Chief Executive's ReviewIndependent Auditors' Report
to the Members of The BSS Group plc
We have audited the Group financial statements of The BSS Group plc for the year ended 31 March 2009 which comprise the Consolidated Income Statement, the Consolidated Balance Sheet, the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement, the Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expense, the Statement of Accounting Policies for the Group and the related notes. These Group financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein.
We have reported separately on the parent company financial statements of The BSS Group plc for the year ended 31 March 2009 and on the information in the Report of the Remuneration Committee that is described as having been audited.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual Report and the Group financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union are set out in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the Group financial statements 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 company’s members 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 Group financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. We also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the Report of the Directors is consistent with the Group financial statements. The information given in the Report of the Directors includes that specific information presented in the Chairman’s Statement, the Business Review, the Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the Key Performance Indicators, the Principal Risks and Uncertainties and the Financial Review that are cross referred from the Business Review section of the Report of the Directors.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, 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 review whether the Combined Code Principles of Good Governance Statement reflects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the Combined Code (2006) 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 other information contained in the Annual Report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited Group financial statements. The other information comprises only the Report of the Directors, the Chairman’s Statement, the Business Review, the Financial Review, the Principal Risks and Uncertainties, the Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the Combined Code Principles of Good Governance Statement, the Directors’ Responsibilities Statement, the unaudited part of the Report of the Remuneration Committee, and all of the other information listed on the contents page. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Group financial statements. 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 Group financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the Directors in the preparation of the Group financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’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 Group financial statements 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 Group financial statements.
Opinion
In our opinion:- the Group financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, of the state of the Group’s affairs as at 31 March 2009 and of its profit and cash flows for the year then ended;
- the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation; and
- the information given in the Report of the Directors is consistent with the Group financial statements.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
East Midlands
27 May 2009