PDF, 3.2 MB - Pfleiderer AG

Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements 2004
I. Business Units and Description of the Business Enterprise
Following the disposal during the business year of the US concrete and steel poles business,
Newmark International Inc., the production of wind towers at the site in Leipzig and the Poles &
Towers and water systems Business Units, which no longer belong to the defined target market
of the Pfleiderer Group, Pfleiderer Aktiengesellschaft, Neumarkt (hereinafter referred to as
“Pfleiderer AG” or “Company”) is concentrating on its core competences of Engineered Wood
and Infrastructure Technology, the second of which is mainly involved in traffic technology.
Items in the financial statements remaining after the disposal of the discontinued operations are
reported separately in the balance sheet and statement of income.
As in the previous year, activities already sold and deconsolidated during the past business year
are also reported in the comparative figures for the previous year under discontinued operations.
Pfleiderer AG was included in the consolidated financial statements of Pfleiderer Unternehmensverwaltung
GmbH, Nuremberg, until March 22, 2004.
II. Exemption Pursuant to Section 264b HGB (German Commercial Code)
The companies that have applied the exemption rules are marked accordingly in the list of consolidated
companies.
III. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The consolidated financial statements of Pfleiderer AG are prepared in accordance with United
States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“US-GAAP”). Pursuant to Section 292a HGB
(German Commercial Code), Pfleiderer AG is exempted accordingly from the obligation to prepare
consolidated financial statements in accordance with the HGB. All amounts in the consolidated
financial statements are stated in euros.
From 2005 onwards, the Company will prepare financial statements in accordance with International
Financial Reporting Standards or “IFRS”. The basis for this is provided by the EU Directive
promulgated in 2002 on the application of International Accounting Standards, which makes the
preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS mandatory for all capitalmarket-oriented
companies listed in the EU for fiscal years commencing on or after January 1, 2005.
Certain amounts in the consolidated financial statements and the notes to the consolidated financial
statements for the previous year have been reclassified, to ensure their comparability with
the group structure for the past business year. The prior year presentation has been adjusted to
this extent.
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