How are mid-year acquisitions reported on the profit or loss statement?

When a company makes a mid-year acquisition, the reporting of the acquired company's results on the profit or loss statement is typically done by including only the post-acquisition results. This practice is consistent with the principle that financial statements should reflect the results of the acquiring entity's operations starting from the date of acquisition onwards, allowing users of the financial statements to clearly assess the performance attributable to the acquiring company after it gained control of the acquired entity.

Including only the post-acquisition results helps to avoid confusion regarding the performance attributable to the acquiree prior to the acquisition date, which is not part of the acquiring entity's ongoing operations. Thus, this approach maintains clarity and consistency in financial reporting, ensuring users can evaluate the acquisition's impact on the company's financial performance accurately.

The other options do not align with this standard practice: pre-acquisition results would not be relevant for users assessing the ongoing performance of the acquiring entity, combining results without a breakdown could obscure important details, and separately reporting all results would not typically provide a clear representation of the performance attributable to the acquirer specifically.