
Paper P2: Corporate reporting (International)
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(e) Details of inter-company trading profits in inventory were as follows:
Transactiondetails
Inventorystillheldas
at
Profitontheinventory
balance$
SarahtoHerbert
1JanuaryYear4 10million
SarahtoHerbert 31DecemberYear4 20million
AmandatoSarah
31DecemberYear4 30million
It is the group’s accounting policy to eliminate the intra-group inventory
profits made by the subsidiary against the profits attributable to both the
owners of the parent company and the non-controlling interests.
(f) Retained profits of Herbert, Sarah and Amanda at 1 January Year 4 were
respectively $106 million, $24 million and $9 million.
(g) The directors of Herbert are currently planning to restructure their
investments. No firm decisions have yet been taken. The two main
possibilities currently under discussion are:
(i) Sale of all or part of the shares in Sarah, which is expected to make
losses in future periods; and
(ii) Acquisition of a 75% interest in Jeremy, which will give Herbert control.
Jeremy operates in the country of Ovonia. Until recently, Ovonian law
required company boards to have a majority of government appointed
nationals and prevented monies from being remitted outside the
country. Some recent administrations have also imposed stringent
controls on cross-border trade. The current administration has repealed
these laws. The political situation in Overonia is extremely unstable,
with frequent changes of government.
The managing director of Herbert is concerned about the impact of these
restructuring proposals on the consolidated financial statements of the group. In
particular, he believes that Sarah should not be included in the consolidated
financial statements for the year ended 31 December Year 4, on the grounds that the
subsidiary is likely to be sold in the near future. He also believes that Jeremy need
not be consolidated as a consequence of the difficulty of obtaining the necessary
information within a reasonable time.
Required
(a) Write a memorandum to the managing director of Herbert, which:
(i) responds to his suggestion that Sarah should not be consolidated;
(ii) explains the conditions under which subsidiary undertakings are
excluded from consolidation and the required accounting treatment for
excluded subsidiary undertakings. You should reach a conclusion on the
appropriate accounting treatment of the proposed investment in Jeremy.
(b) Prepare the consolidated income statement for the Herbert Group for the year
ended 31 December Year 4.