Tesco 2003 Annual Report Download - page 25

TESCO PLC 23
independent auditors’ report to the members
of tesco plc
We have audited the financial statements which comprise
the Group profit and loss account, the balance sheets, the
cash flow statement, the statement of total recognised gains
and losses and the related notes which have been prepared
under the historical cost convention and the accounting
policies set out in the statement of accounting policies.
We have also audited the disclosures required by Part 3 of
Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985 contained in the
Directors’remuneration report (‘the auditable part’).
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 United
Kingdom law and accounting standards are set out in the
statement of Directors’responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and
the auditable part of the Directors’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 in to
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 Directors’report, the
unaudited part of the Directors’remuneration report, the
Chairman’s statement, the operating and financial review
and the corporate governance statement.
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 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 Directors’
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
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 Directors’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
22 February 2003 and of the profit and cash flows
of the Group for the year then ended;
•the financial statements have been properly prepared
in accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and
•those parts of the Directors’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 7 April 2003