APC 2007 Annual Report Download - page 168

4. Auditors' report
on the financial statements
This is a free translation into English of the statutory audi-
tors’ report issued in the French language and is provided
solely for the convenience of English speaking readers.
This report includes information specifically required by
French law in all audit reports, whether qualified or not, and
this is presented below the opinion on the financial state-
ments. This information includes explanatory paragraphs
discussing the auditors’ assessment of certain significant
accounting matters. These assessments were made for the
purpose of issuing an opinion on the financial statements
taken as a whole and not to provide separate assurance on
individual account captions or on information taken outside
of the consolidated financial statements. The report also
includes information relating to the specific verification of
information in the group management report. This report
should be read in conjunction with, and is construed in ac-
cordance with French law and professional auditing stan-
dards applicable in France.
To the shareholders of Schneider Electric SA,
In compliance with the assignment entrusted to us by your
shareholders’ Annual General Meeting, we hereby report
to you, for the year ended December 31, 2007, on:
The audit of the accompanying financial statements of
Schneider Electric S.A.
The justification of our assessments.
The specific verifications and information required by law.
These financial statements have been approved by the
Management Board. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on the financial statements, based on our audit.
I - Opinion on
the financial statements
We conducted our audit in accordance with the profes-
sional standards applied in France. Those standards re-
quire that we plan and perform our audit to obtain
reasonable assurance that the financial statements are
free of material misstatement. An audit includes examin-
ing, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also in-
cludes assessing the accounting principles used and sig-
nificant estimates made in the preparation of the financial
statements, as well as evaluating the overall financial state-
ment presentation. We believe that our audit provides a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair
view of the assets and liabilities and financial position of
the Company at December 31, 2007 and the results of op-
erations for the year then ended in accordance with French
generally accepted accounting principles.
II – Justification of assessments
In accordance with the requirements of article L.823-9 of
French Commercial Code relating to the justification of
our assessments, we bring to your attention the following
matters:
As part of our assessment of the accounting principles and
methods used by your company, we verified the appropri-
ateness of the principles and methods used to value
shares in subsidiaries and affiliates, described in the sec-
tion on accounting principles and in note 2 to the financial
statements, and obtained assurance that they were cor-
rectly applied.
The assessments were thus made in the context of the
performance of our audit of the financial statements, taken
as a whole, and therefore contributed to the formation of
our audit opinion expressed in the first part of this report.
III - Specific verifications
and information
We have also performed the specific verifications required
by law, in accordance with professional standards applied
in France.
We have no matters to report regarding:
The fair presentation and the conformity with the finan-
cial statements of the information given in the Management
Board’s report, and in the documents addressed to the
shareholders with respect to the financial position and the
financial statements.
The fair information given in the Management Board’s
report relating to the compensation and benefits paid to
the Corporate Officers concerned and the engagement
granted to them on the occasion of the arrival, suspension
or change of duties or subsequently to it.
In accordance with French Law, we have ensured that the
required information concerning the purchase of invest-
ments and controlling interests and the names of the prin-
cipal shareholders has been properly disclosed in the
Management Board’s report.
Courbevoie and Neuilly sur Seine, February 19, 2008
The Statutory Auditors
Ernst & Young et Autres Mazars & Guérard
Pierre Jouanne Pierre Sardet
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