NETHERLANDS - Pharmaceutical giant Akzo Nobel is to write down almost €500m in the new year in order to comply with the new international accounting standard.

Akzo is restating its books for the first three quarters of 2004. The write-down, a one-off move, is mainly related to higher pension costs.

The Arnhem-based company said the adjustments would result in an increase in net income and a drop in shareholders' equity over 2004. Akzo said the adjusted numbers would not have an impact on the underlying cash flows of the business.

IFRS has to be implemented by all publicly quoted companies in Europe from next year. Currently, Akzo Nobel reports its financial statements under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the Netherlands (NL GAAP).

However, it has restated the 2004 figures to ensure that comparative 2004 numbers are available to investors and the market when IFRS is applied.

"The implementation of IFRS was a major effort, even though we were already partly applying similar NL GAAP and US GAAP standards," said Rob Frohn, Akzo Nobel chief financial officer, in a statement. "In our detailed report we provide a bridge between both systems. This provides a transparent view on the impact of IFRS on our company."

Shell, Philips and ABN Amro have also recently restated their books in order to comply with the new accounting standard.

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