Integrated vs self sustaining foreign subsidiary

—Anonymous

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

■ Examine how the process of consolidation of a multinational firm’s financial results creates translation exposure

■ Illustrate both the theoretical and practical differences between the two primary methods of translating or remeasuring foreign currency-denominated financial statements

■ Understand how translation can potentially alter the value of a multinational firm

■ Explore the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of managing translation exposure

Translation exposure, the second category of accounting exposures, arises because financial statements of foreign subsidiaries—which are stated in foreign currency—must be restated in the parent’s reporting currency so that the firm can prepare consolidated financial statements. Foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies, for example, must restate foreign currency-denominated financial statements into U.S. dollars so that the foreign values can be added to the parent’s U.S. dollar-denominated balance sheet and income statement. Using our example U.S. firm, Ganado, this is shown conceptually in Exhibit 11.1. This accounting process is called translation. Translation exposure is the potential for an increase or decrease in the parent’s net worth and reported net income that is caused by a change in exchange rates since the last translation.

Although the main purpose of translation is to prepare consolidated financial statements, translated statements are also used by management to assess the performance of foreign subsidiaries. While such assessment by management might be performed using the local currency statements, restatement of all subsidiary statements into the single “common denominator” of one currency facilitates management comparison. This chapter reviews the predominate methods used in translation today, and concludes with the Mini-Case, McDonald’s, Hoover Hedges, and Cross-Currency Swaps, illustrating how one major multinational manages its investment and translation risks.

EXHIBIT 11.1 Ganado’s Cross-Border Investments and Consolidation

Overview of Translation

There are two financial statements for each subsidiary that must be translated for consolidation: the income statement and the balance sheet. Statements of cash flow are not translated from the foreign subsidiaries. The consolidated statement of cash flow is constructed from the consolidated statement of income and consolidated balance sheet. Because the consolidated results for any multinational firm are constructed from all of its subsidiary operations, including foreign subsidiaries, the possibility of a change in consolidated net income or consolidated net worth from period to period, as a result of a change in exchange rates, is high.

For any individual financial statement, internally, if the same exchange rate were used to remeasure each and every line item on the individual statement—the income statement and balance sheet—there would be no imbalances resulting from the remeasurement. But if a different exchange rate were used for different line items on an individual statement, an imbalance would result. Different exchange rates are used in remeasuring different line items because translation principles are a complex compromise between historical and current values. The question, then, is what is to be done with the imbalance?

Subsidiary Characterization

Most countries specify the translation method to be used by a foreign subsidiary based on its business operations. For example, a foreign subsidiary’s business can be categorized as either an integrated foreign entity or a self-sustaining foreign entity. An integrated foreign entity is one that operates as an extension of the parent company, with cash flows and general business lines that are highly interrelated with those of the parent. A self-sustaining foreign entity is one that operates in the local economic environment independent of the parent company. The differentiation is important to the logic of translation. A foreign subsidiary should be valued principally in terms of the currency that is the basis of its economic viability.

It is not unusual for a single company to have both types of foreign subsidiaries, integrated and self-sustaining. For example, a U.S.-based manufacturer, which produces subassemblies in the United States that are then shipped to a Spanish subsidiary for finishing and resale in the European Union, would likely characterize the Spanish subsidiary as an integrated foreign entity. The dominant currency of economic operation is likely the U.S. dollar. That same U.S. parent may also own an agricultural marketing business in Venezuela that has few cash flows or operations related to the U.S. parent company or U.S. dollar. The Venezuelan subsidiary may source all inputs and sell all products in Venezuelan bolivar. Because the Venezuelan subsidiary’s operations are independent of its parent, and its functional currency is the Venezuelan bolivar, it would be classified as a self-sustaining foreign entity.