Preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 2 February 2008
Notes to the financial information
For the financial year ended 2 February 2008
1. Basis of preparation
The financial information which comprises the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of recognised income and expense, consolidated balance sheet, consolidated cash flow statement and related notes do not constitute the Group’s Annual Report and Accounts. The auditors have reported on the Group’s statutory accounts for each of the years 2007/08 and 2006/07 under section 235 of the Companies Act 1985, which do not contain statements under sections 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985 and are unqualified. The statutory accounts for 2006/07 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and the statutory accounts for 2007/08 will be filed with the Registrar in due course. Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts will be posted to shareholders during the week beginning 28 April 2008.
The Group’s financial reporting year ends on the nearest Saturday to 31 January each year. The current financial year is the 52 weeks ended 2 February 2008. The comparative financial year is the 53 weeks ended 3 February 2007. This only impacts the UK operations with all of the other operations reporting on a calendar basis as a result of local statutory requirements.
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union, IFRIC interpretations and those parts of the Companies Act 1985 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the use of valuations for certain financial instruments, share-based payments and post employment benefits.
The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are consistent with those set out in the statutory accounts for 2006/07.
Use of adjusted measures
Kingfisher believes that retail profit, adjusted pre-tax profit, adjusted post-tax profit and adjusted earnings per share provide additional useful information on underlying trends to shareholders. These measures are used by Kingfisher for internal performance analysis and incentive compensation arrangements for employees. The terms ‘retail profit’, ‘exceptional items’ and ‘adjusted’ are not defined terms under IFRS and may therefore not be comparable with similarly titled profit measures reported by other companies. It is not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP measurements of profit. The term ‘adjusted’ refers to the relevant measure being reported excluding exceptional items, financing fair value remeasurements and amortisation of acquisition intangibles. Retail profit is defined as operating profit before central costs (principally the costs of the Group’s head office), exceptional items, amortisation of acquisition intangibles and the Group’s share of interest and tax of joint ventures and associates.
The separate reporting of non-recurring exceptional items, which are presented as exceptional within their relevant income statement category, helps provide an indication of the Group’s underlying business performance. The principal items which will be included as exceptional items are:
- non-trading items included in operating profit such as profits and losses on the disposal or closure of subsidiaries, joint ventures, associates and investments which do not form part of the Group’s trading activities;
- gains and losses on the disposal of properties; and
- the costs of significant restructuring and incremental acquisition integration costs.
