Marks and Spencer 1998 Annual Report Download - page 47

DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PREPARING THE
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The directors are obliged under company law to prepare financial
statements for each financial year and to present them annually to the
CompanyÕs members in A nnual General Meeting.
The financial statements, of which the form and content is prescribed
by the Companies A ct 1985 and applicable accounting standards,
must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company
and the Group at the end of the financial year, and of the profit for that
period.
The directors are also responsible for the adoption of suitable
accounting policies and their consistent use in the financial
statements, suppor ted where necessar y by reasonable and prudent
judgements.
The directors confirm that the above requirements have been complied
with in the financial statements.
In addition, the directors are responsible for maintaining adequate
accounting records and sufficient internal controls to safeguard the
assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud or any other
irregularities, as described more fully on page 37.
TO THE MEMBERS OF MARKS AND SPENCER p.l.c.
ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
We have audited the financial statements on pages 39 to 44 and
pages 48 to 68.
RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS AND AUDITORS
As described above the CompanyÕs directors are responsible for the
preparation of financial statements. It is our responsibility to form an
independent opinion, based on our audit, on those statements and to
report our opinion to you.
BASIS OF OPINION
We conducted our audit in accordance with A uditing Standards issued
by the A uditing Practices Board. A n audit includes ex amination, on a
test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant
estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of
the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are
appropriate to the CompanyÕs circumstances, consistently applied and
adequately disclosed.
We planned and per formed our audit so as to obtain all the information
and ex planations which we considered necessar y in order to provide
us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the
financial 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 financial statements.
OPINION
In our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the
state of affairs of the Company and the Group at 31 March 1998 and
of the profit, total recognised gains and cash flows of the Group for
the year then ended and have been properly prepared in accordance
with the Companies Act 1985.
Coopers & Lybrand
Char tered Accountants and Registered A uditors
London
18 May 1998
TO MARKS AND SPENCER p.l.c.
ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MATTERS
In addition to our audit of the financial statements, we have reviewed
the directorsÕ statements on pages 36 and 37 concerning the
CompanyÕs compliance with the paragraphs of the Cadbur y Code of
Best Practice specified for our review by the London Stock Ex change
and their adoption of the going concern basis in preparing the financial
statements. The objective of our review is to draw
attention to
non-compliance with Listing Rules 12.43(j) and 12.43(v).
BASIS OF OPINION
We carried out our review in accordance with guidance issued by the
Auditing Practices Board. That guidance does not require us to
per form the additional work necessar y to, and we do not, ex press any
opinion
on the effectiveness of either the GroupÕs system of internal financial
control or its corporate governance procedures, nor on the ability of
the Group and Company to continue in operational ex istence.
OPINION
With respect to the directorsÕ statements on internal financial control
and going concern on pages 37 and 36 respectively, in our opinion the
directors have provided the disclosures required by the Listing Rules
referred to above and such statements are not inconsistent with the
information of which we are aware from our audit work on the financial
statements.
Based on enquiry of certain directors and officers of the Company,
and ex amination of relevant documents, in our opinion the directorsÕ
statement on page 37 appropriately reflects the CompanyÕs
compliance with the other aspects of the Code specified for our review
by Listing Rule 12.43(j).
Coopers & Lybrand
Char tered Accountants
London
18 May 1998
DIRECTO RS’ RESPO N SIBILITIES
MA RKS A ND SPENCER p.l.c. 45
REPO RTS O F TH E AUDITO RS