english - About Heraeus

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addition, credit lines with various banks ensure an adequate supply of liquid funds. Risk
concentrations are minimized on the basis of investment limits with individual selected
banks with a good level of creditworthiness.
The risk of liquidity shortages is monitored by Corporate Treasury. Effective cash management,
as well as the ability to fall back on sufficient liquidity, even during times of crisis,
minimizes the risk that Heraeus will not be able to meet its financial obligations.
Value-at-risk
In the past, the management decided to measure significant market price risks resulting
from financial instruments in accordance with the value-at-risk (VaR) method and to have
a report on these risks created on a monthly basis within the treasury report. Value-at-risk
figures are calculated on the basis of a historical simulation. The 250 business days preceding
the closing date are used as the basis of calculation. The historical simulation is a
non-parametric method that uses historical market price changes directly to value the
current portfolio.
The calculation of value-at-risk takes into account exchange rate risks resulting from financial
instruments within the meaning of IFRS 7 only if financial instruments were concluded
in a different currency from the functional currency of the reporting unit in question. Currency
risks that result from the conversion of the individual financial statements of the subsidiaries
into the Group reporting currency, known as “translation risks,” are not taken into
consideration for this purpose.
Portfolios Value-at-risk Value-at-risk
in € million deC. 31, 2012 deC. 31, 2011
Currency risk 23.2 16.1
Securities risk 3.2 3.5
The value-at-risk represents the loss that will not be exceeded with a holding period of
ten days with a 99% probability.