Unilever 2012 Annual Report Download - page 86

ABOUT UNILEVER GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
83Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2012 Financial statements
STATEMENT OF DIRETORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
Annual accounts
The Directors are required by Part 9 of Book 2 of the CivilCode
in the Netherlands and the UK 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), UK
accounting standards (in the case of the parent company accounts)
and Dutch law (in the case of the NV 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 UK 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 143.
Drectors’ responsblty 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 UK accounting standards (in the
case of the PLC parent company accounts) and UK 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; and
• 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 PLC entities taken as a whole,
together with a description of the principal risks and
uncertainties they face.
The Directors and their roles are listed on pages 42 and 49.
ong 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
2012 on pages 2 to 35. In addition, we describe in notes 15 to 18
on pages 112 to 124 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 this
Annual Report andAccounts.
Internal and dsclosure controls and procedures
Please refer to pages 36 to 40 for a discussion of Unilever’s
principal risk factors and to page 41 for commentary on the
Group’s approach to risk management and control.