The consolidated financial statements for 2002 of Ascom Holding Ltd. were not prepared in full accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS - formerly IAS). In the segment reporting of Ascom, a loss of CHF 31 million was reported for the "Energy Systems" segment. If, however, an incorrectly stated impairment of goodwill of CHF 44 million had been taken into account, then the actual loss for the "Energy Systems" segment would have been CHF 75 million. According to the applicable IFRS, the impairments must be allocated to each segment and therefore taken into account in calculating the segment results. The "Energy Systems" segment was sold by Ascom towards the end of April 2003, after the publication of the annual report 2002.
Although the incorrectly stated impairment had no impact on the reported consolidated results, it should be noted that segment reporting is a key element for properly assessing the assets and liabilities, financial position and profits and losses of individual business areas and hence for drawing conclusions regarding the main sources of income of the group as a whole.
Periodic financial reporting in compliance with applicable accounting standards represents an integral part of the information that contributes to transparent trading as stipulated by the Securities Act and the SWX Listing Rules. One of the regulatory tasks of the SWX is to ensure enforcement of the transparency rules imposed on issuers.
The company's segment reporting, which is in violation of IFRS, constitutes a clear breach of the provisions of the Listing Rules. The Executive Committee of the Admission Board of the SWX, therefore, has issued a reprimand with publication against Ascom.
For information on accounting standards, please visit:
http://www.swx.com/admission/publicity_accounting_en.html
Previous sanctions issued by the SWX are available at:
http://www.swx.com/admission/publicity_sanctions_en.html
