Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation: The condensed consolidated financial statements included in this report are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial reporting and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulations. The year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted. In the opinion of management, these financial statements include all adjustments, which are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair statement of the financial position, results of operations, cash flows and the change in equity for the periods presented. The condensed consolidated financial statements for the three month period ended March 31, 2013 should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (which may be referred to as “West”, “the Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”), appearing in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 (“2012 Annual Report”). The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications: Certain reclassifications were made to prior period financial statements to conform to the current year presentation.

New Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted Standards

In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued guidance for the reporting of amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI"). The guidance does not change the current requirements for reporting net income or other comprehensive income in financial statements; however, it requires an entity to provide information about the amounts reclassified out of AOCI by component. In addition, an entity is required to present, either on the face of the statement where net income is presented or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of AOCI by the respective line items of net income, but only if the amount reclassified is required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. For other amounts that are not required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures required under U.S. GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts. We adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2013, on a prospective basis. This adoption did not have a material impact on our financial statements. Please refer to Note 9, Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss, for additional details.

In July 2012, the FASB issued guidance for the impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangible assets. The guidance permits an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more-likely-than-not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform a quantitative impairment test. This guidance was effective for us as of January 1, 2013 and will be considered when performing our annual impairment testing. Management believes that the adoption of this guidance will not have a material impact on our financial statements.