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179
2014 Registration Document
Consolidated Financial Statements Year ended December 31, 2014
5
Notes to the Consolidated statements
Note 27
Shareholders’ equity
Note 26
Cash and cash equivalents
(in € millions)
December 31, 2014
December 31, 2013
Cash equivalents
1,086
3,019
Cash
2,027
1,738
TOTAL
3,113
4,757
There are no material restrictions on the Group’s ability to recover or
use the assets and settle the liabilities of foreign operations, except for
those resulting from local regulations in its host countries.
The local supervisory authorities may require banking subsidairies to
keep a certain level of capital and liquidities, limit their exposure to other
Group parties, and comply with other ratios.
27.1
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
The parent company, Carrefour, must have sufficient equity capital to
comply with the provisions of France’s Commercial Code.
The Group owns interests in a certain number of financial services
companies (banks, insurance companies). These subsidiaries must have
sufficient equity capital to comply with capital adequacy ratios and the
minimum capital rules set by their local banking and insurance supervisors.
Capital management objectives (equity and debt capital) are to:
■
ensure that the Group can continue operating as a going concern, in
particular by maintaining high levels of liquid resources;
■
optimize shareholder returns;
■
keep gearing at an appropriate level, in order to minimize the cost of
capital and maintain the Group’s credit rating at a level that allows it
to access a wide range of financing sources and instruments.
In order to maintain or adjust its gearing, the Group may take on new
borrowings or retire existing borrowings, adjust the dividend paid to
shareholders, return capital to shareholders, issue new shares, buy back
shares or sell assets in order to use the proceeds to pay down debt.
27.2
SHARE CAPITAL
At December 31, 2014, the share capital was made up of 734,913,909 ordinary shares with a par value of €2.5 each, all fully paid.
(in thousands of shares)
2014
2013
Outstanding at January 1
723,984
709,215
Issued for cash
Issued upon exercise of stock options
Issued in payment of dividends
10,930
14,770
Cancelled shares
Outstanding at December 31
734,914
723,984