Carphone Warehouse 2003 Annual Report Download - page 23

Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities
21
The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC Annual Report 2003
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for
each financial period which give a true and fair view of the state of
affairs of the Company and Group and of their profit or loss for that
period. In preparing those financial statements, the Directors are
required to:
• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• State whether applicable accounting standards have been
followed; and
• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless
it is inappropriate to presume that the Group will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records
which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial
position of the Company and Group and enable them to ensure that
the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They are
also responsible for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them
to safeguard the assets of the Company and Group and to prevent and
detect fraud and other irregularities.
Independent Auditors’ Report
Independent Auditors’ report to the shareholders of The Carphone
Warehouse Group PLC
We have audited the financial statements of The Carphone Warehouse
Group PLC for the period ended 29 March 2003 which comprise the
profit and loss account, the balance sheets, the cash flow statement,
the statement of total recognised gains and losses, the statement of
accounting policies and the related notes 1 to 31. We have also audited
the information in the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report that
is described as having been audited.
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in
accordance with section 235 of the Companies Act 1985. Our audit
work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s
members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors’
report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law,
we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the
Company and the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work,
for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Respective responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
As described in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities, the
Company’s Directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial
statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and
accounting standards. They are also responsible for the preparation
of the other information contained in the Annual Report including the
Directors’ Remuneration Report. Our responsibility is to audit the
financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report
described as having been audited in accordance with relevant United
Kingdom legal and regulatory requirements and auditing standards.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give
a true and fair view and whether the financial statements and the part
of the Directors’ Remuneration Report described as having been audited
have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act
1985. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Directors’ Report is
not consistent with the financial statements, if the Company has not kept
proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and
explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law
regarding Directors’ remuneration and transactions with the Company
and other members of the Group is not disclosed.
We review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the
Company’s compliance with the seven provisions of the 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 the Directors’ Report and the other information contained
in the Annual Report for the above year as described in the contents
section including the unaudited part of the Directors’ Remuneration
Report and consider the implications for our report if we become
aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies
with the financial statements.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with United Kingdom auditing
standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes
examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements and the part of the Directors’
Remuneration Report described as having been audited. It also includes
an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by
the Directors in the preparation of the financial statements and of whether
the accounting policies are appropriate to the circumstances of the
Company and the Group, 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 financial
statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report
described as having been audited 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 financial statements and the part of the Directors’
Remuneration Report described as having been audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
• the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs
of the Company and the Group as at 29 March 2003 and of the profit
of the Group for the period then ended; and
• the financial statements and part of the Directors’ Remuneration
Report described as having been audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
Deloitte & Touche
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
2 June 2003