Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured. Hutchison Whampoa's intangible assets for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2014 was €14,325 Mil.
Hutchison Whampoa Intangible Assets Historical Data
The historical data trend for Hutchison Whampoa's Intangible Assets can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured. Examples of intangible assets include trade secrets, copyrights, patents, trademarks. If a company acquires assets at the prices above the book value, it may carry goodwill on its balance sheet. Goodwill reflects the difference between the price the company paid and the book value of the assets.
If a company (company A) received a patent through their own work, though it has value, it does not show up on its balance sheet as an intangible asset. However, if company A sells this patent to company B, it will show up on company B's balance sheet as an intangible asset.
The same applies to brand names, trade secrets etc. For instance, Coca-Cola's brand is extremely valuable, but the brand does not appear on its balance sheet, because the brand was never acquired.
Some intangibles are amortized. Amortization is the depreciation of intangible assets.
Many intangibles are not amortized. They may still be written down when the company decides the asset is impaired.
Whenever you see an increase in goodwill over a number of years, you can assume it's because the company is out buying other businesses above book value. GOOD if buying businesses with durable competitive advantage.
If goodwill stays the same, the company when acquiring other companies is either paying less than book value or not acquiring. Businesses with moats never sell for less than book value.
Intangibles acquired are on balance sheet at fair value.
Internally developed brand names (Coke, Wrigleys, Band-Aid) however are not reflected on the balance sheet.
One of the reasons competitive advantage power can remain hidden for so long.
Be Aware
Companies may change the way intangible assets are amortized, and this will affect their reported earnings.
Hutchison Whampoa Intangible Assets Related Terms
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Hutchison Whampoa Ltd is a multinational conglomerate engaged in the development, innovation and technology in various sector. The Company has six businesses segments: ports and related services, property and hotels, retail, infrastructure, energy, and telecommunications. The Company holds interests in 52 ports comprising 278 operational berths in 26 countries, including container terminals operating in five of the 10 busiest container ports in the world. It also engages in mid-stream operations, river trade, cruise terminal operations and ports related logistics services. It develops and invests in real estate projects, ranging from landmark office buildings to luxury residential properties. It holds a rental property portfolio of approximately 14.0 million square feet of office, commercial, industrial and residential premises, primarily in Hong Kong, as well as interests in a number of joint-venture developments in Mainland China and selective overseas markets. The Company has over 10,500 retail stores in 25 markets worldwide. Its retail portfolio comprises health and beauty products, supermarkets, consumer electronics and electrical appliances. The Company's infrastructure business operates mainly in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Mainland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The Company's investments in energy are principally in Canada, the United States, the Mainland, Taiwan, Greenland and Indonesia. Husky Energy Inc is a listed Canadian-based integrated energy and energy related company. The Company is an operator of mobile telecommunication and data services, and a mobile broadband technology in the world. It is also an owner and operator of fibre-optic fixed line networks in Hong Kong.
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