To implement the new standards, an independent appraisal firm was engaged to help management estimate the fair values of Protection One’s and Protection One Europe’s goodwill and customer accounts. Based on this analysis, we recorded a charge in the first quarter of 2002 of approximately $749.3 million (net of tax benefit and minority interests), of which $555.4 million was related to goodwill and $193.9 million was related to customer accounts.

The impairment charge for goodwill recorded in the first quarter of 2002 is reflected in our consolidated statement of income as a cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle. The impairment charge for customer accounts is reflected in our consolidated statement of income as an operating expense. These impairment charges reduce the recorded value of these assets to their estimated fair values at January 1, 2002.

Protection One completed an additional impairment test of goodwill as of December 31, 2002. We recorded an impairment charge of $79.7 million, net of tax benefit and minority interests, in the fourth quarter of 2002 to reflect the impairment of all remaining goodwill of Protection One’s North America segment, which is reflected in our consolidated statement of income as an operating expense.

We solicited and received indications of value for Protection One Europe from potential buyers. These indications of value are within a range we would be willing to accept. They indicated the recorded goodwill of Protection One Europe had no value. Accordingly, we recorded a $36 million impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2002 to reflect the impairment of all remaining goodwill at Protection One Europe, which is reflected in our consolidated statement of income as an operating expense. We are willing to accept offers in the indicated range due to our ability to use the tax loss on this sale to offset the taxes that would otherwise be due from our sale of other investments. We will recognize a $58 million tax benefit in the first quarter of 2003 when Protection One Europe is classified as a discontinued operation.

These charges for the year ended December 31, 2002, are detailed as follows:

We no longer amortize goodwill to expense because of the adoption of SFAS No. 142. The following table shows our results for the year ended December 31, 2002, compared to our results for the year ended December 31, 2001, calculated using the new accounting standard for goodwill, adjusted for minority interest.

The investment at cost in customer accounts at December 31, 2002 was $1.1 billion and at December 31, 2001 was approximately $1.4 billion. Accumulated amortization of the investment in customer accounts at December 31, 2002 was $678.9 million and at December 31, 2001 was $614.5 million. We recorded approximately $83.3 million of customer account amortization expense during the year ended December 31, 2002, $148.0 million during the same period of 2001 and $158.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2000. Customer account amortization expense is reduced primarily as a result of the impairment charge that reduced our customer account balance. The table below reflects the estimated aggregate customer account amortization expense for 2003 and each of the four succeeding fiscal years.

We are required to perform impairment tests for long-lived assets prospectively for our monitored services segment as long as it continues to incur recurring losses or for other matters that may negatively impact its businesses. Goodwill will be required to be tested upon certain triggering events, which include recurring operating losses, adverse business conditions, adverse regulatory rulings, declines in market values and other matters that negatively impact value. Given the potentially negative implications from the KCC’s December 23, 2002 order, and the subsequent decline in Protection One’s stock price, Protection One tested its goodwill for impairment at December 31, 2002, which resulted in the additional impairment charge discussed above. If future impairment tests for either goodwill or customer accounts indicate fair value is less than book value, we will be required to recognize additional impairment charges on these assets in the future. Any such impairment charges could be material.