"It has been a very difficult year for Tesco. The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years. We have faced into this reality, sought to draw a line under the past and begun to rebuild, and already we are beginning to see early encouraging signs from what we've done so far.
Over the last six months we have put customers back at the centre of everything we do. By focusing on the fundamentals of availability, service and targeted price reductions, we have seen a steady increase in footfall, transactions and, most significantly, volumes. More customers are buying more things at Tesco.
We are making deep changes to the way we organise and run our business, with a simpler, more agile office team, more colleagues serving customers and a new approach to the way we work with suppliers. I do not underestimate how difficult some of these changes have been for the team and I thank everyone for their professionalism and contribution at this time of great change.
The market is still challenging and we are not expecting any let up in the months ahead. When you add to this the fundamental changes we are making to our business and our offer, it is likely to lead to an increased level of volatility in short-term performance. Our clear priority - and the one that will deliver sustainable value for our shareholders - is to improve consistently for customers. The changes we have made and will continue to make put us in a stronger position to do this."
- Prior years commercial income adj.
** 52 week growth rates exclude week 53 (the 7 days ended 28 February 2015) for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
*** Trading profit and underlying profit before tax are defined in Note 1 on page 16.
**** Net debt excludes the net debt of Tesco Bank.
The market is still challenging and we don't expect this to change in the immediate future. Over the next 12 months we will continue to focus on our three priorities: regaining competitiveness in our UK business; protecting and strengthening the balance sheet; and rebuilding trust and transparency in the business and the brand.
We are already making good progress on our initiatives and on the basis of actions already undertaken they will deliver significant cost savings in 2015/16. The immediate priority for these and any other savings delivered is reinvestment in the customer offer in order to further restore UK competitiveness.
* The UK segment excludes Tesco Bank, which is reported separately in accordance with IFRS 8 'Operating Segments'.
*** Europe consists of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey and Republic of Ireland.
**** Sales (inc. VAT) and Revenue (exc. VAT) exclude the accounting impact of IFRIC 13.
On a 52 week basis, Group sales, including fuel, declined by (1.3)% at constant rates and by (3.0)% at actual rates. Further information on sales performance is included in Appendices 1 to 4 starting on page 37 of this statement.
The UK grocery market remains highly competitive with macro-economic deflationary pressure and significant price investment across the industry. For the year as a whole, UK like-for-like sales excluding fuel declined by (3.6)% but we saw an improving trend into the second half driven by investments across the offer. Customer transactions, having been in decline since the beginning of 2012, increased by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, with like-for-like sales performance improving to (1.0)%. Our online grocery business continued to grow ahead of the market, driven by an increase of nearly 20% in the number of orders year-on-year.
Market conditions were tough across the Asia region. In South Korea, DIDA regulations continued to have a significant impact due to a higher number of enforced Sunday closures and increased restrictions on morning trading hours. After the stabilisation of the political situation in Thailand, the recovery in consumer spending has been slower to materialise than initially anticipated. Trading performance in Malaysia has been impacted by protests against some Western-owned businesses and a challenging economic environment.
Overall, our trading results in Europe were behind our expectations. Whilst we saw some improvement in the fourth quarter, the like-for-like sales performance was mixed over the course of the year. We have seen strong competition from discount retailers and this held back our sales performance, particularly in Ireland which saw a like-for-like sales decline of (6.3)%. Whilst the majority of our markets have seen negative currency impacts, this has been particularly marked in Europe as the Euro fell to seven-year lows against Sterling by year-end.
Group trading profit was in line with expectations at £1,390m, and was impacted by a challenging year for the UK business.
In the UK, our profit performance mainly reflects the combination of the deterioration in like-for-like sales - which was at its most marked at the end of the first half - and the impact of previous initiatives. The fundamental change to the way we do business with our suppliers, with significantly less focus on commercial income, further impacted profitability. The investments we have made in service, availability and, selectively in price in the second half - which have resulted in an improving like-for-like sales performance - are also a contributing factor.
In Asia, trading profit was £565m, (15.3)% lower year-on-year at constant rates, principally due to the operational gearing effect from the impact of a negative like-for-like sales performance in all three markets.
In Europe, the profitability of our Central European businesses continued to be under pressure. This was compounded by a £(30)m charge relating to the write-off of a fuel debtor in Turkey. Recent legislative changes in Hungary, including mandated store closures on Sundays and, in particular, the introduction of a 'food supervision fee' from 1 January 2015, will have a material impact to ongoing market profitability.
Consultation started last month on a significant restructure of the leadership team for Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to move from operating as individual country teams to one regional team. This restructure will create substantial buying and operational synergies and will support us to unlock more opportunities to invest in the customer offer.
In total, we have recognised £(7.0)bn of one-off charges within these results. Of this amount, £(0.6)bn will result in a direct cash outflow, with the remaining amounts being non-cash adjustments to balance sheet carrying values.
Each year we review the carrying value of our stores to ensure that they are supported by their value in use or their fair value less the costs of disposal. Challenging industry conditions and the decline in profit over the last year have resulted in an impairment charge of £(3.8)bn against our trading stores. We have also written down the value of work-in-progress by £(925)m, primarily reflecting the decision we announced in January 2015 not to proceed with 49 sites in our property pipeline. Further detail can be found in Note 12 on page 30 of this statement.
After reviewing performance across our businesses, we have booked further goodwill and other impairments totalling £(878)m. These include an impairment of £(630)m relating to our investment with China Resources Enterprise Ltd (CRE), £(116)m relating to Dobbies and other UK businesses, and an impairment of £(82)m in our investment in joint ventures which principally relates to the strategic decision to slow the roll out of Harris+Hoole and Euphorium sites.
There is a one-off increase of £(570)m in stock-related charges, which follows the adoption of a forward-looking provisioning methodology. The charge also includes a £(168)m impact of a reduction in the level of in-store costs capitalised to inventories. Further detail can be found in Note 4 on page 24 of this statement.
In January, we described a restructuring of central overheads, simplification of store management structures and increased working-hour flexibility, in order to deliver ongoing savings in the region of £250m per year. The associated one-off cost of c.£(300)m has been recognised in full within these results. The remaining balance includes a further £(41)m relating to restructuring in the first half and a £(20)m one-off cost relating to the UK store closures announced in January this year.
The commercial income adjustment refers to the impact on prior years of the commercial income issues that we announced last September. At the time of the interim results, the impacts on prior years were estimated as resulting in the profit before tax for the year ended 22 February 2014 being overstated by £70m, and for the years prior to this being overstated by £75m - a combined total of £145m relating to prior years. Subsequent to October 2014, we continued to focus on this area and identified some further amounts, bringing the total one-off adjustment to £208m for our UK and Irish businesses.
'Other' one-off items of £(223)m include £(81)m loss on disposal and associated costs relating to Blinkbox, £(41)m backdated charge relating to the assessment of rates for ATM sites in Tesco stores, and £(27)m provision for customer redress within Tesco Bank. The two latter amounts were included as one-off items within our interim results.
Losses arising on other property-related items were £(60)m. There were no sale and leaseback transactions in the second half of the year and minimal profits from transactions in the first half were offset by property-related costs and provisions.
After these items, the operating loss for the Group was £(5,792)m. A reconciliation of trading profit to operating loss can be found in Note 3 on page 19 of this statement.
The most significant year-on-year change in joint ventures and associates was the inclusion of our partnership with China Resources Enterprise Ltd (CRE) which was formed in May 2014 and which was loss-making for the period. UK property joint ventures also generated a lower level of profit.
Underlying net finance costs increased to £(409)m from £(315)m last year. Capitalised interest reduced by £35m to £44m, in line with reduced levels of work-in-progress. The remaining increase in underlying net finance costs was due to set up costs relating to new credit facilities as well as a lower level of finance income. Further details can be found in Note 6 on page 26 of this statement.
Group statutory losses before tax were £(6,376)m.
Dividend. As announced in January, the Board has taken the decision not to pay a final dividend, with the full year dividend solely reflecting the interim dividend of 1.16p paid on 19 December 2014. Future dividends will be considered within the context of the performance of the Group, free cash flow generation and the level of indebtedness.
The effective rate of tax for the Group was 20.7%, with a charge of £(199)m based on underlying profit. Last year's rate of 15.4% reflected the one-off effect of a lower UK corporate tax rate on deferred tax liabilities.
Diluted losses per share were (70.24)p. Further details on the calculation can be found in Note 10 on page 29 of this statement.
* Includes both continuing and discontinued operations.
Total indebtedness increased by £(3.1)bn year-on-year to £(21.7)bn. Net debt was £(8.5)bn, an increase of £(1.9)bn on last year, due to lower profits and a working capital outflow (before one-off items) of £(0.7)bn. Further detail on net debt can be found in Note 15 on page 34 of this statement.
Discounted operating lease commitments were £(9.4)bn. The operating lease expense in the year was £1,486m, an increase of £72m on last year, mainly due to rental inflation, the impact of the 53rd week and the effect of sale and leaseback transactions completed during 2013/14 and in the first half. Following the year-end, in March 2015 we regained sole ownership of 21 superstores in a transaction with British Land. As a result of the transaction, which will result in lower lease commitments and a reduced exposure to inflation-indexed rent reviews, we will consolidate around £500m of debt.
Pensions. We have agreed a deficit funding plan with the Pension Trustee, comprising cash contributions of £270m per annum. This follows the completion of the triennial actuarial valuation last month, which determined the deficit at £(2.8)bn as at the valuation date of 31 March 2014. On an accounting basis, the Group's net pension deficit after tax increased from £(2.6)bn last year to £(3.9)bn at the year end. This was driven by a reduction of 80 basis points in real corporate bond yields, leading to a corresponding reduction in the discount rate used to measure our long term liabilities, and is despite a strong asset performance. Further detail on pensions can be found in Note 13 on page 32 of this statement.
Protecting and strengthening the balance sheet is a priority for the Group. We are taking a number of steps to improve our position: the portfolio review is well underway, we have reduced planned capital expenditure to £1bn this year, we have started consultation to close the defined benefit pension scheme and we made a decision not to pay a final dividend for 2014/15. We have a strong funding and liquidity position including £2.2bn of bilateral facilities and a £2.6bn revolving credit facility, and a robust debt maturity profile.
The decrease in retail working capital was driven by one-off items. The outflow in working capital, before one-off items, was £(0.7)bn reflecting a new approach to our cash payment terms with suppliers, partially offset by an underlying improvement. Cash interest paid was higher than last year, reflecting higher underlying finance costs and timing differences, which resulted in additional interest instalments on two medium term notes compared to the prior year. Cash capital expenditure was down £0.5bn to £(2.2)bn in line with our commitment to reduce spend. Further detail on cash flow can be found in Note 3 on pages 22 and 23 of this statement.
* Excluding franchise stores and 'gross space added' excludes repurposing/extensions.
Group capital expenditure decreased by £0.7bn year-on-year to £2.0bn, with lower spend in each region. As we described in January, we are planning a significant reduction in Group capital expenditure for the current year to £1.0bn.
We opened 1.6m square feet of gross new space in the year, but this was offset by the closure of 1.1m sq. ft. of space, primarily in Turkey and Hungary and the repurposing of 0.6m sq. ft. of space, mainly in Asia. Since the year-end, we have completed the closure of the 43 stores in the UK announced in January 2015. This represents 0.6m sq. ft. of space and is expected to result in a sales impact of around (0.4)% for 2015/16.
We continue to grow our franchise store network. During the year, we opened 1m sq. ft. of space in our franchise stores, mostly in South Korea, and are planning to open a further 0.6m sq. ft. this year.
Detail of Group actual and forecast space is included in Appendix 6 starting on page 39 of this statement.
As we set out in October 2014, we will progressively enhance the transparency of our disclosure. In today's release we have increased our disclosure relating to property, commercial income and net debt (Note 15 on page 34). We will also add further detail to our notes on joint ventures and associates and operating leases in our 2015 Annual Report and Financial Statements. For 2015/16 onwards we will move to operating profit as our headline performance measure, adjusted only for any large and distorting impacts, which will be fully disclosed.
At the year end, the estimated market value of fully-owned property across the Group was £22.9bn. This represents a reduction of £7.6bn year-on-year, driven mainly by a significant weakening of the UK retail property market and some weakening in our other markets. This valuation represents an estimated surplus of £2.7bn over the year-end net book value. The estimated market value excludes our share of property joint ventures. Including this share, the valuation would increase by £0.9bn, net of the debt in the joint ventures.
Last year's disclosed property valuation of £34.1bn included £1.2bn relating to our Chinese operations and £2.4bn from our share of joint venture property, with no deduction for associated debt.
In March, the British Land asset swap added a further £0.7bn to the estimated market value of our fully-owned property as we took ownership of 21 superstores. Including this increase, our Group freehold ownership percentage by value is now 55%.
Commercial income represents part of our overall economic relationship with suppliers. Consistent with standard grocery market practice, we negotiate a very wide range of payments to and from our suppliers including fees, contributions, discounts, multiple offers and volume rebates. Whilst we have embarked on a fundamental review which will significantly simplify our approach, in total we currently use over 20 different categories of variation in payment terms. Many of these relate to adjustments to a cost price and can be considered (and are in practice) a part of the standard unit price variations that can be expected under normal, competitive market conditions. As such these amounts are recognised in the income statement as a deduction to the cost of goods sold.
A number of commercial income categories can be conditional on the satisfaction of certain actions or performance conditions by either Tesco or the supplier in question, including the achievement of agreed sales volume targets, the provision of certain benefits such as marketing materials or promotional product positioning, and costs incurred for unplanned variations in product specification. In most instances, the arrangements that set out these terms cover periods that are within or end at the same point as our financial year.
Where agreements are in place across a period end, judgement can be required to assess if the conditions will be met, and therefore to estimate the period end amounts payable and receivable. For example, where there are volume-related allowances spanning different account periods, the Group assesses the probability that targeted volumes will be achieved based on historical and forecast performance, recognising the appropriate amounts in the period end balance sheet and income statement.
· Inventories. The carrying value of inventories is reduced by the value of commercial income which will be earned when the associated stock is sold.
· Trade and other receivables. Amounts that have been invoiced to suppliers but not yet received are included within trade and other receivables.
· Accrued income. Any amounts earned but not yet invoiced to suppliers are included in accrued income. The majority relates to amounts outstanding under large supplier agreements or promotional allowances that run up to the period end. The balance primarily reflects amounts due under long-term agreements for volume rebates.
· Trade payables. Most agreements with suppliers enable income earned to be offset against amounts owed. These balances are included as a deduction within trade payables.
· Accruals and deferred income. Any amounts received in advance of income being earned are included in accruals and deferred income.
In highly competitive market conditions, Tesco Bank's revenue was up 2.1% to £1,024m driven by strong growth in lending to customers.
We have expanded our range of mortgage and loan products and, in June 2014, we launched our personal current account. Our core motor and home insurance business has seen 3% growth in accounts, having expanded our underwriting providers and implemented digital improvements to enhance the customer experience.
Trading profit was £194m, in line with the prior year, with strong underlying growth offset by our ongoing investment in personal current accounts.
An income statement for Tesco Bank is available in Appendix 7 on page 42 of this statement. Balance sheet and cash flow detail for Tesco Bank is available within Note 3 starting on page 20 of this statement. Tesco Bank's preliminary results are also published today and can be found at www.corporate.tescobank.com.
This document is available at www.tescoplc.com/prelims2015.
A meeting for investors and analysts will be held today at 9.00am at London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS. Access will be by invitation only. For those unable to attend, there will be a live webcast available on our website at www.tescoplc.com/prelims2015. This will include all Q&A and will also be available for playback after the event. All presentation materials, including a transcript, will be made available on our plc website.
An interview with Dave Lewis, Chief Executive, and Alan Stewart, Chief Financial Officer, discussing the Preliminary Results is available now to download in video, audio and transcript form at www.tescoplc.com/prelims2015.
We will provide a Q1 update to the market on the same date as our Annual General Meeting, on 26 June 2015.
The notes on pages 16 to 36 form part of this preliminary consolidated financial information.
The reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net debt is included within Note 15.
The unaudited preliminary consolidated financial information for the 53 weeks ended 28 February 2015 was approved by the Directors on 21 April 2015.
This unaudited preliminary consolidated financial information has been prepared in accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the principles of International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS') and the IFRS Interpretation Committee ('IFRIC') interpretations as adopted by the European Union. The accounting policies applied are consistent with those described in the Annual Report and Group Financial Statements 2014, apart from those arising from the adoption of new or amended IFRS detailed below, which will be described in more detail in the Annual Report and Group Financial Statements 2015. The unaudited preliminary consolidated financial information has been prepared on a going concern basis. The auditors have confirmed that they are not aware of any matter that may give rise to a modification to their audit report.
This unaudited preliminary consolidated financial information does not constitute statutory consolidated financial statements for the 53 weeks ended 28 February 2015 or the 52 weeks ended 22 February 2014 as defined in section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Annual Report and Group Financial Statements for the 52 weeks ended 22 February 2014 were approved by the Board of Directors on 2 May 2014 and have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on those Group Financial Statements was unqualified, did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not contain any statement under section 498 of the Companies Act 2006. The Annual Report and Group Financial Statements for 2015 will be filed with the Registrar in due course.
· IFRS 10 'Consolidated Financial Statements' builds on existing principles by identifying the concept of control as the determining factor in whether an entity should be included within the consolidated financial statements of the parent company. It also provides additional guidance to assist in the determination of control where this is difficult to assess. The application of IFRS 10 has not had a material impact on the Group.
· IFRS 11 'Joint Arrangements' gives a more realistic reflection of joint arrangements by focusing on the rights and obligations of the arrangement rather than its legal form. There are now only two types of joint arrangements: joint operations and joint ventures. The application of IFRS 11 has not had a material impact on the Group.
· IFRS 12 'Disclosures of Interests in Other Entities' includes the disclosure requirements for all forms of interests in other entities, including joint arrangements, associates, special purpose vehicles and other off balance sheet vehicles. The application of IFRS 12 has not had a material impact on the Group.
· All other new or amended standards effective in the year have not had a material impact on the unaudited preliminary consolidated financial information of the Group.
In accordance with IFRS 5 'Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations', the net results of the Chinese and US operations for the 13 weeks ended 28 May 2014 and the 53 weeks ended 28 February 2015, respectively, are presented within discontinued operations in the Group Income Statement. The assets and liabilities of these operations are presented separately in the Group Balance Sheet. See Note 8 for further details.
On 28 May 2014 the Group completed its formation of a new venture with China Resources Enterprise, Limited ('CRE'). The new venture is classified as an associate within continuing operations.
Net debt excludes the net debt of Tesco Bank but includes that of the discontinued operations. Net debt comprises bank and other borrowings, finance lease payables, net derivative financial instruments, joint venture loans and other receivables and net interest receivables/payables, offset by cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Free cash flow is net cash generated from/(used in) operating activities less capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment, investment property and intangible assets.
Underlying net interest, as included in underlying profit, excludes net pension finance costs and IAS 39 'Financial Instruments' - fair value remeasurements.
· IAS 32 and IAS 39 'Financial Instruments' - fair value remeasurements. Under IAS 32 and IAS 39 the Group applies hedge accounting to its various hedge relationships when allowed under IAS 39 and when practical to do so. Sometimes the Group is unable to apply hedge accounting to the arrangements, but continues to enter into these arrangements as they provide certainty or active management of the exchange rates and interest rates applicable to the Group. The Group believes that these arrangements remain effective and economically and commercially viable hedges despite the inability to apply hedge accounting. Where hedge accounting is not applied to certain hedging arrangements, the reported results reflect the movement in fair value of related derivatives due to changes in foreign exchange and interest rates. In addition, at each period end, any gain or loss accruing on open contracts is recognised in the Group Income Statement for the period, regardless of the expected outcome of the hedging contract on termination. This may mean that the Group Income Statement charge is highly volatile, whilst the resulting cash flows may not be as volatile. The underlying profit measure removes this volatility to help better identify the underlying performance of the Group.
· IAS 19 'Employee Benefits' - non-cash Group Income Statement charge for pensions. Under IAS 19, the cost of providing pension benefits in the future is discounted to a present value at the corporate bond yield rates applicable on the last day of the previous financial year. Corporate bond yields rates vary over time which in turn creates volatility in the Group Income Statement and Group Balance Sheet. IAS 19 also increases the charge for young pension schemes, such as the Group's, by requiring the use of rates which do not take into account the future expected returns on the assets held in the pension scheme which will fund pension liabilities as they fall due. The sum of these two effects can make the IAS 19 charge disproportionately higher and more volatile than the cash contributions the Group is required to make in order to fund all future liabilities. Therefore, within underlying profit the Group has included the 'normal' cash contributions for pensions but excluded the volatile element of IAS 19 to represent what the Group believes to be a fairer measure of the cost of providing post-employment benefits.
· IAS 17 'Leases' - impact of annual uplifts in rent and rent-free periods. Some operating leases have been structured in a way to increase annual lease costs as the businesses expand. IAS 17 requires the total cost of a lease to be recognised on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease, irrespective of the actual timing of the cost. This adjustment impacts the Group's operating profit and rental income within the share of post-tax profits of joint ventures and associates.
· IFRS 3 (Revised) 'Business Combinations' - intangible asset amortisation charges and costs arising from acquisitions. Under IFRS 3 intangible assets are separately identified and fair valued. The intangible assets are required to be amortised on a straight-line basis over their useful lives and as such is a non-cash charge that does not reflect the underlying performance of the business acquired. Similarly, the standard requires all acquisition costs to be expensed in the Group Income Statement. Due to their nature, these costs have been excluded from underlying profit as they do not reflect the underlying performance of the Group.
· IFRIC 13 'Customer Loyalty Programmes' - fair value of awards. This interpretation requires the fair value of customer loyalty awards to be measured as a separate component of a sales transaction. The underlying profit measure removes this fair value allocation to present underlying business performance, and to reflect the performance of the operating segments as measured by management.
· Restructuring and other one-off items. These relate to certain items associated with the Group's restructuring activities and certain one-off items including items relating to fair valuing the assets of a disposal group. These have been excluded from underlying profit as they do not reflect the underlying performance of the Group.
· Profits/(losses) arising on property-related items. These relate to the Group's property activities including gains and losses on disposal of property assets, development property built for resale and property joint ventures; costs resulting from changes in the Group's store portfolio and distribution network, including pre-opening and post closure costs; and income/(charges) associated with impairment of non-trading property and related onerous contracts. These have been excluded from underlying profit as they do not reflect the underlying performance of the Group.
Trading profit is an adjusted measure of operating profit and measures the performance of each segment before profits/(losses) arising on property-related items, the impact on leases of annual uplifts in rent and rent-free periods, intangible asset amortisation charges and costs arising from acquisitions, and goodwill impairment and restructuring and other one-off items. The IAS 19 pension charge is replaced with the 'normal' cash contributions for pensions. An adjustment is also made for the fair value of customer loyalty awards.
On 22 September 2014 the Group announced that the previous guidance given on 29 August 2014 regarding profit for the six months to 23 August 2014 was overstated principally due to the accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs. The internal investigation into the appropriate recognition included a review of whether the impact of accelerated recognition should be attributed to prior years.
At the time of the interim results, the impacts on prior years were estimated as resulting in the profit before tax for the year ended 22 February 2014 being overstated by £70m and for the years prior to that being overstated by a total of £75m.
Following further investigations, these estimates have been revised to a total overstatement to profit before tax of £53m for the year ended 22 February 2014, and a total overstatement of £155m for the years prior to that.
On the basis that these figures are not material in the prior years, a prior year restatement has not been made with the amounts instead being corrected in the current year. The impact of this has been separately identified in the reconciliation of profit before tax to underlying profit in Note 4 as the correction does not reflect current year performance.
The Group's reporting segments are determined based on the Group's internal reporting to the Chief Operating Decision Maker ('CODM'). The CODM has been determined to be the Executive Committee as it is primarily responsible for the allocation of resources to segments and the assessment of performance of the segments.
· Europe - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, and Turkey.
· Retail banking and insurance services through Tesco Bank in the UK ('Bank').
The CODM uses trading profit, as reviewed at monthly Executive Committee meetings, as the key measure of the segments' results as it reflects the segments' underlying trading performance for the financial year under evaluation. Trading profit is a consistent measure within the Group.
The Group's Chinese operations up to 28 May 2014 (previously reported as part of the Asia segment) and US operations have been treated as discontinued as described in more detail in Notes 1 and 8. The segment results do not include any amounts for these discontinued operations.
* Constant exchange rates are the average actual periodic exchange rates for the previous financial year.
** Trading margin is based on revenue excluding the accounting impact of IFRIC 13.
* Actual exchange rates are the average actual periodic exchange rates for that financial year.
* Excludes derivative financial instrument non-current assets of £1,546m (2014: £1,496m).
** Excludes loans to joint ventures of £207m (2014: £252m) and interest and other receivables of £1m (2014: £2m).
*** Excludes net debt of the disposal groups of £9m (2014: £161m).
**** Refer to Note 15.
The following tables provide further analysis of the Group Cash Flow Statement, including a split of cash flows between Retail and Bank as well as continuing operations and discontinued operations.
a) As a result of changes to simplify the UK business, a number of IT projects have been cancelled, resulting in an impairment of intangible fixed assets. This charge has been recognised in cost of sales.
b) Increasing competition from Chinese e-commerce businesses as well as the financial impact of a longer-than-expected integration of operations is expected to affect short-to-medium-term profitability of the associate, resulting in an impairment charge in the year recognised in administrative expenses.
c) Investments in and loans to the Harris + Hoole and Euphorium businesses have been impaired as a result of the strategic decision to slow the roll-out of these brands recognised in administrative expenses.
d) This includes a £402m charge relating to increased inventories provisioning due to changes to range and stockholding, including general merchandise transformation, and the adoption of a forward looking provisioning methodology. An additional £107m charge relates to changes in the estimate of in-store payroll overheads which are directly attributable to inventories, arising due to the change in focus of our in-store activities. The Group has also changed its accounting policy to exclude certain in-store overheads from directly attributable costs in order to reflect more reliable and relevant information. If the policy change were applied retrospectively, it would have reduced the 2013/14 inventories balance by £59m, of which £10m would have impacted the prior year income statement. As these amounts are not material, the prior year comparatives have not been restated and the cumulative policy adjustment of £61m has been reflected in the current year.
e) During the year, the Group received a notification from the Valuation Office that it had moved to a separate assessment of rates for ATM sites in Tesco stores. This resulted in a backdated charge of £41m. The charge in respect of the current year is included in underlying profit in cost of sales.
f) This includes the loss on disposal of Blinkbox Movies and Music, and redundancy cost, asset impairments and other costs associated with the closure of non-core businesses including Blinkbox Books and Tesco Broadband. Of this loss, £74m has been recognised in cost of sales and £7m in administrative expenses.
g) Restructuring costs include redundancy and compensation costs related to changes in store colleague working arrangements in the UK, Europe and Asia, redundancy costs relating to Head Office restructures across the Group, and the redundancy cost of store closures in the UK. £266m has been recognised in costs of sales and £150m in administrative expenses.
Consistent with standard industry practice, the Group has agreements with suppliers whereby volume-related allowances, promotional and marketing allowances and various other fees and discounts are received in connection with the purchase of goods for resale from those suppliers. Most of the income received from suppliers relates to adjustments to a core cost price of a product, and as such is considered part of the purchase price for that product. Sometimes receipt of the income is conditional on the Group performing specified actions or satisfying certain performance conditions associated with the purchase of the product. These include achieving agreed purchase or sales volume targets and providing promotional or marketing materials and activities or promotional product positioning. Whilst there is no standard definition, these amounts receivable from suppliers in connection with the purchase of goods for resale are generally termed commercial income.
Commercial income is recognised when earned by the Group, which occurs when all obligations conditional for earning income have been discharged, and the income can be measured reliably based on the terms of the contract. The income is recognised as a credit within cost of sales. Where the income earned relates to inventories which are held by the Group at period ends, the income is included within the cost of those inventories, and recognised in cost of sales upon sale of those inventories.
· Volume-related allowances relate to amounts receivable by the Group for achieving agreed purchase or sales targets within a set period. Where volume related allowances span different accounting periods, the amount of income recognised in each period is estimated based on the probability that the Group will meet contractual target volumes based on historical and forecast performance.
· Promotional, marketing and other allowances include amounts receivable by the Group to support the promotion, marketing and advertising of specific items including promotional pricing discounts, in-store displays, margin protection and cost reimbursements. There is limited judgement or estimation involved in recognising income for these allowances. The Group assesses its performance against the obligations conditional on earning the income, with the income recognised either over time as the obligations are met, or recognised at the point when all obligations are met, dependent on the contractual requirements.
Amounts due relating to commercial income are recognised within other receivables, except in cases where the Group currently has a legally enforceable right of set-off and intends to offset amounts due from suppliers against amounts owed to those suppliers, in which case only the net amount receivable or payable is recognised. Accrued commercial income is recognised within accrued income when commercial income earned has not been invoiced at the balance sheet date.
Within inventories, £93m (2014: £82m) relates to commercial income. These commercial income amounts will be recognised in cost of sales upon sale of those inventories.
Included in trade and other receivables is £97m (2014: £89m) due from suppliers for commercial income which has been invoiced but for which there is no legal right or intention to offset against payables, and £158m (2014: £230m) due from suppliers in relation to commercial income which has been recognised but not yet invoiced.
Netted against trade and other payables is £347m (2014: £547m) amounts receivable from suppliers in relation to commercial income that has been invoiced, for which there is a current legal right and intention to offset against amounts payable at the balance sheet date. Also included in trade and other payables is £53m (2014: £nil) of deferred income, representing amounts received in relation to commercial income that had not been earned at the year end.
* Underlying net interest costs of £(409)m (2014: £(315)m), as included in underlying profit, excludes net pension finance costs of £(136)m (2014: £(106)m) and IAS 32 and 39 'Financial Instruments' - fair value remeasurements of £(26)m (2014: £(11)m).
The Finance Act 2013 included legislation to reduce the main rate of UK corporation tax from 23% to 21% from 1 April 2014 and to 20% from 1 April 2015. These rate reductions are therefore included in this preliminary consolidated financial information.
The non-current assets classified as held for sale consist mainly of properties in the UK and Korea due to be sold within one year.
On 28 May 2014 the Group completed its formation of a new venture with CRE. The new venture is classified as an associate within continuing operations. In accordance with IFRS 5 'Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations', the Chinese operations for the period up to 28 May 2014 have been classified as a disposal group. The US operations, representing the remaining costs of the orderly restructuring process, continue to be classified as a disposal group.
The tables below show the results of the discontinued operations which are included in the Group Income Statement, Group Balance Sheet and Group Cash Flow Statement respectively.
* The results of China are for the 13 weeks ended 28 May 2014, at which point the operations were contributed into a new venture with CRE.
The loss in the year that resulted from remeasuring the retained investment on disposal was £10m.
Costs to sell and other provisions have decreased by £21m since the Group's interim results as a result of updates in estimates since that time.
* Fair value remeasurements have been excluded when arriving at underlying profit/(loss) before tax.
The Group's Chinese operations had been disposed of as at 28 February 2015. The assets and liabilities of the US represent the remaining costs of the orderly restructuring process.
As announced by the Company on 8 January 2015, the Board of Directors have decided not to pay a final dividend in respect of the financial year ended 28 February 2015.
Diluted earnings/(losses) per share amounts are calculated by dividing the profit/(loss) attributable to owners of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the financial year adjusted for the effects of potentially dilutive options. The dilutive effect is calculated on the full exercise of all potentially dilutive ordinary share options granted by the Group, including performance-based options which the Group considers to have been earned.
Given the loss for the 53 weeks ended 28 February 2015, the Group has recognised a basic loss per share rather than a basic earnings per share. The dilutive effects have not been considered in calculating the diluted loss per share as this would reduce the loss per share. For the 53 weeks ended 28 February 2015 there were 12 million potentially dilutive share options. As the Group has recognised an underlying profit the dilutive effects have been considered in calculating the underlying earnings per share.
There have been no transactions involving ordinary shares between the reporting date and the date of approval of this unaudited preliminary consolidated financial information which would significantly change the earnings per share calculations shown above.
* Refer to Note 4.
** The effective rate of tax on the total tax charge on all adjustments was 11.7% (2014: 15.4%). The effective rate of tax on underlying earnings was 20.7% (2014: 15.4%) which excludes certain permanent differences on which tax relief is not available.
*** Under IAS 33 'Earnings per Share', potentially dilutive share options are treated as dilutive only when their conversion would decrease earnings per share. All adjustments above have been based on 8,107 million (2014: 8,078 million) shares, with the (0.02) pence per share dilutive impact of the 12 million current year potentially dilutive share options factored in only when calculating the final underlying diluted earnings per share from continuing operations.
Goodwill and other intangible assets comprise £2,288m (2014: £2,286m) goodwill and £1,483m (2014: £1,509m) other intangible assets.
Goodwill arising on business combinations is not amortised but is reviewed for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently if there are indicators that goodwill may be impaired. The impairment review methodology is unchanged from that described in the 2014 Annual Report and Group Financial Statements.
The pre-tax discount rates used to calculate value in use range from 9% to 12% (2014: 7% to 11%). On a post-tax basis, the discount rates range from 7% to 10% (2014: 6% to 8%). The Group's cash flow projections are extrapolated beyond five years based on estimated long-term average growth rates of 2% to 3% (2014: 2% to 3%).
The challenging economic climate and significant shifts in the retail industry structure has resulted in revised forecast cash flows and updated discount rates. A resulting impairment charge has been recognised of £116m (2014: £nil) related to Dobbies (£83m) and other UK businesses (£33m). Dobbies and the other UK businesses are within the UK segment. This charge has been recognised in the cost of sales line in the Group Income Statement.
A final regulation has been published by the European Commission, imposing a cap on interchange fees on credit and debit cards. This change to existing interchange fees, which is expected to come into force during the first half of 2015, along with the forecast impact of mitigating management actions, has been considered as part of goodwill impairment testing for the Tesco Bank CGU. No reduction in the asset recognised has been required following completion of this review.
There were goodwill additions of £98m and disposals of £23m recognised in the UK, with the remaining movements related to foreign exchange and impairment as described above.
The Group has determined that for the purposes of impairment testing, each store is a cash-generating unit. Cash-generating units are tested for impairment if there are indicators of impairment at the balance sheet date. Recoverable amounts for cash-generating units are based on the higher of value in use or fair value less costs of disposal. The Group engaged external independent qualified valuers, where appropriate, to determine the fair value of the Group's property.
Fair values are determined with regard to the market rent for the stores or for alternative uses with investment yields appropriate to reflect the physical characteristics of the property and location. In some cases, fair values include residual valuations where stores may be viable for redevelopment.
The pre-tax discount rates used to calculate value in use range from 8% to 19% (2014: 6% to 14%) depending on the specific conditions in which each store operates. On a post-tax basis, the discount rates range from 7% to 15% (2014: 6% to 12%). The forecast cash flows are extrapolated beyond five years based on estimated long-term growth rates of 2% to 5% (2014: 2% to 5%).
An impairment charge of £4,292m (2014: £866m) has been recognised following a challenging economic climate and significant shifts in the retail industry structure, resulting in a revision of forecast cash flows and property fair values. This charge relates to properties in the UK of £3,052m (2014: £87m), Europe of £947m (2014: £740m) and Asia of £293m (2014: £39m). Of this charge, £3,291m (2014: £707m) related to trading stores has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within cost of sales' and £874m (2014: £nil) related to construction in progress and closed stores has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within (losses)/profits arising on property-related items' within non-GAAP measures in the Group Income Statement. The remaining £127m charge (2014: £159m) has not been treated as one-off within non-GAAP measures.
An impairment reversal of £176m (2014: £154m) was recognised relating to properties in the UK of £133m (2014: £136m), Europe of £28m (2014: £10m) and Asia of £15m (2014: £8m). Of this reversal, £25m (2014: £nil) has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within cost of sales' and £97m (2014: £98m) has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within (losses)/profits arising on property-related items'.
In addition, based on the factors set out above, the Group has recognised a net onerous contract provision charge in the year of £669m (2014: £18m charge) relating to contracts in the UK of £561m (2014: £(15)m release), Europe of £62m (2014: £27m charge) and Asia of £46m (2014: £6m charge). These provisions comprise obligations for future rents payable net of rents receivable on onerous leases including on vacant property and unprofitable stores and other onerous contracts relating to property. Of this charge, £536m (2014: £27m) has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within cost of sales' and £120m (2014: £nil) has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within (losses)/profits arising on property-related items' within non-GAAP measures in the Group Income Statement.
Furthermore, there has been a £21m impairment charge for investment property which has been classified as 'Impairment of PPE and onerous lease provisions included within (losses)/profits arising on property-related items'.
(a) Other assets consist of plant, equipment, fixtures and fittings and motor vehicles.
In the current year the Group reclassified property, plant and equipment with a net book value of £81m to development stock.
In the prior year, it was concluded that the level of services provided to tenants of some malls operated by the Group were no longer considered insignificant and as a result a number of malls with a net book value of £1,623m were reclassified from investment property to property, plant and equipment.
The Group operates a variety of post-employment benefit arrangements covering both funded and unfunded defined benefit schemes and funded defined contribution schemes. The most significant of these are funded defined benefit pension schemes for the Group's employees in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Thailand and South Korea. Of these schemes, the UK represents 95% of the defined benefit deficit (2014: 95%).
Following the year end, the Group has entered consultation on the closure of the UK defined benefit pension scheme to new entrants and future accrual. This has had no impact on the results for the year ended 28 February 2015.
At 31 March 2014, the deficit valuation arising from the triennial actuarial assessment was £2.8bn. A plan to pay £270m a year has been agreed with the Trustee, to fund the UK deficit and to meet the expenses of the scheme.
The main financial assumption is the real discount rate (i.e., the excess of the discount rate over the rate of price inflation). If this assumption increased/decreased by 0.1%, the UK defined benefit obligation would decrease/ increase by approximately £340m.
** The deferred tax asset in relation to the retirement benefit obligation has been partly offset with group deferred tax liabilities in the balance sheet.
Profits/losses arising on property-related items from continuing operations shown above excludes movements in respect of provisions for onerous contracts of £136m (2014: continuing operations: £(46)m; discontinued operations: £(37)m). These are included in '(Losses)/profits arising on property-related items' as per the Group Income Statement.
The decrease/(increase) in working capital shown above includes an £1,805m decrease (2014: £109m decrease) due to the impact of one-off items in the year. This decrease is made up of a £569m (2014: £60m) decrease in inventories due to inventory valuations and provisions, a £964m increase (2014: £7m decrease) in provisions due to onerous lease provisions and restructuring provisions, and a £272m (2014: £56m) decrease in working capital amounts for trade and other receivables and trade and other payables, with the 2015 decrease principally due to the £208m corrections of commercial income.
On 22nd September 2014, the Group announced that it had identified an overstatement of its expected profit for the first half of the year, as contained in guidance it had issued in August. The Serious Fraud Office ('SFO') commenced an investigation into accounting practices at the Group on 29th October 2014. It is not possible to predict the timescale or outcome of the SFO investigation, but the SFO could decide to prosecute individuals and the Group, and there is the possibility of fines, or other consequences. The Group is cooperating with the SFO.
Class actions have been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Group, its former Chairman, two former directors and the former managing director of its UK business for alleged violations of US federal securities laws. The Court has appointed the lead plaintiff to take forward the claim on behalf of all investors and has ordered them to file their claim by the end of April 2015. The Group then intends to file a motion to dismiss the complaint. All of the plaintiffs dealt through the American Depository Receipts ('ADR') programme which represents approximately 2% of the Group's issued share capital.
In addition, law firms in the UK have announced the intention of forming claimant groups to commence litigation against the Group for matters arising out of or in connection with its overstatement, and purport to have secured third party funding for such litigation. No such litigation has yet been formally threatened or commenced.
All such matters are periodically assessed with the assistance of external professional advisers, where appropriate, to determine the likelihood of the Group incurring a liability and to evaluate the extent to which a reliable estimate of any liability can be made. However, the likely outcome on the Group of the SFO investigation and any litigation relating to the above issues that either has been or may potentially be brought against the Group is subject to a number of significant uncertainties. These cannot currently be determined, although they could have a material and adverse impact on the Group's financial condition and/or results. Accordingly, no provision has been made in respect of these matters.
On 2 April 2014 the Group, through its subsidiary dunnhumby Ltd, acquired Sociomantic Labs ('Sociomantic'), a Berlin-based global leader in digital advertising solutions, for £124m which includes £38m of deferred cash consideration. Sociomantic operates in 14 countries worldwide, with clients in retail, financial services and travel services.
On 20 March 2015 the Group regained sole ownership of 21 stores which were previously held in a joint venture with British Land Co PLC ('British Land'). The Group received British Land's share of the 21 stores and cash of £96m. In exchange, British Land took sole ownership of three shopping centres, three retail parks and three standalone stores which were held in two joint ventures between the two companies as at 28 February 2015. The Group will continue to lease the stores at these sites at market rents which are not subject to RPI-indexed increases.
* Growth rates are shown on a continuing operations basis. Quarterly growth rates based on comparable days for the current year and the previous year comparison. Half 1 growth rates based on comparable days for the current year and the previous year comparison for the UK and the Republic of Ireland. All other countries are for 177 days ended 24 August 2014 compared to 178 days ended 25 August 2013. Half 2 growth rates are based on comparable days for the current year and the previous year comparison for the UK and the Republic of Ireland. All other countries are for 188 days ended 28 February 2015 compared to 187 days ended 28 February 2014. Growth rates shown are on an exc. week 53 basis for the UK and Republic of Ireland and exclude the 7 days ended 28 February 2015.
** Following the introduction of legislation preventing large retailers from selling tobacco in mid-July 2013, Hungary like-for-like growth is shown on an exc. tobacco basis. Including tobacco sales, in 2014/15, Q1 was 0.0%, Q2 was (2.0)%, H1 was (1.1)% and FY was 1.1%.
* Total growth rates shown are on an exc. week 53 basis for the UK and Republic of Ireland and exclude the 7 days ended 28 February 2015.
** Following the introduction of legislation preventing large retailers from selling tobacco in mid-July 2013, Hungary like-for-like growth is shown on an exc. tobacco basis.


Dank (slang for "killing time by doing absolutely nothing" in Norwegian) is the result of the collaborative efforts of three Norwegian students. In 2009, they got inspired by a mutual interest in skateboarding (when they were meant to be studying) and decided to start a bi-annual fanzine with a focus on skating, plus features on art and culture.
Last March the first issue hit the newsstands. "We've tried to flip the skateboard magazine genre on its head. We've stripped away everything that websites and blogs would inevitably deliver faster than us," says editor-in-chief Eirik Traavik (pictured below).
Ruark, the iconic British loudspeaker manufacturer, has teamed up with sister company Vita Audio to create this sleek limited edition Ruark Red R1 MkII desktop radio.
Launched to celebrate both the 25th anniversary of Ruark and the fifth anniversary of Vita Audio, the small but mighty radio features DAB+ and FM tuners, and has a 10 station preset option. Each unit is also individually numbered.
Four years ago Ethan Diamond was fruitlessly trying to download an album from the homepage of a band he admired. Out of frustration he came up with the idea of Bandcamp: an online music store resembling a sort of indie iTunes that provides a reliable domain for musicians of all stripes to distribute digital albums while only sacrificing 10 to 15 per cent in fees – pocket change compared to the staggering 50 to 75 per cent retained by major record labels.
In 2011 librarian David Roa – a well-respected name in Bogotá's publishing circles – got together 13 prominent Colombians (from philosophers to actors and artists) to invest in a literature venue with a focus on independent publishers, offering rare titles from Colombia and overseas.
Soon after, La Madriguera del Conejo bookstore (named after Alice in Wonderland's "Down The Rabbit Hole" chapter) opened doors in Bogotá's Chicó neighbourhood. And not everything is about books in these well-planned 45 sq m: also on the agenda are film screenings, reading events and workshops about tea and gastronomy.
Malaysia's mobile advertising is blossoming with the market growing by 37 per cent in 2011: good news for Apple iOS and Android who have a hefty 41 per cent market share of the South-East Asian state.
Sweden-born Qvist is the founder and CEO of Newspaper Abroad. Since 2006, the Brussels-based company has printed major titles for expats in Iceland, Thailand and the UK.
Why is there a need for Newspaper Abroad? When we set up a food import business into Belgium and France, the Scandinavian expat community began demanding same-day newspapers from home, so we flew them in. Printing locally was the next step.
How do you identify your readership in each location? Good market management. For example, we know the Swiss visit Spain, Turkey and Thailand. We also know from the publishers where their subscribers are.
What's in it for the newspaper companies? Very few publishers make profits on their foreign volumes. We print only what customers need. In Belgium we have contracts with the biggest printing company, SYMETA. We wanted to be pioneers.


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IN MOTION VIDEO CONTEST
Editor's Pick: Wrongfully Admitted to Sunbury Asylum
In 1945, Maraquita Sargeant, a mother of five young children, was admitted against her will to Sunbury Mental Asylum in Australia
Ryan R. Reed
Every week on this blog we will feature one video that Smithsonian.com selects as an "Editors' Pick." Since we launched the contest launched in February, we've been blown away by the high quality of the submissions. Note: these videos are not selected by the contest judges and have no bearing on the final result of the contest.
The featured videos are meant to inspire and encourage.
In 1945, Maraquita Sargeant, a mother of five young children, was admitted against her will to Sunbury Mental Asylum in Australia. Her youngest child, Tony, has spent the last 50 years of his life searching for answers.
Walking the grounds of the now vacant and dilapidated Sunbury, Tony claims his mother was the victim of an era where there were no contraceptives and divorce was not allowed. Having five children already, Maraquita was not willing to give birth again and soon after was admitted. In 1946, she wrote a letter to the governor of Victoria stating she had been "unjustly detained." The governor responded with a letter to the mental hygiene director and stated the letter "appears to be from a sane person." The hygiene director's response can only be described as chilling:
"She is definitely insane and if released would be a threat to certain prominent people's reputations."
With the director alerted to Maraquita's attempt to write the governor, he shipped her to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where she received a lobotomy—a new and experimental procedure at the time that involved separating the front of her brain from the back. The operation was considered a failure. Maraquita spent her time at Sunbury in the sewing room repairing linen and ironing. Despite the injustice, Maraquita remained optimistic and in 1967 she was released.
Upon her release, Maraquita was disorientated so an attempt to reinstitutionalize her was made. Tony called for a psychiatric evaluation and the psychiatrist reported that there was nothing wrong with her. The chairman of the meeting with the psychiatrist delivered perhaps the most haunting news:
"Mr. Sargeant, there is nothing wrong with your mom. Never has been."
"Maraquita" is a wonderfully shot and edited documentary by George Clipp. The use of historic photos mixed with modern footage of Sunbury today bring the viewer into the asylum but it's the retelling of the story by Tony that will give you goosebumps. Sunbury is a dark place for Tony and you can hear in his voice the pain the asylum has caused him throughout his life.
Technically, the documentary is executed very well. The special effects used to re-create the sewing room and bridge the gap between the 40s to now were flawless. I also thought the music added a dark and somber mood to the piece.
Feeling inspired? Head over to our submission page and upload your video for a chance to win our grand prize.
Ryan R. Reed | | READ MORE
Ryan Reed is the associate digital media editor for Garden & Gun. Previously, he was the multimedia producer for Smithsonian.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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How Ex-NNPC GMD, Yakubu Concealed $9.7m, £74,000- Witness
Sambo Maina, a prosecution witness in case of money laundering and false declaration of assets involving a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, GMD NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, on Thursday, May 10, 2018 narrated how the defendant concealed the sum of $9,772,800 found in his apartment in the EFCC Asset Declaration Form.
by SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK May 10, 2018
Andrew Yakubu
Maina, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, stated this while testifying as the fourth prosecution witness before Justice A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
He also told the court that the former NNPC boss also failed to declare the sum of £74,000 (seventy four thousand pounds sterling) found in his building to the EFCC in the said form.
While narrating how EFCC came about the 'Declaration Form', Sambo said: "We commenced investigation into two categories of NNPC contract. The contracts were awarded by NNPC and its subsidiaries.
"The first category of the contract relates to strategic alliance agreement between the NNPC, its subsidiaries NPDC (Nigerian Petroleum Development Company) and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Ltd.
"The first strategic alliance agreement was on oil mining lease 26/30/34/40/42 and the second contract was on oil mining lease 60/61/62/63".
He added that the investigation was sequel to intelligence report received by the EFCC relating to suspicious fund transfers from the Nigerian account of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept to its sister company in Switzerland called Atlantic Energy Holdings, including additional transfers from Atlantic Energy Brass Development Ltd to Atlantic Energy Holdings.
"It was on the basis of this suspicious transaction that investigation commenced. In the course of our investigation, we found it necessary to seek clarifications from Engineer Andrew Yakubu and he was invited to EFCC", Maina said.
He added that while interacting with the defendant, EFCC found out that the two strategic alliance agreements were executed between 2011 and April 2014 when Yakubu was the GMD.
The PW4 further stated that after the defendant volunteered his statement he also declared his assets to the EFCC sometimes between June and August, 2015.
The witness told the court that the declaration form given to the defendant to fill and declare his assets was based on the allegation that the company, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Ltd, was allowed to lift crude oil worth over a billion dollars without carrying out the necessary obligation on their part upon which some officials of the NNPC were charged to court.
The asset declaration form was tendered and admitted as 'Exhibit I'.
Thereafter, Justice Ahmed adjourned to July 3, 2018 for continuation of trial.
Yakubu, is facing trial on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering and false declaration of assets.
It would be recalled that, on the 3rd day of February, 2017, operatives of the EFCC had stormed a building belonging to the former NNPC boss and recovered a staggering sum of $9,772,000 (Nine Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy Two Thousand United States Dollars) and £74,000 (Seventy Four Thousand Pound Sterling) stashed in a huge fire proof safe.
Yakubu, who admitted to be the owner of the monies, claimed it was gifts given to him by friends and well wishers and also savings accumulated over a period of years.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
EFCC Press Release
Corruption EFCC Probes Osun LG Funds, Grills Perm Sec, Others
Breaking News Former Supreme Court Judge Niki Tobi Is Dead
Corruption War Against Corruption Will Be Vigorously Sustained, Buhari Says
Exclusive Revealed: Buhari's Chief Of Army Staff, General Buratai, Wives Own Dubai Property
Corruption Former Air Staff Chief Amosu And Other Top Military Officials Arraigned For N49 Billion Fraud
Corruption EFCC Quizzes DESOPADEC MD, Director Others Over Corruption


It's September and as usual I've been bouncing around the travel agency conference circuit for the past three weeks. As I write this I'm on a flight heading to Mexico for ILTM Americas, the niche luxury travel show in Mayakoba on Mexico's Riviera Maya. But over the past three weeks I've attended Signature Travel Network's owners' conference in Carlsbad, Calif.; ASTA's Global Conference onboard the Norwegian Breakaway; and Nexion's CoNexion 2014 conference in Orlando.
Now, what do all of these events have in common? Well, the short answer is they showcase the vibrancy and diversity of the travel agency business today. There are now more conferences and shows than ever catering to every travel agent in the market today, from luxury-focused travel retailers to large and high successful travel agency owners to independent contractors.
Ironically, the largest of all of these conferences was the event held by Nexion, a mega-host travel agency that counts nearly 3,500 independent contractors as members. Of course, not all of them showed up, but with over 600 participants it was larger than ASTA's global conference.
That just goes to show you how much the market has changed in the past 10 to 15 years. Think about it: The Nexion host agency conference had more attendees than one held by the national travel agency association. Back in the 1990s, ASTA's World Travel Congress attracted around 5,000 or more.
Now if you think that's a knock against ASTA, it's not. Indeed, it's my belief that ASTA has finally turned the corner. It's leaner, more focused on supporting travel agents in the halls of federal and state governments, and even has begun a new program to raise consumer awareness of travel agents in general (though it clearly could use more funds to do so). While attendance at this year's global conference wasn't great. the event was held on a cruise ship with a more limited capacity. And from everything I saw and heard, the quality of the travel agents attending was very good.
I think back two weeks ago to Signature Travel Network's conference, a gathering of roughly 300, including top agency owners who collectively own Signature itself and a roster of top preferred suppliers. There were more technology, product and training initiatives announced at that conference than I can even list in this column, from new digital marketing programs to remote training initiatives to new and more complex booking tools, all aimed at improving the efficiency and sales numbers of Signature agency members. It never fails to amaze me just how complex and imaginative the travel agency business has become today.
Indeed, I could say the same thing about Nexion's conference, where a slew of new programs were introduced, everything from a new air reservations quality control program (yes, travel agents still do book air!) to a new app that serves as a communications tool for travel agents to link with their clients, as well as a lead generation tool that selected agents can use to get new clients.
Now I'm off to the ILTM Americas, an appointments-based show where 150 high-end buyers (read travel agents) meet with 150 luxury niche suppliers. Most of the latter are small boutique hotels and resorts and specialty tour operators. This is the third year travAlliancemedia has been the trade media partner for this event, and the depth and breadth and creativity of luxury travel vendors never ceases to amaze me. If you can think of a luxury experience, they can deliver it, even the ones you never thought of before.
Of course, my conference schedule this September is only a prelude to what's to come: Looming in October are American Express Travel's conference in Orlando and Ensemble Travel Group's conference in Palm Springs, Calif. After that I'm trying to decide the other events to hit in November, from NACTA's conference in Phoenix in late October to OSSN's conference and trade show in Chicago (the Home Based Travel Agent Forum). Then there's Cruise Planners' conference aboard Royal Caribbean's new Quantum of the Seas and Cruises Inc./Cruise Only's event aboard Princess Cruises' new Regal Princess. And did I mention Signature's annual sales conference (the cooperative's main show) in Las Vegas, also in November.
It really isn't going to end until after I attend ILTM Cannes, the world's largest luxury hotel event, and the U.S. Tour Operators annual conference in Florida. Right now, I'm am tired but exhilarated all at the same time just thinking about this schedule. It's going to be a busy fall! But the travel agency business is once again demonstrating just how vital a force it is in today's travel marketplace.


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Born Female, Born Free
By Mary Dawood Catlin • 8 months ago
On the morning of May 3, 2022, every girl and woman who's ever read Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" woke up in a nightmare. As Roe v Wade is on the precipice of being overturned by the US Supreme Court, America is trying to make sense of what just happened.
Since 2020, both liberals and conservatives have been unwittingly complicit in undermining Americans' civil rights and liberties. They are ideologically arriving at the same place: A nation divided. As the two parties govern themselves into deep contradictions that cannot rationally coexist, they both share responsibility for this recent assault on girls' and women's reproductive rights.
The conservative hypocrisy
After spending the last two years fighting against covid public health mandates to protect their rights to medical privacy and bodily autonomy, the conservatives who want less government and more overall freedom, are still rationalizing turning every American girl and woman into vessels whose bodies are separate from their hearts and minds. According to them, wearing a mask, social distancing, and mandated vaccinations were a major violation of their bodily autonomy, while they continue to advocate for state mandated unwanted pregnancy and childbirth through abortion prohibitions.
They spout grand moral stances on the sanctity of life while defending their rights to their guns—objects whose sole purpose it is to kill. They consistently cite George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale of a dystopian world and a utilitarian society, while conveniently ignoring Atwood's horror of fertile girls and women forced to become handmaidens by decree, existing solely to procreate on demand. They say unwanted zygotes have the right to be born, while adamantly affirming that it is not their job to help children born into poverty, or into violence. Babies born of rape or incest? "It's God's will," they say.
According to their puritanical ideologies, women who have premarital sex for pleasure should suffer the consequences of their "sinful" actions. In other words, "Eve" should be punished for the original sin. They impose their punitive religious beliefs on girls and women, condemning them to mental anguish and corporal punishment through unwanted pregnancy and childbirth at "gunpoint," as a form of disciplinary action. They must "suffer the consequences of their actions" even at the cost of their mental and physical health, and of their lives, even though there exists more humane medical alternatives.
The religious paradox of "pro-life"
Anti-abortion fundamentalists rely on dogma, and on a merciless God to justify their stance. Their contradictory beliefs don't leave room for the possibility that an unborn soul exists in another dimension, on a spiritual plane of existence. They prefer potentially condemning an unborn soul to an Earthly life of despair, rather than to allow it to exist in a better place according to theology. They play God with the souls of the unborn, washing their hands of all responsibility when that soul is born into misery. The deep religious and spiritual paradox? "Pro-lifers" don't seem to believe in the right to life before life.
They say that "abortions kill babies," while conveniently minimizing the horror of girls and women dying by childbirth. "They chose to get pregnant," they say, as though girls and women are sacrificial lambs who should happily die for the birthing cause. A woman choosing to abort a 7-week old bean? "It's murder!" they say. A full grown woman dying in childbirth? "It's the cycle of life," or in other words, she is fodder whose life is expendable.
They insist that abortion is genocide. The 23 million miscarriages suffered every year by women who want children? It's an "act of nature," they say, conveniently overlooking that according to religion, God is everything including nature. When "it's nature" it's not murder. When it's a woman deciding what's best for her nature and overall health, she's a "baby killer" and a "murderer."
When questioned on whether governments should mandate reversible vasectomies to lower the abortion rate—procedures that are much less invasive than mandating unwanted pregnancies and childbirth on young girls and women by restricting their access to safe abortions—they come up with every hypocritical rationalization against it. For "pro-life" men, the thought of their bodies being governed by any political institution remains unfathomable, while they are more than willing to barter girl's and women's uteri in exchange for the rights of the unborn.
The liberal dissonance
In comparison, after spending two years building the case against freedom, the liberals believe in overarching government authority, and in the micromanaging of people's lives and choices. They believe that civil rights and liberties are not absolute, that public health and government authority supersede people's civil rights and individual freedoms.
While they've spent two years instrumentalizing death-by-covid to further their authoritarian agendas—patting themselves on the back for "doing everything right" while over 6 million children under age 5 died of preventable diseases in 2021—they somehow argue that "my body, my choice" applies to abortion, but not to other medical procedures such as injections.
Unable to define the word "woman," the liberals have been working on a new lexicon which strips girls and women of their dignity and their personhood. Their identities are now reduced to their body parts and biological functions. They are now "bleeders" or "birthing bodies." The new language qualifying girls and women as body parts as opposed to whole human beings in their own right, has created the perfect opportunity for conservatives to seize Roe v Wade; if she's a body part, she's not a person and her uterus can be turned into state legislated chattel.
The conservatives and liberals are intrinsically the same. Their philosophy and governance lead to the same result: A society where only a select and very wealthy few enjoy inalienable rights and freedoms—including the right to abortion—while everyone else is left ruined or socially persecuted under the authoritarian edicts of the ruling class.
And so continues systemic injustice.
The danger of overturning Roe v Wade
Many are trying to make light of a federal ruling against abortion, or outright being disingenuous about it's grave implications. They say that it does not encroach on each state's legal right to democratically uphold their own abortion laws and restrictions. They are not grasping the horror of any political entity legally codifying women's reproductive organs, with the intent of coercing unwanted pregnancy and childbirth through abortion prohibitions on menstruating females aged 10 to 50.
Following two years of public health authoritarianism and fear mongering, the overturning of Roe v Wade will perpetuate an authoritarian culture at the federal level, at the state level, at the county level, and in local communities. The covid response and the ensuing micro-tyranny from citizens who felt deputized to police and torment complete strangers, is a perfect example of how chaotic and oppressive an unjust federal ruling can become.
A culture of oppression, persecution, and fear is already taking shape in regards to women seeking abortions. In Republican states where abortion is criminalized, doctors are unwilling to face murder charges and 99 years in prison to perform abortions even in the most extreme cases of rape, incest, or severe fetal abnormalities.
Even though the abortion rate has declined since Roe v Wade, "Pro-lifers" are spreading obscene graphic propaganda of alleged late-term abortions performed "just for fun" (they simply do not exist) while women suffer the cruelty of their inhuman diktats, forced to give birth to nonviable fetuses who die hours after birth. They seem to not care about the absolute suffering that their inhumane ideologies inflict not only on the women, but also on those nonviable fetuses. Birth seems to be the whole point of their inhumane philosophy.
Women who have had miscarriages, are being prosecuted in the United States for suspected abortions. It's not enough to suffer the physical and emotional trauma of miscarriage of a wanted pregnancy. American women living in Republican states will now face suspicion of having self-induced abortions, every time they miscarry a pregnancy. Welcome to the 21st century version of the Salem witch trials.
Without a strong counterbalance at the federal level, anti-abortion fundamentalists who hold office will have more power to implement a total banning on abortions and contraception. They will control not only law, but also the culture by deputizing fanatical and dangerous anti-woman extremists who will torment and terrorize girls and women. Who will suffer the most? It will be girls and women facing the physical and emotional trauma of unwanted pregnancy, disproportionately affected by poverty, depression, and sexual violence.
The incredible irony is that these hardline, authoritarian edicts will do nothing to stop abortions. On the contrary. Girls and women will have more abortions as acts of defiance to assert their agency in the face of a brutal, oppressive, and inhumane regime. It is the theory of reactance, and psychology 101. It makes one wonder if more abortions, more death by septic abortion, and a declining birthrate is in fact the "pro-lifers" end game.
Suicide as the leading cause of maternal death
The anti-abortion movement is deeply rooted not only in the idea that women were born to suffer "Eve's" sins. It relies on the propaganda of childbirth as a beautiful thing, while conveniently ignoring how brutal, violent, excruciatingly painful, and torturous the act of childbirth actually is. The thought of the government de facto mandating what is essentially an excruciating act of physical and mental torture on girls and women, is revolting. The thought of any political, legal, or religious entity having the authority to mandate government sanctioned rape by vaginal ultrasound wand and birthing forceps, or cesareans on girls and women who do not want to be mothers, is simply horrifying.
As the "fetal heartbeat" debate continues, and as "pro-lifers" play Russian Roulette with the lives of young girls and women, suicide remains the leading cause of maternal death in pregnancy and after birth. Yet it remains a taboo subject that—like the brutality and trauma of childbirth—nobody talks about. These women are left navigating a world of physical and mental suffering between life and death, while facing the persecution of a puritanical faction that perceives them as biological vessels.
Overturning Roe v Wade will remove the resources girls and women need to make informed decisions about their mental and physical health. Not only will women have to deal with the horrifying prospect of forced pregnancy and childbirth caused by merciless anti-abortion laws, but the girls and women suffering from severe depression and suicidal ideation induced by pregnancy and childbirth, will be left without the help or resources they need for their own survival.
So much for the sanctity of life.
International humanitarian and human rights law
When society, the government, and the courts do not uphold people's most fundamental human rights, it is time to look to international human rights and humanitarian law, protocols, and treaties. In the case of coerced injections during covid, millions turned to the Nuremberg Code. In the case of forced pregnancy and childbirth, we must turn to the Rome Statute which established four international crimes in breach of the Geneva Conventions and humanitarian treaties: genocide; crimes against humanity; war crimes; and crimes of aggression.
The principles and protocols of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute are universal truths that fundamentally apply not only in times of war, but also and especially in times of peace or social unrest. In other words: Torture and sexual reproductive slavery do not suddenly become acceptable or legal outside the confines of international armed conflict.
Forced pregnancy and forced childbirth happen "when a woman or girl becomes pregnant without having sought or desired it, and abortion is denied, hindered, delayed or made difficult." Forced pregnancy and forced childbirth are acts of sexual reproductive slavery. According to international humanitarian law, human rights law, and the Rome Statute, forced pregnancy and childbirth are crimes against humanity, and a war crime.
According to every humanitarian treaty and human rights declaration—including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—and by any legal, constitutional, human, and civilized standard, forcing a girl or woman into unwanted pregnancy and childbirth is an act of barbarism, a crime against humanity, and a war crime. In peacetime, it still remains an act of barbarism, a crime against humanity, and a war crime, even if a woman gets pregnant by consensual intercourse and is simply not mentally or physically ready to give birth.
The US Constitution and abortion
Professor of law Andrew Koppelman (Northwestern University School of Law) wrote the paper Forced Labor, Revisited: The Thirteenth Amendment and Abortion. He argued that restrictions on abortion are in breach of the Thirteenth Amendment of the US Constitution. He referenced Dawn Johnsen who said that abortion restrictions "are disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude, prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment, in that forced pregnancy requires a woman to provide continuous physical service to the fetus in order to further the state's asserted interest."
He further stated: "When women are compelled to carry and bear children, they are subjected to "involuntary servitude" in violation of the amendment. Abortion prohibitions violate the Amendment's guarantee of personal liberty, because forced pregnancy and childbirth, by compelling the woman to serve the fetus, creates "that control by which the personal service of one man [sic] is disposed of or coerced for another's benefit which is the essence of involuntary servitude." Such laws violate the amendment's guarantee of equality, because forcing women to be mothers makes them into a servant caste, a group which, by virtue of a status of birth, is held subject to a special duty to serve others and not themselves."
He referenced the American philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson who said: "having a right to life does not guarantee having either a right to be given the use of or a right to be allowed continued use of another person's body—even if one needs it for life itself." Koppelman argues that "Giving fetuses a legal right to the continued use of their mothers' bodies is precisely what the Thirteenth Amendment forbids."
This is not who America is
The America of the brave and the free respects the voices of women, their bodily agency, and the privacy of their decisions. The great America that stood the test of time—the America of democracy and liberty—knows that bringing a child into this world is a serious thing, and that every child deserves to be wanted, and given his or her best chance in life. This America knows that, in the great majority of cases, girls and women have no other bearable choice than to abort. And it knows that in all other cases, what a woman does between her legs is simply nobody's business but her own.
Respecting the fact that female fetuses weren't born into involuntary servitude, is the constitutional thing to do. Respecting the sanctity of women's privacy, and not judging their choices, is the right thing to do. It is the human, and dignified thing to do.
As the world braces for the final decision in Roe v Wade, many women are left wondering how it has come to this. They are left wondering how their uteri are juggled in an endless byzantine debate on who owns them. As we remember all the girls and women who died butchered in unsafe abortions, and the more than 300,000 mothers who die in childbirth every year, this famous quote by former US president Ronald Reagan has never been more true: "Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than a generation away from extinction."
Mary Dawood Catlin
Mary is an author, historian, pianist, and advocate for human rights and liberties. She is a contributing writer at the American Institute for Economic Research, with publications in numerous other outlets including the Jerusalem Post, the Times Union, the Miami Herald, and the Herald-Tribune. She writes about current socio-political issues; 20th century history; music; and the arts. She is a voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards), a member of the International Alliance for Women in Music, and a Bösendorfer Artist. She has a master's degree from the Sorbonne (Paris) where she is currently a doctoral candidate in Music and Musicology.
Crispin Sartwell
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Do you kind of go crazy on the weekends? I'm so religious with my salads and baby carrots during the week that I feel that I can reward myself on the weekends. Last night (Friday), I went over my 1500 limit by about 50 calories. I think that went pretty well.
But how do you stay within reason when invited to a fish fry? How can a word as small as 'fry' be so calorie laden! Yes, a friend had a fish fry today at lunch. I ate with reason and still bagged in at over 1200 calories for that one meal! But I have to say that it was definitely delicious, along with the four hush puppies and three corn nuggets. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be as tempting and I plan on being very good tonight.
Eating the fried foods really made my tummy feel like I'd swallowed bricks afterwards, though. If I listen to my body, it will tell me when I ate poorly. A wonderful Shaman/Healer once told me that the Native Americans knew what to eat and what to do for illnesses by listening to their inner voice. We have learned (In our "civilized" world) to ignore our inner voice. I'm working on hearing it again.
I've started wanting to exercise now that I'm seeing some progress by being able to wear some of the clothes that have been too tight. Hopefully, I'll be a healthier, leaner, but not meaner woman by the end of the summer!
Oh how I love fish fries! We don't have in any in Colorado so I'm never tempted until I travel to Oklahoma to see relatives and there is always a big fish fry. Cheers to you on being a smaller person by the end of Summer. Doesn't feel great to get into those smaller clothes and feel comfortable and not squeezed?


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Awesome front-row remodeled Treehouse. Unobstructed views of Keystone from your private deck. New windows and sliding door to deck, new gas fireplace, new kitchen including floor, backsplash, lighting, trim, pantry and paint. Both bathrooms fully remodeled with great storage. Immaculate, fully furnished and ready to go.


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Divider sticky notes /Decibel X/Public speaking tip
Organize your notebooks
I'm a notebook hoarder/collecter and regularly use 2-3 different notebooks a day for work, journaling, lists, brain dumps, etc. Sometimes I need to flag pages to revisit and instead of post-it notes, I've been using these Redi-Tag Divider Sticky Notes ($5). These are so useful for indexing your notebooks and annotating pages. I'm still spread out all over the place, but this helps me keep track of what's important. — CD
Measuring noise with your phone
Decibel X is an app for the iPhone ($3.99 per month, also available on Android) that is a noise meter. It pretty accurately measures noise on a decibel scale. I use it to monitor the noise levels in restaurants and workplaces in an effort to increase quiet. When I am recording podcasts I use it to ensure there's little background noise. It's also entertaining and instructive to measure sound levels outside in nature and urban areas. — KK
The only thing you need to know about public speaking
"The only thing that truly matters in public speaking is not confidence, stage presence, or smooth talking. It's having something worth saying." This is from Chris Anderson's book, TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. — MF
Werewolf, intense social game
When we meet for family reunions, or gather with friends, our favorite group game is Werewolf. Classrooms and corporate retreats also play Werewolf. It's a deduction/deception game, extremely social, that is as much fun to watch as to play, so it can involve everyone. The games are exhilarating, surprising, and addictive. The only gear you need are some cards. While you can get by with an ordinary deck of cards, a set of dedicated Werewolf cards makes it much easier. After you've played a number of basic games, it's easy and fun to play with variations, which are supported by this deck of Apostrophe Werewolf cards ($11). — KK
Battery powered security light
The Lumenology Portable LED Motion Sensor Light ($30) is powered by three AA batteries. It has a light detector and motion detector, so it shines only when it detects motion at night (saving the battery charge). It comes with two different mounts: one is magnetic and the other is a flexible tripod that can work as a regular tripod or be wrapped around a pole or a branch. I used the magnetic mount on my front gate and it shines a bright, wide spot of light for 30 seconds when anyone comes to the gate. — MF
More eyeballing measurement tips
Recomendo reader Wendy shared a follow-up tip to last week's Recomendo, she says "Another tip I read once about eyeballing measurements is to take pinches of salt and place them in your other hand till you think you have a teaspoon, then measure it against a real teaspoon. Do the pinches over and over till you get a consistent amount per teaspoon. I figured mine out so that I get 1/4 teaspoon per pinch. Super handy for salting stuff, but also works with herbs. But in the case of herbs, remember how much a teaspoon looked like in your palm." — CD


This course covers the essential concepts of the geodatabase, the native data storage format for ArcGIS, and explores its advanced functionality that allows for more realistic representation of spatial data.
This course covers the essential concepts of the geodatabase, the native data storage format for ArcGIS, and explores its advanced functionality that allows for more realistic representation of spatial data. The course focuses on geodatabase design concepts and explores the creation and editing of advanced geodatabase elements used for maintaining spatial and attribute relationships, in particular, attribute domains, subtypes, topology, relationship classes, and annotation. Basic data modeling using networks and data migration will also be covered.
Participants need introductory knowledge of Geographic Information Systems before attending this course.
Workshop format: approximately 50% lecture, 50% hands on training via guided lab exercises completed individually on computers.
1. Develop an understanding of geodatabase design and modeling concepts for spatial data.
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3. Create and modify advanced geodatabase components including attribute domains, subtypes, topology, relationship classes, and annotation.
4. Explore the basic modeling of networks including utility and transportation networks.
5. Efficiently migrate and load existing spatial data into a designed geodatabase.
* For certified planners, 16 units of Certification Maintenance (CM) credits through American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) may be available for this course.
Deadline for payment is 5 p.m. Friday, May 11, 2018. If we have not received your payment at that time, your place may be forfeit to someone on our waiting list. Cancellations prior to that date will receive a refund of payment minus a $50 processing fee. We reserve the right to cancel the workshop prior to May 16, 2018; in that event, we will give full refunds. We do not allow registration 'trading,' even to persons within the same organization. Please let us know as soon as you know if you have registered and cannot attend as there is usually an extensive waiting list for our trainings and we use substantial funds to subsidize workshop expenses, helping to make them more affordable.