PDF, 3.2 MB - Pfleiderer AG

2. Other financial
commitments
The Group is leasing property, plant and equipment under rental and leasing agreements that do
not qualify under US-GAAP as capital leases, but as operating leases. Additionally, the Group has
entered into contracts for the maintenance of property, plant and equipment and for various
services. Expenses under rental and leasing agreements reported in the statement of income
amount to 19,199 thousand euros (2003: 18,954 thousand euros).
The following table shows the future (non-discounted) minimum payments under non-cancelable
leases with an initial or remaining term of more than a year as of December 31, 2004:
‘000 euros
2005 25,314
2006 36,784
2007 11,798
2008 10,732
2009 5,849
After 2009 13,856
Total 104,333
The Group carried out sale and leaseback transactions in fiscal 2004 in which in the main two
plants were sold and then leased back under an operating lease. The total volume of these
transactions amounted to 51 thousand euros.
Together with a related party, the Group holds a controlling financial interest in a leasing object
company that qualifies as a VIE. Since the Group is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE, the
leasing object company has not been included in the consolidated financial statements. The
object company was formed on August 29, 1999, and is engaged in the acquisition, sale, letting
and leasing of property, plant and equipment and the performance of all related business. The
unaudited balance sheet total of the object company (under HGB) amounts as of December 31,
2004 to 43,653 thousand euros. The maximum potential loss for the Group from the participation
in the VIE amounts to some 5,300 thousand euros. The realization of a loss from the participation
in the VIE is not expected.
Between 2000 and 2003, Pfleiderer AG and its subsidiaries sold several large plants worth a total
of 76,909 thousand euros to the object company and then leased them back again. These lease
agreements qualify as operating leases under US-GAAP. Most of the lease agreements run until
the end of 2006. The lease expenses for the years from 2005 until the end of the contractual
terms are disclosed under the other financial commitments.
As of December 31, 2004, the Group had purchase commitments of 66,092 thousand euros
(2003: 41,007 thousand euros).
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