Directors’ Statement of Responsibility
Financial statements and accounting records
Company law of England and Wales requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the Group at the end of the financial year and of the profit or loss of the Group for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the directors are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether the Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted for use in the EU;
- state for the Company Financial Statements whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed; and
- prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company and the Group will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and of the Group and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the EU IAS Regulation. They are also responsible for the system of internal control, for safeguarding the assets of the Company and the Group and, hence, for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Directors’ responsibility statement
The Board confirms to the best of its knowledge:
- the Consolidated Financial Statements, prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB and IFRS as adopted by the EU, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Group; and
- the Directors’ Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that it faces.
Neither the Company nor the directors accept any liability to any person in relation to the Annual Report except to the extent that such liability could arise under English law. Accordingly, any liability to a person who has demonstrated reliance on any untrue or misleading statement or omission shall be determined in accordance with section 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Disclosure of information to auditors
Having made the requisite enquiries, so far as the directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information (as defined by Section 234ZA of the Companies Act 1985) of which the Company’s auditors are unaware, and the directors have taken all the steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information.
Going concern
After reviewing the Group’s and the Company’s budget for the next financial year, and other longer term plans, the directors are satisfied that, at the time of approving the financial statements, it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
Management’s report on internal control over financial reporting
As required by section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Group.
The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets; provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary permit the preparation of financial statements in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by the European Union and IFRS as issued by the IASB, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorisation of management and the directors of the Company; and provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorised acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Any internal control framework, no matter how well designed, has inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the controls and procedures, and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or because the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Management has assessed the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting at 31 March 2008 based on the Internal Control – Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”).
Management has not evaluated the internal controls of Vodacom Group (Pty) Limited (“Vodacom”), which is accounted for using proportionate consolidation and the conclusion regarding the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting does not extend to the internal controls of Vodacom. Management is unable to assess the effectiveness of internal control at Vodacom due to the fact that it does not have the ability to dictate or modify its controls and does not have the ability, in practice, to assess those controls.
Key sub-totals that result from the proportionate consolidation of Vodacom, whose internal controls have not been assessed, are set out below.
| Vodacom 2008 £m |
|
|---|---|
| Total assets | 1,093 |
| Net assets | 400 |
| Revenue | 1,609 |
| Profit for the financial year | 260 |
Management is not required to evaluate the internal controls of entities accounted for under the equity method. Accordingly, the internal controls of these entities, which contributed a net profit of £2,876 million (2007: £2,728 million) to the profit (2007: loss) for the financial year, have not been assessed, except relating to controls over the recording of amounts relating to the investments that are recorded in the Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
During the period covered by this Annual Report, there were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the effectiveness of the internal controls over financial reporting.
Based on management’s assessment, management has concluded that the internal control over financial reporting was effective at 31 March 2008.
The Company’s internal control over financial reporting, as at 31 March 2008, has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, who also audit the Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements. Their audit report on internal controls over financial reporting is can be found in Audit Report on Internal Control.
By Order of the Board
Stephen Scott
Secretary
27 May 2008