089 NOTES CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Chap. 3 3 Methods of accounting and measurement The annual financial statements covered by the Consolidated Financial Statements are established as at the balance-sheet date of AMB Generali, i.e. December 31. Special funds with a different balance-sheet date are consolidated on the basis of interim state- ments prepared as at December 31. The financial statements of AMB Generali and of the subsidiaries and special funds included in the Consolidated Financial Statements are modified on a consistent basis in line with the accounting and measurement principles of IAS/IFRS. For transactions under insurance business for which IFRS 4 does not include a specific rule for recognition in the balance sheet, the rules of US-GAAP are applied in com- pliance with IAS 8 "Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors". If there is no standard or interpretation explicitly applying to a business transac- tion, the AMB Generali Group, in compliance with IAS 8, applied standards referring to similar transactions. All figures in the Notes are rounded to full thousand euro amounts ('000). Owner-occupied property and tangible assets are recognized at acquisition or construction costs reduced by scheduled write-downs and impairment. Owner-occupied property only comprises property mainly used by its owner. Build- ings are written down on a straight-line basis over their useful life. For residential buildings the useful life is between 80 and 100 years, for commercial buildings 25 to 60 years. If the realizable value of land and buildings falls below the carrying amount, impairment write-downs are made regardless of the duration of the impairment. As a matter of principle the realizable value is regarded as being equal to the market value determined by recognized methods, such as the earnings value or comparative value procedure. As a general rule, the property of the Group is measured within a period of five years by external experts (appointed by official authorities) under a multi-year plan. The tangible assets mainly comprise plant and equipment. The write-downs on tangible assets are made on a straight-line basis over their useful life. For the insurance companies of the Group they are allocated to the income statement line items of invest- ment income, claims and benefits, operating expenses and other expenditure. The intangible assets are composed of goodwill, the present value of the future profits (PVFP-value) of insurance contracts and of other intangible assets. The goodwill shown is the positive difference between the purchase price of the acquired enterprise and the Group's share in the fair value of net assets of the subsidiary after the disclosure of unrealized capital gains and losses at the moment of the purchase. Under IFRS 3, goodwill from acquisitions is no longer amortized on a scheduled basis but it is rec- ognized in the balance sheet at acquisition costs less accumulated impairment amor- tization. At least once a year, goodwill is subject to an impairment test on the basis of cash-generating units. AMB Generali identifies the legal units as cash-generating units. In order to determine any impairment, the realizable amount of the cash-generating unit concerned is compared to its carrying amount (including goodwill). If the carrying amount (including goodwill) of the cash-generating unit exceeds its realizable value, the goodwill is reduced accordingly. Impairment losses are not reversed. Impairment amortization on goodwill is shown as a separate line item in the income statement. Negative goodwill from first-time consolidation has to be immediately recognized in profit or loss in line with IFRS 3 after a reassessment. The PVFP-value of insurance contracts, which has to be recognized in the balance sheet upon the first-time consolidation of insurance companies, is amortized on the same basis as the profits, on which its calculation is based, are earned.