Annual Report and Accounts 2006 - DCC plc

49report of the independent auditorsfor the year ended 31 March 2006To the Members of DCC plcWe have audited the Group andParent Company financial statements(the ‘financial statements’) of DCC plcfor the year ended 31 March 2006which comprise the Group IncomeStatement, the Group and ParentCompany Balance Sheets, the Groupand Parent Company Cash FlowStatements, the Group and ParentCompany Statement of RecognisedIncome and Expense and the relatednotes. These financial statementshave been prepared under theaccounting policies set out therein.Respective responsibilitiesof Directors and AuditorsThe Directors’ responsibilities forpreparing the Annual Report andthe Group financial statements inaccordance with applicable law andInternational Financial ReportingStandards (IFRS) as adopted bythe European Union, are set outin the Statement of Directors’Responsibilities.Our responsibility is to audit thefinancial statements in accordancewith relevant legal and regulatoryrequirements and InternationalStandards on Auditing (UK andIreland). This report, including theopinion, has been prepared for andonly for the Company’s members as abody in accordance with Section 193of the Companies Act, 1990 and forno other purpose. We do not, ingiving this opinion, accept or assumeresponsibility for any other purpose orto any other person to whom thisreport is shown or into whose handsit may come save where expresslyagreed by our prior consent in writing.We report to you our opinion asto whether the Group financialstatements give a true and fair view,in accordance with IFRS as adoptedby the European Union. We report toyou our opinion as to whether theParent Company financial statementsgive a true and fair view, in accordancewith IFRS as adopted by the EuropeanUnion, as applied in accordance withthe provisions of the Companies Acts,1963 to 2005. We also report to youwhether the financial statementshave been properly prepared inaccordance with Irish statutecomprising the Companies Act, 1963to 2005 and Article 4 of the IASRegulation. We state whether wehave obtained all the information andexplanations we consider necessaryfor the purposes of our audit, andwhether the financial statements arein agreement with the books ofaccount. We also report to you ouropinion as to:• whether the Company has keptproper books of account;• whether the Directors’ Report isconsistent with the financialstatements; and• whether at the balance sheet datethere existed a financial situationwhich may require the Companyto convene an extraordinarygeneral meeting of the Company;such a financial situation mayexist if the net assets of theCompany, as stated in theCompany Balance Sheet, are notmore than half of its called-upshare capital.We also report to you if, in ouropinion, any information specified bylaw or the Listing Rules of the IrishStock Exchange regarding Directors’remuneration and Directors’transactions is not disclosed and,where practicable, include suchinformation in our report.We review whether the CorporateGovernance statement reflects theCompany’s compliance with the nineprovisions of the Financial ReportingCouncil’s 2003 Combined Codespecified for our review by the ListingRules of the Irish Stock Exchange,and we report if it does not. We arenot required to consider whether theBoard’s statements on internal controlcover all risks and controls, or form anopinion on the effectiveness of theGroup’s corporate governanceprocedures or its risk and controlprocedures.We read the other informationcontained in the Annual Report andconsider whether it is consistent withthe audited financial statements. Theother information comprises only theChairman’s Statement, the ChiefExecutive’s Review, the Operatingand Financial Review, the CorporateSocial Responsibility Statement, theCorporate Governance Statement andthe Directors’ Report. We considerthe implications for our report if webecome aware of any apparentmisstatements or materialinconsistencies with the financialstatements. Our responsibilities donot extend to any other information.Basis of audit opinionWe conducted our audit inaccordance with InternationalStandards on Auditing (UK andIreland) issued by the AuditingPractices Board. An audit includesexamination, on a test basis, ofevidence relevant to the amountsand disclosures in the financialstatements. It also includes anassessment of the significantestimates and judgments made bythe Directors in the preparation of thefinancial statements, and of whetherthe accounting policies are appropriateto the Group’s and Company’scircumstances, consistently appliedand adequately disclosed.We planned and performed our auditso as to obtain all the information andexplanations which we considerednecessary in order to provide us withsufficient evidence to give reasonableassurance that the financialstatements are free from material