Marks and Spencer 2005 Annual Report Download - page 31

MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC 29
Auditors’ report
Independent auditors’ report to the members of
Marks and Spencer Group plc
We have audited the financial statements which comprise
the Consolidated profit and loss account, the Balance sheets,
the Consolidated cash flow statement, the reconciliation of net
cash flow to movement in net debt, the note of group historical
cost profits and losses, the consolidated statement of total
recognised gains and losses and the related notes. We have
also audited the disclosures required by Part 3 of Schedule 7A
to the Companies Act 1985 contained in the Remuneration report
(‘the auditable part’).
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual report
and the financial statements in accordance with applicable
United Kingdom law and accounting standards are set out in
the statement of directors’ responsibilities. The directors are
also responsible for preparing the Remuneration report.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the
auditable part of the Remuneration report in accordance with
relevant legal and regulatory requirements and United Kingdom
Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. 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 financial
statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial
statements and the auditable part of the directors’ Remuneration
report 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 is not disclosed.
We read the other information contained in the Annual Report and
consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the
financial statements. The other information comprises only the
Chairman’s statement, Chief Executive’s and Financial review, the
Corporate governance statement, the unaudited part of the
Remuneration report, Directors’ interests and the statement of
Directors’ responsibilities, the Directors’ report, the Group financial
record and the Annual review and summary financial statement.
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 to form an opinion
on the effectiveness of the Company’s or Group’s corporate
governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with 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 auditable part
of the Remuneration report. 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 Company’s and 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 financial statements and the auditable part of
the remuneration report 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.
Opinion
In our opinion:
•the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state
of affairs of the Company and the Group at 2 April 2005 and
of the profit and cash flows of the Group for the period then
ended;
•the financial statements have been properly prepared in
accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and
•those parts of the remuneration report required by Part 3 of
Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985 have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
23 May 2005