Unilever 2014 Annual Report Download - page 41

DIRETORS’ RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT
Each of the Drectors confrms that, to the best of hs or her
knowledge
• The Annual Report and Accounts, taken as a whole, s far,
balanced and understandable, and provdes the nformaton
necessary for shareholders to assess the roup’s performance,
busness model and strategy
• The fnancal statements whch have been prepared n
accordance wth Internatonal Fnancal Reportng Standards
as adopted by the EU and as ssued by the Internatonal
Accountng Standards Board (n the case of the consoldated
fnancal statements) and UK accountng standards (n the
case of the PL parent company accounts) and UK accountng
standards and Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch vl ode (n the
case of the NV parent company accounts), gve a true and far
vew of the assets, labltes, fnancal poston and proft or
loss of the roup and the undertakngs ncluded n the
consoldaton taken as a whole and
• The Strategc Report ncludes a far revew of the development
and performance of the busness and the poston of the roup
and the undertakngs ncluded n the consoldaton taken as a
whole, together wth a descrpton of the prncpal rsks and
uncertantes that they face
The Drectors and ther roles are lsted on pages 41 and 54
OIN ONERN
The actvtes of the roup, together wth the factors lkely to
affect ts future development, performance, the fnancal poston
of the roup, ts cash flows, lqudty poston and borrowng
facltes are descrbed nthe Strategc Report on pages 2 to 35
In addton, we descrbe n notes 15 to 18 on pages 109 to 123 the
roup’s obectves, polces and processes for managng ts
captal ts fnancal rsk management obectves detals of ts
fnancal nstruments and hedgng actvtes and ts exposures
to credt and lqudty rsk
The roup has consderable fnancal resources together wth
establshed busness relatonshps wth many customers and
supplers n countres throughout the world As a consequence,
the Drectors beleve that the roup s well placed to manage ts
busness rsks successfully despte the current uncertan outlook
After makng enqures, the Drectors have a reasonable
expectaton that the roup has adequate resources to contnue n
operatonal exstence for the foreseeable future Accordngly, they
contnue to adopt the gong concern bass n preparng ths Annual
Report andAccounts
INTERNAL AND DISLOSURE ONTROLS AND
PROEDURES
Please refer to pages 49 to 53 for a dscusson of Unlever’s
prncpal rsk factors and to pages 50 to 53 for commentary
on the roup’s approach to rsk management and control
ANNUAL AOUNTS
The Drectors are requred by Part 9 of Book 2 of the vlode
n the Netherlands and the UK ompanes Act 2006 to prepare
accounts for each fnancal year whch gve a true and far vew
of the state of affars ofthe Unlever roup, and the NV and PL
enttes, as at the end of the fnancal year and of the proft or
loss and cash flows for that year
The Drectors consder that, n preparng the accounts, theroup
and the NV and PL enttes have used the most approprate
accountng polces, consstently appled and supported by
reasonable and prudent udgements and estmates, and thatall
Internatonal Fnancal Reportng Standards as adopted by the EU
andas ssued by the Internatonal Accountng Standards Board
(nthecase of the consoldated fnancal statements), UK
accountng standards (n the case of the PL parent company
accounts) and Dutch law (n the case of the NV parent company
accounts) whch they consder to be applcable have been followed
The Drectors have responsblty for ensurng that NV and PL
keep accountng records whch dsclose wth reasonable accuracy
ther fnancal poston and whch enable the Drectors to ensure
that the accounts comply wth the relevant legslaton They also
have a general responsblty for takng such steps as are
reasonably open tothem to safeguard the assets of the roup,
and to prevent and detectfraud and other rregulartes
Ths statement, whch should be read n conuncton wth the
Independent Audtors’ reports, smade wth a vew to
dstngushng for shareholders the respectve responsbltes
of the Drectors andoftheaudtors n relaton to the accounts
A copy of the fnancal statements of the Unlever roup s
placedonour webste at wwwunlevercom/nvestorrelatons
The mantenance and ntegrty of the webste are the responsblty
of the Drectors, and the work carred out by the audtors does not
nvolve consderaton of these matters Accordngly, the audtors
accept no responsblty for any changes that may have occurred
to the fnancal statements snce they were ntally placed on the
webste Legslaton n the UK and the Netherlands governng the
preparaton and dssemnaton of fnancal statements may dffer
from legslaton n other ursdctons
UK law sets out addtonal responsbltes for the Drectors of PL
regardng dsclosure of nformaton to audtors Dsclosure n
respect of these responsbltes s made on page 48
78 Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2014Financial statements
STATEMENT OF DIRETORS’
RESPONSIBILITIES