Financial Reporting - Rexel

The variation in provisions is detailed in the table below:
(in millions of euros) Restructuring Tax litigation
Other
litigation &
warranty
claims
Vacant
properties
Total
provisions
At January 1, 2010 …………….. "" 37.7 29.7 51.7 62.1 181.2
Change in consolidation scope ……"" - - (3.4) - (3.4)
Increase ……………………………. "" 22.4 2.4 6.8 11.1 42.7
Use ………………………………… "" (27.7) (5.1) (33.9) (19.0) (85.7)
Release ………………………………"" (2.2) (5.7) (1.0) (2.7) (11.6)
Translation differencies ……………"" 1.7 0.7 1.5 2.0 5.9
Other changes ………………………"" (2.7) 0.4 (1.8) (0.4) (4.5)
At December 31, 2010 ………… "" 29.2 22.4 19.9 53.1 124.6
Change in consolidation scope ……"" (0.3) - 1.4 (3.1) (2.0)
Increase ……………………………. "" 15.5 1.6 15.7 15.3 48.1
Use ………………………………… "" (20.3) (2.8) (1.7) (16.4) (41.2)
Release ………………………………"" (0.3) (1.5) (3.7) (0.7) (6.2)
Translation differencies ……………"" (0.2) - (0.1) 1.9 1.6
Other changes ………………………"" (5.2) - (3.2) 8.8 0.4
At December 31, 2011 ………… "" 18.4 19.7 28.3 58.9 125.3
Provisions mainly comprise:
• Provisions for redundancy plans to adapt the Group’s structure to current trading conditions. These
restructuring plans resulted in the closure of branches, distribution centers and administrative
headquarters. Provisions for restructuring activities undertaken at December 31, 2011, mainly
concerned, Europe for €15.3 million (€11.2 million in 2010), North America for €2.4 million
(€8.3 million in 2010) and Asia-Pacific for €0.4 million (€0.7 million in 2010).
• Tax litigation concerned mainly France for €16.8 million (€15.2 million in 2010) and Canada for
€2.5 million (€4.0 million in 2010);
• Other litigations and warranty claims amounted to €28.3 million, of which €8.8 million relating to
litigation with French social security authorities, €4.3 million relating to warranty claims for products
sold (€7.6 million in 2010), €6.6 million for employee claims (€2.6 million in 2010) and €2.2 million for
commercial litigations (€2.7 million in 2010). In 2010, change in provisions mainly related to
settlement of the Ceteco proceedings for €29.8 million, following the settlement agreement
concluded on February 8, 2010;
• Provisions for lease commitments related to vacant properties concerned mainly the United Kingdom
for €41.5 million (€41.2 million in 2010), the United States for €10.7 million (€5.0 million in 2010) and
France for €2.7 million (€2.9 million in 2010). This provision in the United Kingdom included a
€27.6 million reserve for onerous contract in relation to closure of a distribution centre operated by
Hagemeyer and various lease contracts for vacant properties amounting to €13.9 million.
18. | EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
The Group provides employee benefits under various arrangements, including defined benefit and defined
contribution plans. The specific conditions of these plans vary according to the rules applying in each country
concerned. These plans include pensions, lump-sum payments on retirement, jubilees, early retirement
benefits, and health care and life insurance benefits in favor of former employees, including retired
employees. The most significant funded retirement plans are in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United
States, The Netherlands and Switzerland, and are managed through vehicles independent of the Group. In
France and Italy, the obligations principally concern lump-sum payments on retirement and long service
awards (jubilees), and are usually unfunded.
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