ANNUAL REPORT 04 - Aer Lingus

12 AER LINGUS GROUP PLCIndependent Auditors’ Reportto the Members of Aer Lingus Group plcWe have audited the accounts on pages 13 to 30 and the accountingpolicies set out in the Statement of Accounting Policies on pages18 and 19.Respective Responsibilities of Directors and AuditorsThe Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report andthe accounts in accordance with applicable Irish law and accountingstandards generally accepted in Ireland are set out on page 11 in thestatement of directors’ responsibilities.Our responsibility is to audit the accounts in accordance with relevantlegal and regulatory requirements and auditing standards issued by theAuditing Practices Board applicable in Ireland. This report, including theopinion, has been prepared for and only for the Company’s membersas a body in accordance with Section 193 of the Companies Act, 1990and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept orassume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person towhom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save whereexpressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.We report to you our opinion as to whether the accounts give a trueand fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with Irish statutecomprising the Companies Acts, 1963 to 2003, and the EuropeanCommunities (Companies: Group Accounts) Regulations, 1992. Westate whether we have obtained all the information and explanationswe consider necessary for the purposes of our audit and whether theCompany balance sheet is in agreement with the books of account.We also report to you our opinion as to:• whether the Company has kept proper books of account;• whether the Directors’ Report is consistent with the accounts; and• whether at the balance sheet date there existed a financial situationwhich may require the Company to convene an extraordinary generalmeeting; such a financial situation may exist if the net assets of theCompany, as stated in the Company balance sheet, are not more thanhalf of its called-up share capital.We also report to you if, in our opinion, information specified by lawregarding Directors’ remuneration and transactions is not disclosed.We read the other information contained in the Annual Report andconsider the implications for our report if we become aware of anyapparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the accounts.The other information comprises only the Directors’ Report, theChairman’s Statement and the Operating and Financial Review.Basis of Audit OpinionWe conducted our audit in accordance with Auditing Standards issuedby the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on atest basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in theaccounts. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates andjudgements made by the Directors in the preparation of the accounts,and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’scircumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the informationand explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide uswith sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the accountsare free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or otherirregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overalladequacy of the presentation of information in the accounts.OpinionIn our opinion, the accounts give a true and fair view of the state ofaffairs of the Company and the Group at 31 December 2004 and of theprofit and cash flows of the Group for the year then ended and havebeen properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Acts, 1963to 2003, and the European Communities (Companies: Group Accounts)Regulations, 1992.We have obtained all the information and explanations we considernecessary for the purposes of our audit. In our opinion, proper books ofaccount have been kept by the Company. The Company balance sheet isin agreement with the books of account.In our opinion, the information given in the Directors’ Report on pages10 and 11 is consistent with the accounts.The net assets of the Company, as stated in the Company balancesheet on page 15, are more than half of the amount of its called-upshare capital and, in our opinion, on that basis there did not exist at 31December 2004 a financial situation which under Section 40(1) of theCompanies (Amendment) Act, 1983, would require the convening of anextraordinary general meeting of the Company.PricewaterhouseCoopersChartered Accountants and Registered AuditorsDublin24 February 2005a) The maintenance and integrity of the Aer Lingus Group plc website is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditors does notinvolve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financialstatements since they were initially presented on the website.b) Legislation in Ireland governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.annual report 2004