International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Recently published IFRS accounting standards
During the period from January 2006 to December 2008, the IASB has established a moratorium on the application of new standards and interpretations. Companies that report under IFRS are now being confronted with new standards, interpretations and modifications of standards, most of which only need to be applied to the figures of 2009. In 2008, no applicable standards or interpretations were modified, which have had any impact on the balance sheet, the income statement and the notes throughout the annual financial statement.

The new or revised standards, which are applicable after 2008, have not yet been applied. Most of the standards will have no impact on the results of the Group, or on the notes there are included in the annual financial statements. The impact of the standards, which will have an influence on the results or on the notes included in the annual financial statements of the Group, will however remain limited. This concerns the standard IFRS 8 "Operating segments", IAS 1 "Presentation of financial statements" and IAS 23 "Borrowing costs". Explanations on these standards were already provided in the financial statements of 2007. Below follows a summary of the new and modified standards and interpretations, which became effective in 2008 and will be effective in 2009.

New and modified standards and interpretations, which are applicable to the end of 2008
IAS 39 "Financial instruments: Recognition and measurement", and IFRS 7, "Financial Instruments: disclosure" - reclassification of financial assets (modifications).
The modifications published by IASB is intended for making reclassification of certain financial instruments possible, which had been classified as being held for trading purposes and are available for sale. These modifications became effective for periods beginning on or after 1 July 2008.

IFRIC 11 IFRS 2 –Group and treasury share transactions.
This interpretation demands agreements whereby employees are granted entitlements to treasury shares of a corporate entity, which must be handled administratively as transactions carried out in treasury shares, even if this entity should buy these shares from a third party, or if the shareholders provide the required treasury shares. This interpretation became effective for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 March 2007.

IFRIC 12 Service concession agreements.
IFRIC published IFRIC 12 in November 2006. This interpretation is applicable to service providers, which provide services on the basis of concessionary agreements, and it explains the administrative handling of the obligations entered into and the rights that were acquired through such service provision.

IFRIC 14 IAS 19 – The limit on a defined benefit asset, minimum funding requirements and their interaction.
IFRIC published IFRIC 14 in July 2007. This interpretation provides guidelines with regard to the definition of the ceiling of the maximum surplus, which may be recognized on the basis of an agreed pension plan, which may be included in assets according to IAS 19 "Employee benefits". This interpretation became effective for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2008.

New and modified standards and interpretations, which are applicable after the end of 2008
IFRS 1 "First Adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards" and IAS 27 "Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements – costs of an investment in a subsidiary, an entity, over which joint control is exercised or an affiliated participation (modifications).
These modifications became effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2009.

IFRS 2 "Share-based payments: vesting conditions and cancellation (modifications).
IASB published a modification of IFRS 2 in January of 2008, which clarifies the definition of the vesting conditions and prescribes how a cancellation of a grant must be handled administratively. This modification became effective for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2009.

IFRS 8 "Operational segments".
IASB published IFRS 8 in November 2006, which becomes effective for the fiscal year on or after 1 January 2009. IFRS 8 will replace IFRS 14 "Segment reporting". Entities that do not apply IFRS 8 at an earlier date will continue to use IAS 14.

IAS 1 "Presentation of financial statements" (modified).
IASB published a revised version of IAS 1 "Presentation of financial statements" in September 2007, which came into effect for the fiscal year on or after 1 January 2009. The standard makes a differentiation between modifications in equity for proprietors and non-proprietors. The summary of changes in equity will therefore only contain details of transactions with proprietors, whereby all of the changes in equity that concern non-proprietors will be reported in a single line. In addition, the standard introduces an overview of realized and non-realized profits: this summary will include all income and expenditures that are included in the profit-and-loss statement (income statement), together with all other items concerning included income and expenditures, either in a single or in two linked summaries

IAS 23 "Borrowing costs" (modified).
IASB published the modification concerning IAS 23 in April 2007. This revised IAS 23 requires activation of the financing costs, which are directly attributable to the acquisition, construction or production of an asset that must be taken into consideration. This modified IAS 23 became effective for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2009.

IAS 32 "Financial instruments: presentation" and IAS 1 "Presentation of the financial statements - puttable financial instruments and obligations in the event of liquidation" (modifications)
These modifications come into effect for fiscal years on or after 1 January 2009 and they foresee a limited applicability, whereby puttable financial instruments can be exceptionally classified as equity, if they fulfill a number of specific characteristics.

Improvements of IFRS
IASB published its first omnibus of modifications with regard to the standards in May 2008, which was primarily intended to remove inconsistencies and to clarify certain formulations. Separate transition provisions were made for each standard.

IFRS 3 "Business combinations (modified)" and IAS 27 "Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements (modified)".
IASB published the revised standard with regard to business combinations in January 2008, which comes into effect for fiscal years on or after 1 July 2009. This standard introduces modifications on the administrative processing of business combinations. These modifications will have an impact on the amounts recognized as goodwill, the profits that are reported during an acquisition period and the profits that will be reported in the future.

IAS 39 "Financial instruments: Inclusion and valuation of hedged positions" (modification).
These modifications became effective for periods on or after 1 January 2009.

IFRIC 13 "Customer programmes".
IFRIC published IFRIC 13 in June 2007. This interpretation requires that savings points are handled administratively as a separate component of the sales transaction in which they are granted. This modification becomes effective for fiscal years on or after 1 July 2008.

IFRIC 15 "Agreements for the construction of real estate".
IFRIC published IFRIC 15 in July 2008. This interpretation comes into effect for the fiscal years on or after 1 January 2009. It clarifies when and how revenues and the costs that accompany the sale of a real estate unit must be recognized, if the developer and the seller have reached an agreement before construction of the real estate property was completed.

IFRIC 16 "Hedges of net investments in a foreign operation".
IFRIC published IFRIC 16 in July 2008. This interpretation provides guidelines with regard to the administrative handling for hedging of net investments. This interpretation became effective for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 October 2008.