1. General Information

Covestro AG (registered at the district trade register, or Amtsgericht, for Cologne, number: HRB 85281) is a stock exchange-listed corporation headquartered at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 60, 51373 Leverkusen (Germany). The consolidated financial statements of Covestro AG for the period ended December 31, 2018, cover Covestro AG and its subsidiaries, joint arrangements and associated companies. They have been prepared according to the (IFRSs) of the (IASB), London (United Kingdom), as endorsed by the European Union (EU) and in effect at the reporting date, the Interpretations (IFRICs) of the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC) and the Interpretations published by the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC), as well as the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) of the (HGB) for the exempting consolidated financial statements. Reference information for previous periods has not been restated for new accounting standards, see note 2.

The declaration pertaining to the pursuant to Section 161 of the (AktG) has been issued and made available to stockholders. It is reproduced in section “Declaration on Corporate Governance” of the management report.

If certain items in the income statement, statement of comprehensive income, statement of financial position, statement of cash flows and statement of changes in equity of the Covestro Group are condensed for the sake of clarity, this is explained in the notes. The income statement has been prepared using the cost-of-sales method. Assets and liabilities are classified by maturity. They are classified as current if they mature within one year or within the Group’s normal business cycle or are held for sale. Inventories and trade accounts receivable and payable are consistently presented as current. Deferred tax assets, deferred tax liabilities and pension provisions are consistently presented as noncurrent.

The consolidated financial statements are drawn up in euros. Amounts are stated in millions of euros (€ million) except where otherwise indicated.

Exchange rates

In the reporting period, the following exchange rates were used for the major currencies of relevance to the Covestro Group:

Closing Rates for Major Currencies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closing Rates

€1/

 

 

 

2017

 

2018

BRL

 

Brazil

 

3.97

 

4.44

CNY

 

China

 

7.81

 

7.87

HKD

 

Hong Kong

 

9.37

 

8.97

INR

 

India

 

76.61

 

79.73

JPY

 

Japan

 

135.01

 

125.85

MXN

 

Mexico

 

23.66

 

22.49

USD

 

United States

 

1.20

 

1.15

Average Rates for Major Currencies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average Rates

€1/

 

 

 

2017

 

2018

BRL

 

Brazil

 

3.59

 

4.29

CNY

 

China

 

7.61

 

7.81

HKD

 

Hong Kong

 

8.78

 

9.25

INR

 

India

 

73.38

 

80.64

JPY

 

Japan

 

126.39

 

130.40

MXN

 

Mexico

 

21.28

 

22.70

USD

 

United States

 

1.13

 

1.18

IFRSs/International Financial Reporting Standards
International accounting standards as endorsed by the European Union
IASB/International Accounting Standards Board
The International Accounting Standards Board is an independent, private sector body that develops and approves the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).
HGB/German Commercial Code
Comprises much of the German accounting legislation
IFRSs/International Financial Reporting Standards
International accounting standards as endorsed by the European Union
DCGK/German Corporate Governance Code
A set of regulations compiled by the Government Commission on the German Corporate Governance Code in respect of responsible corporate governance, which contains recommendations and suggestions for the management and oversight of listed corporations in Germany
AktG/German Stock Corporation Act
Regulates the legal provisions pertaining to German stock corporations