115 Investments Heineken limits its exposure to credit risk, except for held-to-maturity investments as disclosed in note 17, by only investing in liquid securities and only with counterparties that have a credit rating of at least single A or equivalent. Guarantees Heineken's policy is to avoid issuing guarantees where possible unless this leads to substantial savings for the Group. In cases where Heineken does provide guarantees, such as to banks for loans (by third parties), Heineken aims to receive security from the third party. The Company has issued a joint and several liability statement to the provisions of Section 403, Part 9, Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code with respect to legal entities established in the Netherlands. Exposure to credit risk The carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date was: llions of EUR Note 2007 2006 Held-to-maturity investments 17 218 404 Investments held for trading 17 15 12 Available-for-sale investments 17 234 202 Interest rate swaps used for hedging: assets 17 - 4 Forward exchange contracts used for hedging: assets 17 90 43 7 ade and other receivables 20 1,873 1,779 Cash and cash equivalents 21 715 1,374 3,145 3,818 The maximum exposure to credit risk for trade and other receivables at the reporting date by gi ographic region was: In millions of EUR 2007 2006 Western Europe 896 907 C ntral and Eastern Europe 548 478 The Americas 214 205 A rica and the Middle East 126 90 A ia Pacific 78 74 F ad Office/eliminations 11 25 1,873 1,779 1 pairment losses T e ageing of trade and other receivables at the reporting date was: Gross Impairment Gross Impairment In millions of EUR 2007 2007 2006 2006 Nat past due 1,363 (7) 1,385 (8) P st due 0-30 days 292 (33) 177 (6) P st due 31-120 days 182 (23) 177 (47) More than 120 days 244 (145) 248 (147) 2,081 (208) 1,987 (208) Heineken N.V. Annual Report 2007

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

Jaarverslagen | 2007 | | pagina 113