Unilever 2010 Annual Report Download - page 72

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 72 of the 2010 Unilever annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 149

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149

Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2010 69
Financial statements
Statement of Directors’ responsibilities
Annual accounts
The Directors are required by Part 9 of Book 2 of the CivilCode in
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006
toprepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair
view of the state of affairs ofthe Unilever Group, and the NV and
PLC entities, as at the end of the financial year and of the profit or
loss and cash flows for that year.
The Directors consider that, in preparing the accounts, theGroup
and the NV and PLC entities have used the most appropriate
accounting policies, consistently applied and supported by
reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates, and thatall
International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU
andas issued by the International Accounting Standards Board
(inthecase of the consolidated financial statements) and United
Kingdom accounting standards (in the case of the parent company
accounts) which they consider to be applicable have been followed.
The Directors have responsibility for ensuring that NV and PLC keep
accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy their
financial position and which enable the Directors to ensure that the
accounts comply with the relevant legislation. They also have a
general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open
tothem to safeguard the assets of the Group, and to prevent and
detectfraud and other irregularities.
This statement, which should be read in conjunction with the
Auditors’ reports, ismade with a view to distinguishing for
shareholders the respective responsibilities of the Directors
andoftheauditors in relation to the accounts.
A copy of the financial statements of the Unilever Group
isplacedonour website at www.unilever.com/investorrelations. The
maintenance and integrity of the website are the responsibility of the
Directors, and the work carried out by the auditors does not involve
consideration of these matters. Accordingly, the auditors accept no
responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial
statements since they were initially placed on the website. Legislation
in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands governing the
preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ
from legislation in other jurisdictions.
UK law sets out additional responsibilities for the Directors of PLC
regarding disclosure of information to auditors. Disclosure in respect
of these responsibilities is made on page 137.
Directors’ responsibility statement
Each of the Directors confirms that, to the best of his or her
knowledge:
• The financial statements which have been prepared in accordance
with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the
EU and as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board
(in the case of the consolidated financial statements) and United
Kingdom accounting standards (in the case of the PLC parent
company accounts) and United Kingdom accounting standards
and Part 9 ofBook 2 of the Dutch Civil Code (in the case of the NV
parent company accounts), give a true and fair view of the assets,
liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Group and
theNV and PLC entities taken as a whole.
• The Report of the Directors includes a fair review of the
development and performance of the business and the position
ofthe Group and the NV and the PLC entities taken as a whole,
together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties
they face.
The Directors and their functions are listed on pages 40 and 48.
Going concern
The activities of the Group, together with the factors likely to affect
its future development, performance the financial position of the
Group, its cash flows, liquidity position and borrowing facilities are
described inAbout Unilever and the Financial review 2010 on pages
1 to 32. In addition, we describe in note 15 on pages 98 to 104: the
Group’s objectives, policies and processes for managing its capital; its
financial risk management objectives; details of its financial
instruments and hedging activities; and its exposures to credit and
liquidity risk.
The Group has considerable financial resources together with
established business relationships with many customers and suppliers
in countries throughout the world. As a consequence, the Directors
believe that the Group is well placed to manage its business risks
successfully despite the current uncertain outlook.
After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation
that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational
existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to
adopt the going concern basis in preparing the Annual Report
andAccounts.
Internal and disclosure controls and procedures
Please refer to pages 33 to 37 for a discussion of Unilever’s principal
risk factors and to pages 38 and 39 for commentary on the Group’s
approach to risk management and control.