Marks and Spencer 2004 Annual Report Download - page 29

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Auditors’ report
Independent auditors’ report to the members of
Marks and Spencer Group plc
We have audited the financial statements which comprise
the consolidated profit and loss account, the balance
sheets, the consolidated cash flow statement, the note of
group historical cost profits and losses, the 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 remuneration report (‘the
auditable part’).
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual
Report, the 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 remuneration report in accordance
with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and United
Kingdom Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing
Practices Board. This report, including the opinion, has been
prepared for and only for the Company’s members as a
body 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 into 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 chairman’s message, chief
executive’s and financial review, the corporate governance
statement, the unaudited part of the remuneration report,
directors’ interests and the statement of directors’
responsibilities, the directors’ report, the group financial
record and the Annual Review.
We review whether the corporate governance statement
reflects the Company’s compliance with the seven provisions
of the Combined Code (issued in June 1998) 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 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 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
3 April 2004 and of the profit and cash flows of the
Group for the period then ended;
•the financial statements have been properly prepared
in accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and
•those parts of the 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
24 May 2004