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 balance sheet date could lawfully be included in the profit and loss account.

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That was the date of the last balance sheet Autonomy publicly disclosed before it was bought by HP in November 2011.

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