The 2008 Form 20-F published by Unilever, which uses IFRS, notes that during 2008 assets were written down by 246 million euros to market value for damaged, obsolete, and lost inventories. It also noted that the market value of certain inventories written down in prior periods was recovered, leading to an increase in the 2008 inventory value of 23 million euros.
REQUIRED:
a. Compute the net adjustment recorded by Unilever for inventory market value changes during 2008.
b. If Unilever followed U.S. GAAP instead of IFRS, what would have been the net adjustment?
c. Briefly discuss fundamental differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS.