Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 156

FINANIAL INSTRUMENTS
The ompany’s accountng polces are the same as the Unlever
roup’s accountng, namely Internatonal Accountng Standard 32
‘Fnancal Instruments Presentaton’ (IAS 32), IAS 39 ‘Fnancal
Instruments Recognton and Measurement’ and IFRS 7 ‘Fnancal
Instruments Dsclosures’ The polces are set out under the
headng ‘aptal and fundng’ n note 15 to the consoldated
accounts on pages 115 and 116 Unlever NV s takng the
exempton for fnancal nstruments dsclosures, because
IFRS 7 dsclosures are gven n notes 15 to 18 to the consoldated
accounts on pages 115 to 129
DEFERRED TAXATION
Deferred tax s recognsed usng the lablty method on taxable
temporary dfferences between the tax base and the accountng
base of tems ncluded n the balance sheet of the ompany
ertan temporary dfferences are not provded for as follows
• The ntal recognton of assets or labltes that affect
nether accountng nor taxable proft and
• Dfferences relatng to nvestments n subsdares
to the extent that they wll probably not reverse n the
foreseeable future
The amount of deferred tax provded s based on the expected
manner of realsaton or settlement of the carryng amount of
assets and labltes, usng tax rates enacted, or substantvely
enacted, at the year end
A deferred tax asset s recognsed only to the extent that t s
probable that future taxable profts wll be avalable aganst whch
the asset can be utlsed Deferred tax assets are reduced to the
extent that t s no longer probable that the related tax beneft wll
be realsed
SHARES HELD BY EMPLOYEE SHARE TRUSTS
Shares held to satsfy optons are accounted for n accordance
wth IAS 32 ‘Fnancal Instruments Presentaton’ and Standards
Interpretaton ommttee 12 ‘onsoldaton of Specal Purpose
Enttes’ (SI 12) All dfferences between the purchase prce
of the shares held to satsfy optons granted and the proceeds
receved for the shares, whether on exercse or lapse, are charged
to reserves
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Unlever NV s the sponsorng employer to a number of penson
schemes There are formal agreements n place for how the
contrbutons to be pad are splt between partcpatng companes
In lne wth ths stated polcy, Unlever NV recognses the assets
and labltes of the schemes of whch t s a sponsorng employer
n full on the NV balance sheet The recovery of contrbutons
from other employng enttes s n lne wth the exstng
agreements that are already n place
Unlever NV has accounted for pensons and smlar benefts
under IAS 19R ‘Employee Benefts’ The operatng and fnancng
costs of defned beneft plans are recognsed separately n the
proft and loss account servce costs are systematcally spread
over the servce lves of employees, and fnancng costs are
recognsed n the perods n whch they arse Varatons from
expected costs, arsng from the experence of the plans or
changes n actuaral assumptons, are recognsed mmedately
n equty The costs of ndvdual events such as past benefts,
enhancements, settlements and curtalments are recognsed
mmedately n the proft and loss account The labltes and,
where applcable, the assets of defned beneft plans are
recognsed at far value n the balance sheet The charges to the
proft and loss account for defned contrbuton plans are Unlever
NV contrbutons payable and the assets of such plans are not
ncluded n Unlever NV’s balance sheet
AOUNTIN INFORMATION AND POLIIES
BASIS OF PREPARATION
The company accounts of Unlever NV (the ompany) were
prepared on the gong concern bass and comply n all materal
respects wth legslaton n the Netherlands As allowed by
Artcle 23621 of the Dutch vl ode, the company accounts are
prepared n accordance wth Fnancal Reportng Standard 101
‘Reduced Dsclosure Framework’ (FRS 101), unless such
standards conflct wth the vl ode n the Netherlands whch
would n such case preval
The accounts are prepared under the hstorcal cost conventon,
except for the revaluaton of fnancal assets classfed as
‘avalable-for-sale’ or ‘far value through proft or loss’, as well as
dervatve fnancal nstruments, whch are reported n accordance
wth the accountng polces set out below These have been
consstently appled to all perods presented and n preparng an
openng FRS 101 balance sheet at 1 January 2014 for the purposes
of the transton to FRS 101
On transton to FRS 101, the ompany has appled the
requrements of paragraphs 6-33 of IFRS 1 ‘Frst tme adoptons
of Internatonal Fnancal Reportng Standards’ Transton tables
showng all materal adustments are dsclosed n note 21
The accountng polces whch follow set out those polces whch
apply n preparng the fnancal statements for the year ended
31 December 2015
Unlever NV s ncluded wthn the consoldated fnancal
statements of the roup The consoldated fnancal statements of
the roup are prepared n accordance wth Internatonal Fnancal
Reportng Standards as ssued by the IASB and as adopted by the
European Unon
As permtted by FRS 101, the ompany has taken advantage of the
dsclosure exemptons avalable under that standard n relaton to
share based payments, fnancal nstruments, captal management,
presentaton of comparatve nformaton n respect of certan
assets, presentaton of a cash flow statement, standards not yet
effectve, mparment of assets and related party transactons
Where requred equvalent dsclosures are gven n the group
accounts of Unlever, whch are avalable wthn ths report
AOUNTIN POLIIES
The prncpal accountng polces are as follows
INTANIBLE ASSETS
Fnte lfe ntangble assets manly comprse know-how and
software These assets are captalsed and amortsed on a straght
lne bass n the ncome statement over the perod of ther expected
useful lves None of the amortsaton perods exceed 20 years
There are no assets where the useful lfe cannot be relably
determned Indefnte lfe ntangble assets manly comprse
trademarks and brands These assets are captalsed at cost but
not amortsed They are subect to revew for mparment annually,
or more frequently f events or crcumstances ndcate ths
necessary Any mparment s charged to the ncome statement
as t arses
INVESTMENTS IN SUBSIDIARIES
Shares n group companes are stated at amortsed cost less any
amounts wrtten off to reflect a permanent mparment Any
mparment s charged to the proft and loss account as t arses
149Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015 Financial statements
NOTES TO THE OMPANY AOUNTS
UNILEVER NV