National Grid 2004 Annual Report Download - page 16

14 Transco plc_Annual Report and Accounts 2003/04
We have audited the financial statements which
comprise the Group Profit and Loss Account, the
Group and Company Balance Sheet, the Group
Cash Flow Statement and the related Notes to
the Accounts.
Respective responsibilities of directors and
auditors
The Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the
Annual 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 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 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 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 have been
properly prepared in accordance with the United
Kingdom 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 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 Statement, the
Directors’ Report and the Operating and
Financial Review.
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. 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
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 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.
Audit 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 2004 and the profit
and cash flows of the Group for the year then
ended and have been properly prepared in
accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
Birmingham 26 May 2004
Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members of Transco plc