annual Report 2009 - STRATEC Biomedical AG

Report of the board of Management
Report of the supervisory board
THE share
Corporate Governance
Group Management report
Consolidated financial statements
Service
The managers responsible for cash management review
the expediency of currency hedging transactions at regular
intervals. Given the group structure, the internationalization
of procurement activities and in particular the high volume
of currency holdings, the Group is facing significantly
increased risk in terms of currency fluctuations.
Interest rate risks are countered on the basis of the internal
requirements of the risk management system in place at
the STRATEC Group. Depending on the internal risk assessment,
these also involve covering such risks by means of
derivative financial instruments.
Further details can be found in Section VII “Financial instruments
/ risk management” in the notes to the consolidated
financial statements.
Risk report:
Other risks
In the light of the substantial growth expected at the
company in the coming years, the risk managers have
identified the following potential challenges:
• Recruitment of adequately qualified personnel with
appropriate industry experience,
• problems associated with project delays (time-tomarket),
• implications of delays in sales due to postponement
of market launches by customers (that is product
launch, different geographical scope or with incomplete
reagents portfolio).
The company’s risk management system in general and its
Risk Handbook as the central component of this system
in particular have been and continue to be adjusted and
extended to account for these growth-related challenges,
as have the processes and systems used to control the
company.
Internal control system
for financial reporting process
STRATEC has an internal control system for its (group)
financial reporting process which lays down suitable
structures and processes and is implemented within the
company’s organizational structures. This is designed so
as to ensure the uniform, correct and prompt documentation
of all business transactions. It ensures compliance
with legal requirements, accounting requirements and
the company’s internal accounting guidelines, which are
binding for all of the companies included in the consolidated
financial statements. The basic principles underlying
the internal control system, which is suitable for
the size and structure of the Group, are defined approval
processes, separation of functions, dual control etc. The
group companies prepare their financial statements locally.
Local companies are supported by contact partners at
the parent company throughout the accounting process.
The consolidated accounts are prepared centrally based
on the data from the subsidiaries included in the scope
of consolidation. Processes intended to ensure that the
consolidated financial statements are consistent with all
of the relevant requirements have been implemented. The
company also draws on expertise from external consulting
companies when preparing its consolidated financial statements.
Amendments in legislation, accounting standards
and other pronouncements are promptly analyzed in terms
of their relevance and implications for the consolidated
financial statements and then implemented as appropriate.
As a general rule, it should be noted that any internal
control system, regardless of its specific structure, cannot
provide absolutely certainty that material accounting
misstatements have been avoided or detected.
stratec Annual Report 2009
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