Where the company enters into a lease which entails taking substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of an asset, the lease is treated as a finance lease. Leases which do not transfer substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to the Company are classified as operating leases.
Assets held under finance leases are initially recognised as assets of the Company at their fair value at the inception of the lease or, if lower, at the present value of the minimum lease payments. The corresponding liability to the lessor is included in the balance sheet date as a finance lease obligation. Lease payments are apportioned between finance expenses and reduction of the lease obligation so as to achieve a constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability. Finance expenses are recognised immediately in profit or loss, unless they are directly attributable to qualifying assets, in which case they are capitalised in accordance with the Company's policy on borrowing costs (see the accounting policy above).
Assets held under finance leases are depreciated in the same way as owned assets. Operating lease payments are recognised as an expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
In the event that lease incentives are received to enter into operating leases, such incentives are recognised as a liability. The aggregate benefit of incentives is recognised as a reduction of rental expense on a straight-line basis.