Understanding WVB methodology for financial statement standardization

For easier companies’ comparison, financial data available on Infront Analytics are standardized. 

Due to its standardization methodology, some items differ in WVB financial statement format from the companies’ financial reports “As reported” items. 

Net sales / Total revenues / Turnover

WVB separate Gross Sales, Net Sales and Total Revenues for consistent comparison.

WVB Total Revenues include both Net Sales (“core business” operations) and other revenues, (non-core, from other activities). For industrial companies (non-banks, non-insurances), the income linked to financial activities (Financial income-interest income) is not taken into account in the total revenues, but in the “Net Interest” item. 

WVB Net Sales always include Excise Taxes in addition to Gross Sales. 

WVB Net Turnover include the excise taxes (usually available in the notes to financial statements) for companies where excise taxes are disclosed as part of their operating expenses.

Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS)

For companies that have adopted income statements where Depreciation, Amortization and Impairment were not disclosed, WVB extract these items from Cash Flow Statements and/or notes to the financial statements.

WVB take the assumption that the entire amount of Depreciation, Amortization and Impairment should be taken out from COGS when the company report do not mention how to aggregate these items across Cost Of Goods Solds and Other Operating Expenses.

Minority interests

Depending on companies accounting method, Minority interests are reported as debt or as equity.

To reflect those two methods, WVB financial statement includes two Minority interests’ fields in the balance sheet:

• Minority interest (Balance Sheet) when Minority interests are reported as a debt component.
• Minorities in Shareholders’ Equity when Minority interests are reported as equity.

One and/or the other field will be populated.

Research and Development (R&D expense)

Some companies include Amortization of Development expenses in R&D Expense. This is only discovered when one looks into the notes. 

In such cases, WVB extract the amortization of development costs and separately disclosed it under Amortization.