Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
1 Reporting entity
2 Basis of preparation
3 Significant accounting estimates and judgements
O Q,
Introduction Report of the Executive Board Report of the Supervisory Board
Heineken N.V. (the 'Company') is a company domiciled in the Netherlands, with its head office in
Amsterdam. The consolidated financial statements of the Company as at 31 December 2018 comprise
the Company, its subsidiaries (together referred to as 'HEINEKEN') and HEINEKEN's interest in joint
ventures and associates. The Company is registered in the Trade Register of Amsterdam No. 33011433.
HEINEKEN is primarily involved in the brewing and selling of beer and cider. Led by the Heineken® brand,
HEINEKEN has a portfolio of more than 300 international, regional, local and speciality beers and ciders.
The consolidated financial statements are:
- prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the
European Union (EU) and also comply with the financial reporting requirements included in Part 9 of
Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code. All standards and interpretations issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (IASB) and the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC)
effective year-end 2018 have been adopted by the EU. Consequently, the accounting policies applied by
the Company also comply fully with IFRS as issued by the IASB.
- prepared by the Executive Board of the Company and authorised for issue on 12 February 2019 and will
be submitted for adoption to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 25 April 2019.
- prepared on the historical cost basis unless otherwise indicated.
- presented in Euro, which is the Company's functional currency.
- rounded to the nearest million unless stated otherwise.
The presentation of the consolidated financial statements have been revamped in 2018 to further
improve the readability. The revamping has no impact on the accounting policies nor on amounts
recognised, only the presentation format (aggregation/disaggregation) is affected. The following
has changed in the statement of financial position as a result of the revamping:
- Loans and advances to customers are presented together as one separate line item.
- The former 'Other investments and receivables' are renamed into 'Other non-current assets' and exclude
loans to customers.
- Prepayments are included in 'Trade and other receivables'.
- Current derivative assets and liabilities are no longer included in 'Trade and other receivables' and 'Trade
and other payables' respectively, but presented as separate line items.
- Non-current non-interest-bearing liabilities and non-current derivative liabilities are excluded from
'Borrowings' and presented as 'Other non-current liabilities'.
Heineken N.V. Annual Report 2018
Financial Statements
Sustainability Review
Other Information
- Bank overdrafts and commercial paper are included in 'Borrowings' (current).
- Returnable packaging deposits are no longer part of 'Trade and other payables', but presented as a
separate line item.
In the notes to the consolidated financial statements this new presentation format is reflected, also for the
comparative information.
In preparing these consolidated financial statements, management needs to make estimates and
judgements that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets and
liabilities, income and expenses.
The application of accounting policies requires judgements that impacts the amounts recognised. Next to
this, the recognised amounts are based on factors which by default are associated with uncertainties.
Therefore actual results may differ from estimates. Within the consolidated financial statements the
estimates and judgements are described per note (if applicable). The notes dealing with the most
significant estimates and judgements are:
Note Particular area involving significant estimates and judgements
6.1 Operating segments Judgement on acting as principal versus agent with respect to
excise tax expense
8.1 Intangible assets and Assumptions used in impairment testing
8.2 property, plant and equipment
9.1 Post-retirement obligations Assumptions for discount rates, future pension increases and life
expectancy to calculate the defined benefit obligation
9.2 Provisions and 9.3 Contingencies Estimating the likelihood and timing of potential cash outflows
relating to claims and litigations
12.2 Deferred tax assets and liabilities Assessment of the recoverability of past tax losses