BT 2006 Annual Report Download - page 65

UNITED KINGDOM OPINION
Independent auditors’ report to the members of BT Group plc
We have audited the group financial statements of BT Group plc for the year
ended 31 March 2006 which comprise the group income statement, the
group balance sheet, the group cash flow statement, the group statement of
recognised income and expense, accounting policies and the related notes.
These group financial statements are set out on pages 65 to 122. These
group financial statements have been prepared under the accounting
policies set out therein.
We have reported separately on the parent company financial
statements of BT Group plc for the year ended 31 March 2006 and on the
information in the Report on directors’ remuneration that is described as
having been audited. This separate report is set out on page 123.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the group
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union (EU)
are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the group financial statements in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International
Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). This report, including the opinion,
has been prepared for and only for the company’s members as a body in
accordance with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other
purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility
for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or
into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior
consent in writing.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the group financial
statements give a true and fair view and whether the group financial
statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies
Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. We report to you whether in
our opinion the information given in the Report of the directors is consistent
with the group financial statements. The information given in the directors’
report includes that specific information presented in the operating and
financial review that is cross referred from the Report of the directors. We
also report to you if, in our opinion, we have not received all the information
and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law
regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.
We review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the
company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 FRC Combined
Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services
Authority, and we report if it does not. We are not required to consider
whether the board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and
controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate
governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read other information contained in the Annual Report and consider
whether it is consistent with the audited group financial statements. The
other information comprises only the Financial headlines, Chairman’s
message, Chief Executive’s statement, the Operating and financial review,
the Report of the directors, the Report of the audit committee, the Report of
the nominating committee and the unaudited part of the Report on
directors’ remuneration. We consider the implications for our report if we
become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies
with the group financial statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to
any other information.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on
Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit
includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts
and disclosures in the group financial statements. It also includes an
assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the
directors in the preparation of the group financial statements, and of
whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s
circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information
and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with
sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the group financial
statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or
other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the
overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the group financial
statements.
Opinion
In our opinion:
sthe group financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance
with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, of the state of the group’s
affairs as at 31 March 2006 and of its profit and cash flows for the year
then ended;
sthe group financial statements have been properly prepared in
accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS
Regulation; and
sthe information given in the Report of the directors is consistent with the
group financial statements.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
17 May 2006
UNITED STATES OPINION
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm to the board of
directors and shareholders of BT Group plc
In our opinion, the accompanying group balance sheets and the related
group statements of income, of cash flows and of statements of recognised
income and expenses present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position of BT Group plc and its subsidiaries at 31 March 2006 and 2005,
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the two
years in the period ended 31 March 2006, in conformity with International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union
(EU). These financial statements are the responsibility of the group’s
management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial
statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these
statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States), which require that we plan and
perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the
financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
As discussed in the accounting policies section to the financial
statements, the group has adopted prospectively from 1 April 2005
International Accounting Standards (IAS) 32 –‘Financial Instruments:
Disclosure and Presentation’ and IAS 39 –‘Financial Instruments:
Recognition and Measurement’ in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the
EU.
IFRS, as adopted by the EU, vary in certain significant respects from
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Information relating to the nature and effect of such differences is presented
in the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles note within
the notes to the consolidated financial statements (note 35).
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
17 May 2006
REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
Report of the independent auditors BT Group plc Annual Report and Form 20-F 2006 63