8.28 The listed investor, Djerriwarrh, had a solid year in 2016, but not according to IAS rules. Its net operating profit rose by 21.1% despite holding nearly 29% of its portfolio in bank shares. Because of AASB139/IAS39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, it had to report a pretax 'impairment' charge of $70.9 million and a net charge of $49.7million, pushing its results to a loss of $14.1 million. Shares in the Djerriwarrh portfolio qualified for the charge, shares that were not even remotely close to going broke but were affected by the global financial crisis. The problem is that as share prices recover, impairment charges already taken against earnings cannot be reversed.

(a) Does the accounting impairment rule, as it stood in 2016, make sense?

(b) What changes were made to AASB139/IAS39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement as a result of the unforeseen consequences such as that suffered by Djerriwarrh?

(c) As a result of the changes, will investment companies that book impairment losses to the balance sheet be able to report dividend income as income?