Independent Auditors’ Report
to the members of Home Retail Group plc - Group
We have audited the Group Financial Statements of Home Retail Group
plc for the period ended 3 March 2007 which comprise the Consolidated
Income Statement, the Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income
and Expense, the Consolidated Balance Sheet, the Consolidated Cash
Flow Statement 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 Home Retail Group plc for the period ended 3 March 2007 and on
the information in the Directors’ Remuneration Report 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 Directors’
Report is consistent with the Group Financial Statements. The information
given in the Directors’ Report includes that specific information
presented in the Business Review that is cross referred from the
Business Review section of the Directors’ Report.
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 director’s remuneration
and other transactions is not disclosed.
We review whether the Corporate Governance Statement reflects the
Company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the Combined
Code (2003) 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 Chairman’s Statement,
the Business Review, the Board of Directors, the Directors’
Report, the Corporate Governance Statement and the unaudited part
of the Directors’ Remuneration Report.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 3 March
2007 and of its profit and cash flows for the period 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 Directors’ Report is consistent
with the Group Financial Statements.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
2 May 2007
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