Vodafone 2005 Annual Report Download - page 139
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Please find page 139 of the 2005 Vodafone 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.Report of Independent Auditors
Financials |137
Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members of
Vodafone Group Plc
We have audited the consolidated financial statements of Vodafone Group Plc for the
year ended 31 March 2005, which comprise the consolidated and Company balance
sheets at 31 March 2005 and 2004, the consolidated profit and loss accounts, the
consolidated cash flow statements, the consolidated statements of total recognised
gains and losses and the movement in total equity shareholders’ funds for the three
years ended 31 March 2005 and the related notes 1 to 37. These financial
statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein. We
have also audited the information in the part of the Board’s Report to Shareholders on
Directors’ Remuneration that is described as having been audited.
Respective Responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
As described in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities, the Company’s directors
are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with
applicable United Kingdom law and accounting standards. They are also responsible
for the preparation of the other information contained in the Annual Report including
the Board’s Report to Shareholders on Directors’ Remuneration. Our responsibility is to
audit the financial statements and the part of the Board’s Report to Shareholders on
Directors’ Remuneration described as having been audited in accordance with relevant
United Kingdom legal and regulatory requirements and auditing standards.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair
view and whether the financial statements and the part of the Board’s Report to
Shareholders on Directors’ Remuneration described as having been audited have been
properly prepared in accordance with the 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
regarding directors’ remuneration and transactions with the Company and other
members of the Group is not disclosed.
We review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the Company’s
compliance with the nine provisions of the July 2003 FRC Combined Code specified for
our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it
does not. We are not required to consider whether the Board’s statements on internal
control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the
Group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read the Directors’ Report and the other information contained in the Annual Report
for the year ended 31 March 2005 as described in the contents section, including the
unaudited part of the Board’s Report to Shareholders on Directors’ Remuneration and
consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent
misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements.
Basis of Audit Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with United Kingdom auditing standards issued
by the Auditing Practices Board and with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). The Company is not required to have, nor
were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting.
Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis
for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances but not for the
purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit includes
examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements and the part of the Board’s Report to Shareholders on Directors’
Remuneration described as having been audited. 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
circumstances of the Company and the Group, 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 and the part of the
Board’s Report to Shareholders on Directors’ Remuneration described as having been
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 financial statements and the part of the Board’s
Report to Shareholders on Directors’ Remuneration described as having been audited.
Opinions
UK 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 2005 and of the loss of the Group for the
year then ended; and
•the financial statements and that part of the Board’s Report to Shareholders on
Directors’ Remuneration described as having been audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
US opinion
In our opinion:
•the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated
financial position of the Group at 31 March 2005 and 2004 and the consolidated
results of its operations and cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended 31 March 2005 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United Kingdom.
Accounting principles generally accepted in the United Kingdom vary in significant
respects from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Information relating to the nature and effect of such differences is presented in note 36
to the consolidated financial statements.
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London, England
24 May 2005
Notes: An audit does not provide assurance on the maintenance and integrity of the website,
including controls used to achieve this, and in particular on whether any changes may have
occurred to the financial statements since first published. These matters are the responsibility
of the directors but no control procedures can provide absolute assurance in this area.
Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial
statements differs from legislation in other jurisdictions.