33.—(1) Where a distribution is proposed to be declared during the accounting reference period of a successor company which includes the transfer date or before any accounts are laid or filed in respect of that period, Articles 278 to 284 of the [1986 NI 6] Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (accounts relevant for determining whether a distribution may be made by a company) shall have effect as if—
(a)references in Article 278 to the company’s accounts or to accounts relevant under that Article; and
(b)references in Article 281 to initial accounts,
included references to such accounts as, on the assumptions stated in sub-paragraph (2), would have been prepared under Article 234 of that Order of 1986 in respect of the relevant year.
(2) The said assumptions are—
(a)that the relevant year had been a financial year of the successor company;
(b)that the vesting effected by Part III of this Order had been a vesting of all the assets and liabilities to which Northern Ireland Electricity was entitled or subject immediately before the beginning of the relevant year and had been effected immediately after the beginning of that year;
(c)that the value of any asset and the amount of any liabilities of Northern Ireland Electricity vested in the successor company by virtue of the said Article 234 had been the value or (as the case may be) the amount assigned to that asset or liability for the purposes of the statement of accounts prepared by Northern Ireland Electricity in respect of the financial year immediately preceding the relevant year;
(d)that any securities of the successor company issued or allotted before the declaration of the distribution had been issued or allotted before the end of the relevant year; and
(e)such other assumptions (if any) as may appear to the directors of the successor company to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of this paragraph.
(3) For the purposes of the said accounts the amount to be included in respect of any item shall be determined as if anything done by Northern Ireland Electricity (whether by way of acquiring, revaluing or disposing of any asset or incurring, revaluing or discharging any liability, or by carrying any amount to any provision or reserve, or otherwise) had been done by the successor company.
Accordingly (but without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provision) the amount to be included in any reserves of the successor company as representing its accumulated realised profits shall be determined as if any profits realised and retained by Northern Ireland Electricity had been realised and retained by the successor company.
(4) The said accounts shall not be regarded as statutory accounts for the purposes of Article 78 of this Order.
(5) In this paragraph “the relevant year” means the last complete financial year ending before the transfer date.