Unilever 2008 Annual Report Download - page 150

Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2008 147
Financial statements
Company accounts Auditors’ report – Unilever PLC
Independent auditors’ report to the shareholders of
Unilever PLC on the parent company accounts
We have audited the parent company accounts of Unilever PLC
for the year ended 31 December 2008 which comprise the
balance sheet and the related notes. These parent company
accounts have been prepared under the accounting policies set
out therein. We have also audited the information in the Report
of the Remuneration Committee that is described as having
been audited.
We have reported separately on the consolidated accounts of the
Unilever Group for the year ended 31 December 2008.
Respective responsibilities of Directors and auditors
The Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the parent company
accounts in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and
United Kingdom accounting standards (United Kingdom Generally
Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the Statement of
Directors’ Responsibilities on page 78. The Directors are also
responsible for preparing the Annual Report, including the Report
of the Remuneration Committee.
Our responsibility is to audit the parent company accounts and
the part of the Report of the Remuneration Committee to be
audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory
requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and
Ireland). This report, including the opinion, has been prepared
for and only for the shareholders of Unilever PLC 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 parent company
accounts give a true and fair view and whether the parent
company accounts and the part of the Report of the
Remuneration Committee to be audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also
report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the
Report of the Directors (excluding the audited parts of the Report
of the Remuneration Committee) is consistent with the parent
company accounts.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the parent
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 other transactions is not disclosed.
We read other information contained in the Annual Report and
consider whether it is consistent with the audited parent company
accounts. The other information comprises only the Report of the
Directors (excluding the audited parts of the Report of the
Remuneration Committee), the Shareholder information, the
Statement of Directors’ responsibilities, the Financial record and
the sections headed ‘Further statutory and other information’. We
consider the implications for our report if we become aware of
any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the
parent company accounts. Our responsibilities do not extend to
any other information.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing
Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis,
of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the
parent company accounts and the part of the Report of the
Remuneration Committee to be audited. It also includes an
assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made
by the Directors in the preparation of the parent company
accounts, 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 parent company accounts and the part of the
Report of the Remuneration Committee to be audited 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
parent company accounts and the part of the Report of the
Remuneration Committee to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
• the parent company accounts give a true and fair view, in
accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted
Accounting Practice, of the state of the company’s affairs as at
31 December 2008;
• the parent company accounts and the part of the Report of the
Remuneration Committee to be audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and
• the information given in the Report of the Directors is
consistent with the parent company accounts.
3 March 2009
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London, United Kingdom