> Notes to the consolidated financial statements <33> FISCAL YEARS ENDED 31 JANUARY 2003, 2002 AND 2001 (All amounts stated hereafter are in euro million) Note 1: Presentation of the Company and its consolidated financial statements Neopost was created in 1992 through a leveraged buyout of Alcatel’s  mail  processing  equipment  division.  A  second leveraged buyout took place in 1997. Since 1997, Neopost has made acquisitions of varying sizes, of which the largest was  the  2002  purchase  of  Ascom  Hasler  —  the  mailing systems division of Swiss company Ascom — which ranks third in the world in its market. The  term  «Neopost  SA»  refers  to  the  parent  company (excluding  consolidated  subsidiaries)  while  «Neopost»  and «the Group» refer to the economic whole formed by the parent company and its consolidated subsidiaries. Note 2: Summary of accounting policies The Group’s consolidated financial statements are prepared in  accordance with French Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The accounts as of 31 January 2001 have been brought into line with the new French regulations regarding consolidated financial statements. Financial statements of foreign companies have been restated in accordance with Neopost Group accounting principles. Each item of the assets, liabilities and statements of income of the consolidated companies are brought together into the consolidated balance sheet. Inter-company transactions and profit relating to these operations as well as inter-company capital gains are eliminated. a) Companies consolidated The financial statements of all companies directly or indirectly controlled by Neopost SA are fully consolidated. Neopost RTL (Ireland) and Neopost SL (Spain) have been fully consolidated since 1 February 2002. Ascom Hasler North America was acquired on 28 February 2002 and has been fully consolidated since 1 March 2002. Ascom  Hasler’s  activities  outside  North  America  were acquired on 31 May 2002 and have been fully consolidated since 1 June 2002. Neopost NBG has been consolidated since 1 August 2002. Stielow  was  acquired  on  31  August  2002  and  has  been consolidated since 1 September 2002. Dynapost,in which the Group has a 35% stake,is consolidated under the equity method. A detailed statement of consolidation is provided in note 4. b) Foreign currency debts and receivables Total receivables and debts expressed in foreign currency are translated at the exchange rate applicable at the end of the fiscal  year.  The  profits  and  losses  resulting  from  these translations are booked on the Profit and Loss statement. c)  Translation  of  financial  statements  denominated  in foreign currencies Assets and liabilities of subsidiaries operating outside France are translated in euro at rates in effect at the end of the period; revenues and expenses are converted at the average exchange rate over the period. The  resulting  translation  difference  is  included  in shareholders’ equity. The conversion rates used for the main currencies are as follows: (per euro) As of 31 January 2003 2002 2001 Average Period-end Average Period-end Average Period-end US dollar (USD) 0.9610 1.0816 0.8893 0.8637 0.9194 0.9293 Pound sterling (GBP) 0.6349 0.6557 0.6202 0.6111 0.6118 0.6367 Canadian dollar (CAD) 1.5355 1.6562 n-a n-a n-a n-a Swiss franc (CHF) 1.4647 1.4678 n-a n-a n-a n-a Japanese yen (JPY)   120.3536 129.17 n-a n-a n-a n-a