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219
2014 Registration Document
Company financial statement year ended December 31, 2014
6
Notes to the Company Financial Statements
1.5
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
Accounts receivable mainly correspond to intra-group receivables arising
from the provision of services. They are recognized when the service
is provided.
Accounts receivable are stated at the lower of their nominal amount and
recoverable amount.
1.6
MARKETABLE SECURITIES
Marketable securities include:
■
Carrefour shares designated as being held for allocation to employees
under stock option and stock grant plans. These shares are stated
at cost. They are not written down to market value because they are
intended to be allocated to employees and a provision is recorded in
liabilities as explained below in the note on provisions;
■
Carrefour shares available for allocation to employees or to stabilize the
share price. These shares are stated at the lower of cost and market,
corresponding to the average share price for the month of December;
■
Carrefour shares and mutual funds are part of the liquidity contract
set up in 2014;
■
mutual fund units, retail certificates of deposit and commercial paper,
stated at the lower of cost and market.
Details of marketable securities at December 31 are presented in Note 5.
Revenues and expenses in foreign currencies are recorded at the
exchange rate on the transaction date. Receivables, payables and cash
in foreign currency are recorded in the balance sheet at the year-end
exchange rate or the hedging rate if applicable. The difference arising
from the application of the year-end rate is recorded in the balance sheet
under “Other miscellaneous liabilities”.
1.7
FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS
1.8
RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
The Company’s total liability for length-of-service awards payable to
employees on retirement is covered by a provision recorded in the
balance sheet.
The assumptions used to calculate the provision are as follows:
■
inflation rate: 2%;
■
rate of future salary increases: 2.5%;
■
payroll tax rate: 45%;
■
discount rate: 1.9%;
■
staff turnover rate: average of the actual turnover rates for headquarters
staff over the period 2012-2014,
i.e.
employees with 0 to 5 years’
seniority: 11.51%, employees with 6 to 10 years’ seniority: 8.69%,
employees with 11 to 15 years’ seniority: 6.91%, employees with 16
to 20 years’ seniority: 5.36%, employees with 21 to 25 years’ seniority:
4,73%, and employees with 26 years’ seniority or more: 3.87%. For
employees aged over 55, the turnover rate is assumed to be zero;
■
mortality table: TH TF 00-02.
1.9
SUPPLEMENTARY PENSION PLAN
A defined benefit pension plan was set up in 2009 with the following
characteristics:
■
plan participants must have completed at least three years’ service
at the time of retirement, their annual compensation must be greater
than 16 times the annual ceiling for Social Security contributions and
they must still be employed by the Group at the time of retirement;
■
plan participants hired at age 45 or over are credited with up to
10 years’ service as follows: age 45 = 0 year; age 46 = 1 year; age
47 = 2 years, etc;
■
years of service taken into account for the calculation of plan benefits
are capped at 20 years;
■
benefits: 1.5% of the “reference compensation” per year of service;
■
the reference compensation corresponds to the average of the last
three years’ salary and bonus or 60 times the annual ceiling for Social
Security contributions whichever is lower;
■
the replacement rate represented by pension benefits from all sources
is capped at 50% of the reference compensation;
■
the annual benefit is capped at 25% of the participant’s compensation
for the last full year of service;
■
upon the participant’s death, a reversionary pension is payable to the
surviving spouse in an amount equal to 50% of the original benefit;
■
actualisation and expected return on plan assets: 1.20%;
■
staff turnover rate: 25% before the age of 55, 0% after 55.
Unrecognized past service cost and actuarial gains and losses amounted
to €89 million at December 31, 2014. This amount is being recognized
over the remaining life of the plan in accordance with
Conseil National
de la Comptabilité
(CNC) recommendation 2003-R-01.