APC 2015 Annual Report Download - page 257

2015 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 255
PARENT C OMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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3. Notes to the financial statements
(All amounts are in thousands of euros unless otherwise indicated)
3.1 Significant events of the financial year
During the fi nancial year, Schneider Electric SE carried out a capital
increase for EUR157million, as follows:
•the employee share issuance carried out on July 8, 2015 as
part of the worldwide Employee Stock Purchase Plan, for
EUR134million;
•the exercise of performance shares, for EUR23million.
In 2015, the company issued four bonds for EUR1,850 million,
the company reimbursed two bonds for EUR750million and the
« Schuldschein » credit line for EUR184 million. Furthermore,
Schneider Electric Industries SAS reimbursed a EUR600 million
loan.
On May5, 2015, the 2014 dividend was paid for EUR1,098million.
Since April2015, the company proceeded to buyback 10,623,464
of its own shares for EUR600million.
At December31, 2015, the amount of factoring of trade receivables
and the CICE 2013 to 2015 receivable was EUR45million.
3.2 Accounting principles
As in the prior fi nancial year, the fi nancial statements for the fi nancial
year ended December31, 2015 have been prepared in accordance
with French generally accepted accounting principles.
Non-current assets
Non-current assets of all types are stated at cost.
Intangible assets
Intangible rights are amortized over a maximum of fi ve years.
Property, plant and equipment
Items of property, plant and equipment are depreciated on a
straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, ranging from
three to ten years.
Shares in subsidiaries and affiliates
Shares in subsidiaries and affi liates are stated at acquisition cost.
Provisions for impairment may be funded where the carrying amount
is higher than the estimated value in use at the end of the fi nancial
year. This estimate is primarily determined on the basis of the
underlying net assets, earnings outlook and economic forecasts.
For the more recently-acquired investments, the analysis also takes
account of the acquired business goodwill. For listed securities, the
average stock price over the previous month is used. Unrealized
gains resulting from such estimates are not recognized.
Own shares
Treasury stocks are assessed by category (shares in subsidiaries
and affi liates, marketable securities), according to the F.I.F.O.
method «fi rst-in, fi rst-out».
The accounting classifi cation of treasury stocks depends on the
purpose for which they are held:
•own shares are classifi ed in marketable securities if they are the
object of an explicit allocation in the cover of stock option plans
or if they are bought to regulate the share price of the Group;
•own shares are classifi ed in long-term investments if they are not
the object of an explicit allocation to cover an option plan or if
they are bought with the aim of their use within the context of a
liquidity contract by an investment services provider, or of their
later cancellation within the framework of a capital reduction.
The accounting of an impairment of own shares depends on the
purpose for which they are held:
•if own shares are allocated to cover of stock option plans, there
is no reason to record a provision for impairment;
•in other cases, it is necessary to book an impairment if the
average stock market price of the month before the closing is
lower than the weighted average cost.
Pension obligations
The present value of termination benefi ts is determined using
the projected unit credit method. Provisions are funded for the
supplementary pension benefi ts provided by the company on the
basis of the contractual terms of top-hat agreements, granting
a level of benefi ts exceeding the general regimes. The company
applies the corridor method to actuarial gains and losses arising
from changes in estimates. Under this method, the portion of
net cumulative actuarial gains and losses exceeding 10% of the
projected benefi t obligation is amortized over 10years.