Marks and Spencer 2016 Annual Report Download - page 79

77
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2016
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OUR BUSINESSOUR PERFORMANCEGOVERNANCE
> Employee training on GSCOP is provided,
including annual refresher programmes
and new starter training.
POLITICAL DONATIONS
No political donations were made during
the year ended 2 April 2016. M&S has
a policy of not making donations to political
organisations or independent election
candidates or incurring political
expenditure anywhere in the world as
defi ned in the Political Parties, Elections
and Referendums Act 2000.
GOING CONCERN
In adopting the going concern basis for
preparing the fi nancial statements, the
directors have considered the business
activities as set out on pages 02 to 21 as
well as the Group’s principal risks and
uncertainties as set out on pages 28 and 29.
Based on the Group’s cash fl ow forecasts
and projections, the Board is satisfi ed that
the Group will be able to operate within the
level of its facilities for the foreseeable
future. For this reason the Board considers
it appropriate for the Group to adopt the
going concern basis in preparing its
fi nancial statements.
See Note 20 to the Financial Statements
for more information on our Facilities
LONG-TERM VIABILITY STATEMENT
The directors have assessed the prospects
of the Company over a three-year period
to 30 March 2019. This has taken into
account the business model, strategic
aims, risk appetite, and principal risks and
uncertainties, along with the Company’s
current fi nancial position. Based on
this assessment, the directors have a
reasonable expectation that the Company
will be able to continue in operation and
meet its liabilities as they fall due over the
three-year period under review.
See our approach to assessing long-term
viability on p47
AUDITOR
Auditor Resolutions to reappoint Deloitte
LLP as auditor of the Company and to
authorise the Audit Committee to
determine their remuneration will be
proposed at the 2016 AGM.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The AGM of Marks and Spencer Group plc
will be held at Wembley Stadium, London on
12 July 2016 at 11am. The Notice of Meeting
is given, together with explanatory notes, in
a booklet which accompanies this report.
DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
The Board is of the view that the Annual
Report should be truly representative of
the year and provide shareholders with
the information necessary to assess the
Group’s position, performance, business
model and strategy. This cannot be
achieved by merely reviewing the fi nal
document at the end of the preparation
process. The Board ensured that its
requirements were clearly communicated
from the outset to each of the
departments involved in the production
of the Annual Report.
The Board has advised that the narrative
reports should contain the key information
needed by investors and other users of the
report and should avoid being promotional
in nature. Furthermore, the narrative
reports in the front and the accounting
information in the back of the report should
be consistent and the teams involved in
its production work closely together to
achieve this. For an independent opinion,
the Board also requested the Audit
Committee review the Annual Report and
provide feedback. The Committee’s opinion
on whether the report is fair, balanced and
understandable is on pages 44 and 45.
The directors are also responsible for
preparing the Annual Report, the
Remuneration Report and the fi nancial
statements in accordance with applicable
law and regulations. Company law requires
the directors to prepare fi nancial
statements for each fi nancial year. Under
that law, the directors have prepared the
Group and Company fi nancial statements
in accordance with International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by
the EU. Under company law, the directors
must not approve the fi nancial statements
unless they are satisfi ed that they give a
true and fair view of the state of a airs of
the Group and the Company and of the
profi t or loss of the Group and the
Company for that period. In preparing
these fi nancial statements, the directors
are required to:
> Select suitable accounting policies
and then apply them consistently;
> Make judgements and accounting
estimates that are reasonable
and prudent;
> State whether applicable IFRSs
(as adopted by the EU) have been
followed, subject to any material
departures disclosed and explained
in the fi nancial statements; and
> Prepare the fi nancial statements on
a going concern basis unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the
Company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping
adequate accounting records that are
su cient to show and explain the
Company’s transactions and disclose,
at any time and with reasonable accuracy,
the fi nancial position of the Company and
the Group and to enable them to ensure
that the fi nancial statements and the
Remuneration Report comply with the
Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the
Group fi nancial statements, Article 4 of the
IAS Regulation. They are also responsible
for safeguarding the assets of the Group
and the Company and hence for taking
reasonable steps for the prevention and
detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The directors are responsible for the
maintenance and integrity of the
Company’s website. Legislation in the
UK governing the preparation and
dissemination of fi nancial statements may
di er from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Each of the directors, whose names and
functions are listed on pages 32 and 33
of the Annual Report, confi rm that, to the
best of their knowledge:
> The Group fi nancial statements, which
have been prepared in accordance with
IFRSs as adopted by the EU, give a true
and fair view of the assets, liabilities,
fi nancial position and profi t of the Group;
> The Strategic Report and the Directors’
Report contained in this report include
a fair review of the development and
performance of the business and the
position of the Group, together with
a description of the principal risks and
uncertainties that it faces; and
> The Annual Report, taken as a whole,
is fair, balanced and understandable,
and provides the necessary information
for shareholders to assess the Group’s
position, performance, business model
and strategy.
DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
TO AUDITORS
Each director confi rms that, so far as
he/she is aware, there is no relevant audit
information of which the Company’s
auditors are unaware and that each director
has taken all the steps that he/she ought
to have taken as a director to make
himself/ herself aware of any relevant
audit information and to establish that
the Company’s auditors are aware of that
information.
The Directors’ Report was approved
by a duly authorised committee of the
Board of Directors on 24 May 2016
and signed on its behalf by
Amanda Mellor
Group Secretary
London, 24 May 2016