WHSmith plc has in the past prepared its financial statements in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting principles (UK GAAP). Following a European Union Regulation issued on 19 July 2002, WHSmith plc will be required to reported its consolidated results in accordance with International Financial Reporting standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Commission from 1 September 2005. The transition date to IFRS for WHSmith plc is 1 September 2004, being the start of the period of comparative information
WHSmith plc has elected to apply IFRS 2 'Share based payments' to those share based payments granted before 7 November 2002 but not vested at the transition date of 1 September 2004. IFRS 2 is only required to be applied to share based payments granted after 7 November 2002. However, the Group considers that retrospective application before this date provides a better indication of how past and future results are affected in relation to the year on year level of grants. IFRS 2 requires that the fair value of grants made before 7 November 2002 must be disclosed before IFRS is formally adopted. Accordingly the fair values of all such grants that impact the Group's financial results under IFRS for the year to 31 August 2005 are shown below.
| Date of grant | Fair value |
|---|---|
| 7 June 2000 (5 year) | 131p |
| 6 June 2001 (5 year) | 190p |
| 5 June 2002 (3 year) | 142p |
| 5 June 2002 (5 year) | 140p |
| Date of grant | Fair value |
|---|---|
| 22 December 1998 | 83p |
| 25 February 1999 | 99p |
| 1 June 1999 | 193p |
| 7 December 1999 | 77p |
| 11 May 2000 | 83p |
| 31 October 2000 | 97p |
| 1 May 2001 | 126p |
| 1 November 2001 | 109p |
| 5 November 2002 | 75p |