Marks and Spencer 2003 Annual Report Download - page 27

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Independent auditors’ report to the members of Marks and Spencer Group p.l.c.
We have audited the financial statements which comprise the profit and loss account, the balance sheets, the cash flow
statement, the note of group historical cost profits and losses, consolidated statement of total recognised gains and losses
and the related notes. We have also audited the disclosures required by Part 3 of Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985
contained in the directors’ remuneration report (‘the auditable part’).
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual Report, the directors’ remuneration report and the financial
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 financial statements and the auditable part of the directors’ remuneration report in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and United Kingdom Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing
Practices Board. This opinion has been prepared for and only for the Company’s members in accordance with Section 235
of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility
for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or in to whose hands it may come save where
expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial
statements and the auditable part of the directors’ remuneration report have been 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 financial
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 specified by law 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 financial statements. The other information
comprises only the directors’ report, the unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report, the chairman’s statement,
the operating and financial review and the corporate governance statement.
We review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the Company’s compliance with the seven provisions of
the Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it
does not. We are not required to consider whether the Board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls,
or to form an opinion on the effectiveness 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. An audit includes
examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements and the
auditable part of the directors’ remuneration report. 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 Company’s and Group’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 sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements and the auditable
part of the directors’ remuneration report 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 29 March 2003
and of the profit and cash flows of the Group for the year then ended;
• the financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and
• those parts of the directors’ remuneration report required by Part 3 of Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985 have
been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
19 May 2003
Auditors’ report