Marks and Spencer 2006 Annual Report Download - page 51

www.marksandspencer.com/auditorsreport2006 49Marks and Spencer Group plc
Auditors’ report
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE
MEMBERS OF MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC
We have audited the group and parent company financial
statements (the ‘’financial statements’’) of Marks and Spencer
Group plc for the year ended 1 April 2006 which comprise
the consolidated and Company income statements, the
consolidated and Company balance sheets, the consolidated
and Company cash flow statements, the consolidated
statement of recognised income and expense, the Company
statement of changes in shareholders’ equity and the related
group and parent Company notes. These financial statements
have been prepared under the accounting policies set out
therein. We have also audited the information in the Directors’
Remuneration Report that is described as having been audited.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual Report,
the Directors’ Remuneration Report and the financial statements
in accordance with applicable law and International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union
are set out in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the
part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited 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 financial
statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial
statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report
to be audited 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 Group Directors’ Report is consistent with the financial
statements. The information in the Group Directors’ Report
includes that specific information presented in the Corporate
Governance Statement that is cross referred from the Directors’
Report. We also report to you if, in our opinion, 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 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 financial
statements. The other information comprises only the Financial
Review, the Group Directors’ Report, the Corporate Governance
Statement, the unaudited part of the Directors’ Remuneration
Report, the Group Financial Record and the Shareholder
Information. We consider the implications for our report if we
become aware of any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the 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
financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration
Report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the
significant estimates and judgments made by the directors
in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether
the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’s and
Company’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 part of the
Directors’ Remuneration Report to be 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 to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
• the 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 and the parent Company’s affairs
as at 1 April 2006 and of the Group’s and the parent
Company’s profit and cash flows for the year then ended;
• the financial statements and the part of the Directors’
Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and
Article 4 of the IAS Regulation; and
• the information given in the Directors’ Report is consistent
with the financial statements.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
26 May 2006