Vodafone 2014 Annual Report Download - page 91

Going concern
The Group’s business activities, performance, position and principal risks
and uncertainties and how these are managed or mitigated are set out
in the strategic report on pages 1 to 47.
In addition, the nancial position of the Group is included within
“Commentary on the consolidated statement of cash ows” on page
103, “Borrowings”, “Liquidity and capital resources” and “Capital and
nancial risk management” in notes 21, 22 and 23 respectively to the
consolidated nancial statements, which include disclosure in relation
to the Group’s objectives, policies and processes for managing its
capital; its nancial risk management objectives; details of its nancial
instruments and hedging activities; and its exposures to credit risk and
liquidity risk.
The Group has considerable nancial resources, and the directors
believe that the Group is well placed to manage its business risks
successfully. After making enquiries, the directors have a reasonable
expectation that the Company and the Group have adequate resources
to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
Accordingly, the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis
in preparing the annual report and accounts.
Further discussion on the basis of the going concern assessment by the
directors is set out on page 200.
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 nancial reporting for the Group. The Group’s internal control over
nancial reporting includes policies and procedures that:
a pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reect transactions and dispositions of assets;
a are designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions
arerecorded as necessary to permit the preparation of nancial
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
a provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention
or timely detection of unauthorised acquisition, use or disposition
of the Group’s assets that could have a material effect on the
nancial 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 nancial reporting at 31 March 2014 based on the original
Internal Control – Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (‘COSO’)
in 1992. Based on management’s assessment, management has
concluded that internal control over nancial reporting was effective
at 31 March 2014.
In 2013, COSO published an updated Internal Control – Integrated
Framework which will supersede the original framework from
15 December 2014. Accordingly, the new framework will be
implemented during the year ending 31 March 2015. The Group’s
existing controls will be mapped to the ve components and
17principles in the updated Internal Control – Integrated Framework.
Any gaps will be evaluated and, where required, additional controls
identied, or existing controls enhanced.
The assessment excluded the internal controls over nancial reporting
relating to Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (‘KDG’) because it became
a subsidiary during the year, as described in note 28 “Acquisitions and
disposals”. KDG will be included in the Group’s assessment at 31 March
2015. Key amounts consolidated for KDG at 31 March 2014 are total
assets of £9,741 million, net assets of £4,709 million and revenue and
loss for the nancial year of £735 million and £242 million, respectively.
During the period covered by this document, there were no changes
in the Group’s internal control over nancial reporting that have
materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the
effectiveness of the internal controls over nancial reporting.
The Group’s internal control over nancial reporting at 31 March 2014
has been audited by Deloitte LLP, an independent registered public
accounting rm who also audit the Group’s consolidated nancial
statements. Their audit report on internal control over nancial
reporting is on page 90.
By Order of the Board
Rosemary Martin
Company Secretary
20 May 2014
Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2014 89Overview
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