The Volkswagen Group, a German auto manufacturer, and Carrefour, a French retailer, both publish financial statements under IFRS, denominated in euros. Sony, the Japanese electronics giant, publishes financial statements under U.S. GAAP, denominated in yen. Excerpts taken directly from their 2012 income statements are provided in the following table. Note that the items are in the order in which they appeared on the income statement.

Volkswagen (million euros):

Finance cost ....................... 729

Share of profits and losses from equity-accounted investments .. 2,369

Result from ordinary activities ................ 8,084

Carrefour (million euros):

Operating income ................................. 1,434

Finance costs .................................... (462)

Net income from equity method companies ........................ 72

Sony (billion yen):

Equity in net income of affiliates ........................... 14

Operating income ................................. 200

Interest expense ................................................ 24

REQUIRED:

a. Identify differences in the definitions of operations used by the three companies.

b. Comment on possible reasons for these differences.

c. How might an analyst handle these differences?