25th May 2006 07:00
25 May, 2006 Daily Mail and General Trust plc ('DMGT') IFRS comparative 2005 statements DMGT has historically prepared its audited annual accounts and unauditedinterim results in accordance with UK generally accepted accounting principles(UK GAAP). Following European regulation issued in 2002, the financialinformation for the Group's six month period to 2nd April, 2006, to beannounced this morning, will be presented in accordance with InternationalFinancial Reporting Standards (IFRS).DMGT's restated 2005 interim and full year primary statements, together withits IFRS accounting policies, are available on its website at http://www.dmgt.co.uk/ investorrelations/presentations/#002150. The revised full yearprimary statements for the year ended 2nd October, 2005 have been audited byDeloitte & Touche LLP.2005 full year figuresA reconciliation of the adjustments required to convert DMGT's full year 2005figures from UK accounting standards will also be available on the website.These adjustments are mainly in respect of employment benefits (pensions),share-based payments, goodwill, dividends and deferred tax.A preliminary reconciliation was set out in an appendix on pages 87 to 90 ofDMGT's 2005 Annual Report. Compared to these preliminary figures, adjustedprofit (before amortisation and impairment of intangible assets andexceptional, or non-recurring, items) has increased slightly from ‚£236.2million to ‚£237.3 million.The 2005 IFRS adjusted tax charge was not previously reported. This is higherthan under UK GAAP such that the resulting rate of tax on adjusted profit hasrisen from 22.6% to 24.1%. This is principally because the Group does not takecredit under IFRS for the reduction in tax arising from amortisation. Theadjusted rate is likely to increase in 2006 and thereafter as 2005 marks thefinal period when prior year US tax losses will be recognised in the incomestatement. The actual amount of tax paid is not affected by these changes.Adjusted earnings per share for the 2005 full year amounted to 42.0 pence,lower than previously indicated due to the higher adjusted tax charge.Compared to the previously reported preliminary unaudited figures, statutoryprofit before tax has fallen slightly from ‚£197.8 million to ‚£197.5 million,but the tax charge has fallen by ‚£23.2 million so that profit after tax nowamounts to ‚£155.4 million. The decrease in the tax charge is due principally tothe reallocation to goodwill of the charge arising on acquisitions and becausethe tax credit on recognition of deferred tax assets during 2005 was previouslyrecognised as an opening adjustment to reserves.The basic measure of statutory earnings per share for the 2005 full yearamounted to 35.9 pence, higher than previously indicated, due to the lowerstatutory tax charge.Historic net debt at 2nd October, 2005 was ‚£0.6 million higher at ‚£767 million.2005 interim figuresThe 2005 prior year adjusted profit before tax amounted to ‚£101.6 million,slightly lower than the ‚£103 million previously indicated. The adjusted taxcharge amounted to ‚£29.0 million such that the resulting rate of tax onadjusted profit was 28.5%. The 2005 IFRS tax rate is higher than the 2005 UKGAAP rate of 26.8%, as for the full year, because of the treatment of tax onamortisation as explained above.Adjusted earnings per share for the 2005 half year amounted to 17.4 pence.Statutory earnings per share for the 2005 half year amounted to 17.0 pence.Enquiries:Peter Williams, Finance Director, DMGT, 020 7938 6631Nicholas Jennings, Company Secretary, DMGT, 020 7938 6625John Donegan, Group Accountant, DMGT, 020 7938 6627ENDDAILY MAIL & GENERAL TRUST PLCRelated Shares:
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