BT 2001 Annual Report Download - page 72

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Report of the independent auditors to the shareholders of British Telecommunications plc
72 BT Annual report and Form 20-F
We have audited the ¢nancial statements which comprise the
group pro¢t and loss account, group and company balance
sheets, group cash £ow statement, group statement of total
recognised gains and losses and the related notes which have
been prepared under the historic cost convention and the
accounting policies set out in the Accounting Policies section
and the United States generally accepted accounting principles
section.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report
and the ¢nancial statements in accordance with applicable
United Kingdom law and accounting standards are set out in
the statement of directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the ¢nancial statements in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements,
United Kingdom Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing
Practices Board and the Listing Rules of the Financial Services
Authority.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the ¢nancial
statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared
in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also report to
you if, in our opinion, the directors’ report is not consistent
with the ¢nancial statements, if the company has not kept
proper accounting records, if we have not received all the
information and explanations we require for our audit, or if
information speci¢ed by law or the Listing Rules regarding
directors’ remuneration and transactions is not disclosed.
We read the other information contained in the annual
report and consider the implications for our report if we become
aware of any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the ¢nancial statements. The other
information comprises only those sections set out in the table of
contents including Financial headlines, Chairman’s message,
Chief Executive’s statement, Business and Financial reviews,
Five-year ¢nancial summary, Report of the directors, Corporate
governance and Risk factors.
We review whether the corporate governance statement
re£ects the company’s compliance with the seven provisions of
the Combined Code speci¢ed for our review by the Listing
Rules,andwereportifitdoesnot.Wearenotrequiredto
consider whether the board’s statements on internal control
cover all risks and controls, or to form an opinion on the
e¡ectiveness of the company’s or group’s corporate governance
procedures or its risk and control procedures.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards
issued by the Auditing Practices Board and in accordance with
auditing standards generally accepted in the United States. An
audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant
to the amounts and disclosures in the ¢nancial statements. It
also includes an assessment of the signi¢cant estimates and
judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the
¢nancial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are
appropriate to the company’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 su⁄cient evidence to give reasonable
assurance that the ¢nancial statements 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 ¢nancial
statements.
Opinion
In our opinion the ¢nancial statements:
&give a true and fair view of the state of a¡airs of the
company and the group at 31 March 2001 and of the loss
and cash £ows of the group for the year then ended and
have been properly prepared in accordance with the
Companies Act 1985.
&present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated
¢nancial position of the group as at 31 March 2001 and
31 March 2000, and the results of its operations and its cash
£ows for the years ended 31 March 2001, 31 March 2000 and
31 March 1999 in conformity with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United Kingdom. These principles
di¡er in certain respects from accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States. The e¡ect of the
di¡erences in the determination of net income, shareholders’
equity and cash £ows is shown in the United States
generally accepted accounting principles section.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
22 May 2001
Notes:
(a) The maintenance and integrity of the British Telecommunications plc website is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve
consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially
presented on the website.
(b) Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.