Vodafone 2010 Annual Report Download - page 71

Financials
Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2010 69
Financial statements and accounting records
Company law of England and Wales requires the directors to prepare financial
statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs
of the Company and of the Group at the end of the financial year and of the profit or
loss of the Group for that period. In preparing those financial statements the directors
are required to:
select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently; 
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 
state whether the consolidated financial statements have been prepared in 
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’) as adopted
for use in the EU;
state for the Company financial statements whether applicable UK accounting 
standards have been followed; and
prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate 
to presume that the Company and the Group will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose
with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and of
the Group and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with
the Companies Act 2006 and Article 4 of the EU IAS Regulation. They are also
responsible for the system of internal control, for safeguarding the assets of the
Company and the Group and, hence, for taking reasonable steps for the prevention
and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Directors’ responsibility statement
The Board confirms to the best of its knowledge:
the consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued 
by the International Accounting Standards Board (‘IASB’) and IFRS as adopted by
the EU, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit
or loss of the Group; and
the directors’ report includes 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.
Neither the Company nor the directors accept any liability to any person in relation
to the annual report except to the extent that such liability could arise under English
law. Accordingly any liability to a person who has demonstrated reliance on any
untrue or misleading statement or omission shall be determined in accordance with
section 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Disclosure of information to auditors
Having made the requisite enquiries, so far as the directors are aware, there is no
relevant audit information (as defined by Section 418(3) of the Companies Act 2006)
of which the Company’s auditors are unaware and the directors have taken all the
steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit
information and to establish that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information.
Going concern
After reviewing the Group’s and Company’s budget for the next financial year, and
other longer term plans, the directors are satisfied that, at the time of approving the
financial statements, it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing
the financial statements. Further detail is included within liquidity and capital
resources on pages 41 to 44 and notes 21 and 22 to the consolidated financial
statements which include disclosure in relation to the Group’s objectives, policies and
processes for managing its capital; its financial risk management objectives; details
of its financial instruments and hedging activities; and its exposures to credit risk and
liquidity risk.
Management’s report on internal control
over nancial reporting
As required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act management is responsible
for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting
for the Group.
The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes policies and
procedures that pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets; provide
reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit the
preparation of financial statements in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by the EU
and IFRS as issued by the IASB, and that receipts and expenditures are being made
only in accordance with authorisation of management and the directors of the
Company; and provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely
detection of unauthorised acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets
that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Any internal control framework, no matter how well designed, has inherent limitations
including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the
controls and procedures, and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also
projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk
that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or because
the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Management has assessed the effectiveness of the internal control over financial
reporting at 31 March 2010 based on the Internal Control – Integrated Framework,
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(‘COSO’). Based on management’s assessment management has concluded that the
internal control over financial reporting was effective at 31 March 2010.
The assessment excluded the internal controls over financial reporting relating to
Vodacom because it became a subsidiary during the year as described in note 26 to the
consolidated financial statements. Vodacom’s controls will be included in the Group’s
assessment at 31 March 2011.
Key sub-totals that result from the consolidation of Vodacom, whose internal controls
have not been assessed, are set out below:
£m
Total assets 8,996
Net assets 5,717
Revenue 4,450
Profit for the financial year 122
Management is not required to evaluate the internal controls of entities accounted
for under the equity method. Accordingly, the internal controls of these entities,
which contributed a net profit of £4,742 million (2009: £4,091 million) to the profit for
the financial year, have not been assessed, except relating to controls over the
recording of amounts relating to the investments that are recorded in the Group’s
consolidated financial statements.
During the period covered by this document there were no changes in the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected or are
reasonably likely to materially affect the effectiveness of the internal controls over
financial reporting.
The Company’s internal control over financial reporting at 31 March 2010 has been
audited by Deloitte LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm who also
audit the Group’s consolidated financial statements. Their audit report on internal
controls over financial reporting is on page 70.
By Order of the Board
Rosemary Martin
Secretary
18 May 2010
Directors’ statement of responsibility