In this respect, when the original deed was made in 1986, amended in 1993 and replaced in 1997, two fundamental legal and accounting principles applied: that a profit and loss account was concerned with ordinary activities before taxation, and that only profits realised at the balancesheet date could lawfully be included in the profit and loss account.
The accounting rules allow companies to move debt off their balancesheet by employing operating leases instead of capital leases to account for certain assets.