BT 2012 Annual Report Download - page 100

Financial statements
Report of the independent auditors – Consolidated financial statements
United States opinion
Report of Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm to the Board of Directors and
Shareholders of BT Group plc (the ‘company’)
In our opinion, the accompanying Group income statements, Group
statements of comprehensive income, Group balance sheets, Group
statements of changes in equity and Group cash flow statements
present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of BT Group
plc and its subsidiaries at 31 March 2012 and 2011 and the results of
their operations and cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended 31 March 2012, in conformity with International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board. Also, in our opinion the company maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as
of 31 March 2012, based on criteria established in the Turnbull
Guidance.
The company’s management is responsible for these financial
statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial
reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control
over financial reporting, included in management’s evaluation of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as set out in
the first three paragraphs of Internal control over financial reporting in
Governance, General Information, of the BT Group plc Annual Report &
Form 20-F.
Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements
and on the company’s internal control over financial reporting based
on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with
the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the
audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective
internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material
respects.
Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a
test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over
financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal
control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material
weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits
also included performing such other procedures as we considered
necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process
designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting
includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the
maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly
reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as
necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and
expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with
authorisations of management and directors of the company; and (iii)
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.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting 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 that the degree of compliance with the policies or
procedures may deteriorate.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
London, United Kingdom
9 May 2012
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