Vodafone 2007 Annual Report Download - page 93

Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2007 91
Financials
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm to the Members of Vodafone Group Plc
Statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the
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 Consolidated
Financial Statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report
described as having been 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 Consolidated Financial Statements and the part of the directors’
remuneration report described as having been audited.
Opinions
UK opinion
In our opinion:
•the Consolidated Financial Statements give a true and fair view, in
accordance with IFRS as adopted for use in the European Union, of the state
of the Group’s affairs as at 31 March 2007 and of its loss for the year
then ended;
•the Consolidated Financial Statements and the part of the directors’
remuneration report described as having been 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
Consolidated Financial Statements.
As explained in note 1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements, the Group,
in addition to complying with its legal obligation to comply with IFRS as
adopted for use in the European Union, has also complied with the IFRS as
issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Accordingly, in our
opinion the Consolidated Financial Statements give a true and fair view, in
accordance with IFRS, of the state of the Group’s affairs as at 31 March 2007
and of its loss for the year then ended.
US opinion
In our opinion the Consolidated Financial Statements present fairly, in all
material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Group at
31 March 2007 and 2006 and the consolidated results of its operations and
cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended 31 March 2007 in
conformity with IFRS as adopted for use in the European Union and as issued
by the International Accounting Standards Board.
IFRS vary in significant respects from the accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America. Information relating to the nature
and effect of such differences is presented in note 38 to the Consolidated
Financial Statements.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of the Group’s
internal control over financial reporting as of 31 March 2007, based on the
criteria established in the Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
Our report including our opinions on management’s assessment of the
Group’s internal control over financial reporting and on the effectiveness of
the Group’s internal control over financial reporting is set out on page 90.
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
United Kingdom
29 May 2007
We have audited the Consolidated Financial Statements of Vodafone Group
Plc which comprise the consolidated balance sheet at 31 March 2007 and
2006, the consolidated income statement, the consolidated cash flow
statement, the consolidated statement of recognised income and expenses
for each of the three years in the period ended 31 March 2007 and the
related notes numbered 1 to 39. These Consolidated 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.
We have reported separately on the individual Company Financial Statements
of Vodafone Group Plc for the year ended 31 March 2007.
Respective Responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report, the directors’
remuneration report and the Consolidated Financial Statements in
accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting
Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted for use in the European Union are set out in
the statement of directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the Consolidated Financial Statements and the
part of the directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited
in accordance with relevant United Kingdom legal and regulatory
requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).
We report to you our opinion as to whether the Consolidated Financial
Statements give a true and fair view in accordance with the relevant financial
reporting framework and whether the Consolidated Financial Statements
and the part of the directors’ remuneration report described as having been
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 directors’ report is consistent with the
Consolidated Financial Statements. We also report to you if we have not
received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if
information specified by law regarding directors’ transactions with the
Company and other members of the Group is not disclosed.
We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Company has not complied with
any of the four directors’ remuneration disclosure requirements specified
for our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority. These
comprise the amount of each element in the remuneration package and
information on share options, details of long term incentive schemes, and
money purchase and defined benefit schemes. We give a statement, to the
extent possible, of details of any non-compliance.
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 statement on internal control covers 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 the directors’ report and the other information contained in the
annual report for the above year as described in the contents section
including the unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report and we
consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent
misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Consolidated
Financial Statements.
Basis of Audit Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on
Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board and with the
standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the
amounts and disclosures in the Consolidated Financial Statements and the
part of the directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited. It
also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements
made by the directors in the preparation of the Consolidated Financial