of cost and recoverable amount. Where the time value of
money is material, debtors are carried at amortised cost. Creditors are initially recognised at fair value and carried at amortised
cost if the time value of money is material.
Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank includes deposits held at call with banks and other short-term highly liquid investments.