Annual Report 2009 - Von Roll

Financial Reporting 2009 – Consolidated Financial Statements 43Notes to the consolidated financial statements 20091. | Significant accounting policiesGeneral informationVon Roll Holding AG (the company) with its subsidiaries (together Von Roll) is an international manufacturing andservice company. The major activities are presented in the Notes to the Business Segments (Note 5). The companyis a publicly traded company listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange). The address of its registeredoffice is Passwangstrasse 20, 4226 Breitenbach, Switzerland.Summary of significant accounting policiesThe consolidated financial statements of Von Roll Holding AG are prepared in accordance with the InternationalFinancial Reporting Standards (IFRS), issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and in compliancewith the listing regulations of SIX and Swiss Law.The consolidated financial statements are issued in Swiss francs (CHF), as the main Von Roll companies are operativein and financed out of Switzerland. The financial statements are presented in CHF thousand (TCHF). Due to thechosen presentation, immaterial rounding differences can occur. Use of the year in connection with the presentationof balance sheet information relates in principle to 31 December of the year in question unless specified otherwise.Certain minor reclassifications and additional disclosures have been made to the consolidated financial statementscompared with the previous year’s figures.Adoption of new accounting policiesThe following new and revised International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) standards were adopted for the firsttime by Von Roll for the financial year starting on 1 January 2009.» IAS 1 (revised) “Presentation of Financial Statements”. The revised standard stipulates new terms for the componentsof the financial statement. They are, however, not obligatory. If a retrospective restatement of items is madeto the previous year’s figures or items are reclassified, a statement of financial position must be made at the beginningof the comparative period. In addition, changes in equity due to transactions with owners must be shownas a separate component. Any changes to equity not attributable to relationships with owners must be disclosedin a statement of comprehensive income. Companies may choose between a single statement of comprehensiveincome and two statements (separate profit and loss accounts and statement of comprehensive income). Von Rollhas opted for a single statement of comprehensive income. The 2009 Annual Report was drawn up in accordancewith the revised disclosure requirements.» IFRS 8 “Operating Segments”. IFRS 8 replaces IAS 14 “Segment Reporting”. This requires a management approachunder which segment information is presented on the same basis as for internal reporting purposes. As externalreporting at Von Roll already corresponded to internal reporting in previous periods, there was no change to thenumber and definition of the reportable segments compared with the 2008 Annual Report. Compared with the2008 Annual Report a reconciliation was made to the results for the period.The operating segments are reported analogous to internal reporting to chief operating decision maker. AtVon Roll, this position is held by the Board of Directors of Von Roll Holding AG.The comparative information was adjusted and likewise presented in accordance with IAS 1 (revised) and IFRS 8.These changes to the accounting policies only affected the presentation and had no impact on the result andequity.» Improved Disclosures about Financial Instruments (revision of IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures). Due tothe changes to IFRS 7, disclosures about financial instruments were enhanced with respect to disclosures aboutfair value measurements and liquidity risk. Von Roll exercised its right not to provide any comparative informationfor these enhanced disclosures. This is in line with the transitional provisions that were introduced as part of theamendments.