Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements of Deutsche Post AG

Basis of preparation

1 Basis of accounting

As a listed company, Deutsche Post AG prepared its consolidated financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), as adopted by the European Union (EU), and the provisions of commercial law to be additionally applied in accordance with section 315 a (1) of the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB – German Commercial Code). The financial statements represent an annual financial report within the meaning of the Transparenzrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz (TUG – Transparency Directive Implementing Act) (section 37 v of the Wertpapierhandelsgesetz (WpHG – German Securities Trading Act) dated 5 January 2007.

The requirements of the Standards applied have been satisfied in full, and the consolidated financial statements therefore provide a true and fair view of the Group’s net assets, financial position and results of operations.

The consolidated financial statements consist of the income statement and the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, the statement of changes in equity and the Notes. In order to improve the clarity of presentation, various items in the balance sheet and in the income statement have been combined. These items are disclosed and explained separately in the Notes. The income statement has been classified in accordance with the nature of expense method.

The accounting policies, as well as the explanations and disclosures in the Notes to the IFRS consolidated financial statements for financial year 2011, are generally based on the same accounting policies used in the 2010 consolidated financial statements. Exceptions to this are the changes in international financial reporting under the IFRSs described in Note 4 that have been required to be applied by the Group since 1 January 2011 and the adjustment of prior-period amounts disclosed in Note 5. The accounting policies are explained in Note 7.

The financial year of Deutsche Post AG and its consolidated subsidiaries is the calendar year. Deutsche Post AG, whose registered office is in Bonn, Germany, is entered in the commercial register of the Bonn Local Court.

These consolidated financial statements were authorised for issue by a resolution of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post AG dated 17 February 2012.

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in euros (€). Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are given in millions of euros (€ million, €m).