Vodafone 2015 Annual Report Download - page 96

Financial statements and accounting records
Company law of England and Wales requires the Directors to prepare
nancial statements for each nancial 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 nancial year and of the prot or loss of the Group for that period.
In preparing those nancial statements the Directors are required to:
a select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
a make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
a present information, including accounting policies,
in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and
understandable information;
a state whether the consolidated nancial statements have been
prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting
Standards (‘IFRS’) as adopted for use in the EU and Article 4 of the
EU IAS Regulations. The Directors also ensure that the consolidated
nancial statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS
as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (‘IASB’);
a state for the Company nancial statements whether applicable
UKaccounting standards have been followed; and
a prepare the nancial 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 nancial
position of the Company and of the Group and to enable them to ensure
that the nancial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006
andfor the consolidated nancial statements, 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.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the
company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the
preparation and dissemination of nancial statements may differ from
legislation in other jurisdictions.
Directors’ responsibility statement
Each of the Directors, whose names and functions are listed on pages
52 and 53 conrm that, to the best of their knowledge:
a the consolidated nancial statements, prepared in accordance with
IFRS as issued by the IASB and IFRS as adopted by the EU, give a true
and fair view of the assets, liabilities, nancial position and prot
of the Group;
a the parent company nancial statements, prepared in accordance
with United Kingdom generally accepted accounting practice, give
a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, nancial position and prot
of the Company; and
a the strategic 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.
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report
in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Having taken advice
from the Audit and Risk Committee, the Board considers the report and
accounts, taken as a whole, as fair, balanced and understandable and
that it provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the
Company’s performance, business model and strategy.
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 and schedule 10A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Disclosure of information to the auditor
Having made the requisite enquiries, so far as the Directors are aware,
there is no relevant audit information (as dened by section 418(3) of the
Companies Act 2006) of which the Company’s auditor is 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 auditor is aware of that information.
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 48.
In addition, the nancial position of the Group is included within liquidity
and capital resources on pages 148 to 150, “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 believes it adequately manages or mitigates its solvency and
liquidity risks through two primary processes, described below.
Business planning process and performance management
The Group’s forecasting and planning cycle consists of three in-year
forecasts, a budget and a long-range plan. These generate income
statement, cash ow and net debt projections for assessment by Group
management and the Board.
Each forecast is compared with prior forecasts and actual results
so as to identify variances and understand the drivers of the changes
and their future impact so as to allow management to take action where
appropriate. Additional analysis is undertaken to review and sense check
the key assumptions underpinning the forecasts.
The Directors are responsible for preparing the nancial statements in accordance with applicable
law and regulations and keeping proper accounting records. Detailed below are statements made by
the Directors in relation to their responsibilities, disclosure of information to the Company’s auditors,
going concern and management’s report on internal control over nancial reporting.
Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2015
94
Directors’ statement of responsibility