An investment in an associate shall be accounted for using the equity method except when:

Investments described in paragraph 13(a) shall be accounted for in accordance with FRS 5.

When an investment in an associate previously classified as held for sale no longer meets the criteria to be so classified, it shall be accounted for using the equity method as from the date of its classification as held for sale. Financial statements for the periods since classification as held for sale shall be amended accordingly.

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The recognition of income on the basis of distributions received may not be an adequate measure of the income earned by an investor on an investment in an associate because the distributions received may bear little relation to the performance of the associate. Because the investor has significant influence over the associate, the investor has an interest in the associate's performance and, as a result, the return on its investment. The investor accounts for this interest by extending the scope of its financial statements to include its share of profits or losses of such an associate. As a result, application of the equity method provides more informative reporting of the net assets and profit or loss of the investor.

An investor shall discontinue the use of the equity method from the date that it ceases to have significant influence over an associate and shall account for the investment in accordance with FRS 139 from that date, provided the associate does not become a subsidiary or a joint venture as defined in FRS 131.

The carrying amount of the investment at the date that it ceases to be an associate shall be regarded as its cost on initial measurement as a financial asset in accordance with FRS 139.

Many of the procedures appropriate for the application of the equity method are similar to the consolidation procedures described in FRS 127. Furthermore, the concepts underlying the procedures used in accounting for the acquisition of a subsidiary are also adopted in accounting for the acquisition of an investment in an associate.

A group's share in an associate is the aggregate of the holdings in that associate by the parent and its subsidiaries. The holdings of the group's other associates or joint ventures are ignored for this purpose. When an associate has subsidiaries, associates, or joint ventures, the profits or losses and net assets taken into account in applying the equity method are those recognised in the associate's financial statements (including the associate's share of the profits or losses and net assets of its associates and joint ventures), after any adjustments necessary to give effect to uniform accounting policies (see paragraphs 26 and 27).

Profits and losses resulting from 'upstream' and 'downstream' transactions between an investor (including its consolidated subsidiaries) and an associate are recognised in the investor's financial statements only to the extent of unrelated investors' interests in the associate. 'Upstream' transactions are, for example, sales of assets from an associate to the investor. 'Downstream' transactions are, for example, sales of assets from the investor to an associate. The investor's share in the associate's profits and losses resulting from these transactions is eliminated.

An investment in an associate is accounted for using the equity method from the date on which it becomes an associate. On acquisition of the investment any difference between the cost of the investment and the investor's share of the net fair value of the associate's identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities is accounted for in accordance with FRS 3 Business Combinations. Therefore:

The most recent available financial statements of the associate are used by the investor in applying the equity method. When the reporting dates of the investor and the associate are different, the associate prepares, for the use of the investor, financial statements as of the same date as the financial statements of the investor unless it is impracticable to do so.

When, in accordance with paragraph 24, the financial statements of an associate used in applying the equity method are prepared as of a different reporting date from that of the investor, adjustments shall be made for the effects of significant transactions or events that occur between that date and the date of the investor's financial statements. In any case, the difference between the reporting date of the associate and that of the investor shall be no more than three months. The length of the reporting periods and any difference in the reporting dates shall be the same from period to period.

The investor's financial statements shall be prepared using uniform accounting policies for like transactions and events in similar circumstances.

If an associate uses accounting policies other than those of the investor for like transactions and events in similar circumstances, adjustments shall be made to conform the associate's accounting policies to those of the investor when the associate's financial statements are used by the investor in applying the equity method.

If an associate has outstanding cumulative preference shares that are held by parties other than the investor and classified as equity, the investor computes its share of profits or losses after adjusting for the dividends on such shares, whether or not the dividends have been declared.

If an investor's share of losses of an associate equals or exceeds its interest in the associate, the investor discontinues recognising its share of further losses. The interest in an associate is the carrying amount of the investment in the associate under the equity method together with any long-term interests that, in substance, form part of the investor's net investment in the associate. For example, an item for which settlement is neither planned nor likely to occur in the foreseeable future is, in substance, an extension of the entity's investment in that associate. Such items may include preference shares and long-term receivables or loans but do not include trade receivables, trade payables or any long-term receivables for which adequate collateral exists, such as secured loans. Losses recognised under the equity method in excess of the investor's investment in ordinary shares are applied to the other components of the investor's interest in an associate in the reverse order of their seniority (ie priority in liquidation).

After the investor's interest is reduced to zero, additional losses are provided for, and a liability is recognised, only to the extent that the investor has incurred legal or constructive obligations or made payments on behalf of the associate. If the associate subsequently reports profits, the investor resumes recognising its share of those profits only after its share of the profits equals the share of losses not recognised

After application of the equity method, including recognising the associate's losses in accordance with paragraph 29, the investor applies the requirements of FRS 139 to determine whether it is necessary to recognise any additional impairment loss with respect to the investor's net investment in the associate.

The investor also applies the requirements of FRS 139 to determine whether any additional impairment loss is recognised with respect to the investor's interest in the associate that does not constitute part of the net investment and the amount of that impairment loss.

Because goodwill included in the carrying amount of an investment in an associate is not separately recognised, it is not tested for impairment separately by applying the requirements for impairment testing goodwill in FRS 136 Impairment of Assets. Instead, the entire carrying amount of the investment is tested under FRS 136 for impairment, by comparing its recoverable amount (higher of value in use and fair value less costs to sell) with its carrying amount, whenever application of the requirements in FRS 139 indicates that the investment may be impaired. In determining the value in use of the investment, an entity estimates:

Under appropriate assumptions, both methods give the same result.

The recoverable amount of an investment in an associate is assessed for each associate, unless the associate does not generate cash inflows from continuing use that are largely independent of those from other assets of the entity.