Südzucker International Finance B. V. Südzucker AG ... - Xetra

AUDITORS’ REPORTWe have audited the consolidated financial statementsprepared by Südzucker Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim/Ochsenfurt, Mannheim, consisting of the balancesheet, statement of income, statement of movementsin shareholders' equity, statement of cash flows andnotes, for the business year from March 1, 2002through February 28, 2003. The preparation andcontents of the consolidated financial statementsprepared in accordance with International FinancialReporting Standards (IFRS) are the responsibility ofthe company's executive board. Our responsibility isto express an opinion on the consolidated financialstatements based on the results of our audit.We conducted our audit of the consolidated financialstatements in accordance with German auditingstandards and generally accepted standards for auditsof financial statements promulgated by the Institutder Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW), as well as in accordancewith International Standards on Auditing (ISA). Thosestandards require that we plan and perform the auditsuch that misstatements materially affecting theconsolidated financial statements are detected withreasonable assurance. Knowledge of the businessactivities and the economic and legal environment ofthe group and evaluations of possible misstatementsare taken into account in the determination of auditprocedures. The evidence supporting the disclosuresin the consolidated financial statements are examinedprimarily on a test basis within the framework of theaudit. The audit includes assessing the accountingprinciples used and significant estimates made bymanagement, as well as evaluating the overallpresentation of the consolidated financial statements.We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basisfor our opinion.position, results of operations and cash flows of thegroup for the year ended February 28, 2003 inaccordance with International Financial ReportingStandards.Our audit, which also included the group managementreport prepared by the executive board for the periodfrom March 1, 2002 through February 28, 2003, hasnot led to any reservations. In our opinion, on thewhole the group management report provides asuitable understanding of the position of the groupand suitably presents the risks for future development.We also confirm that the consolidated financialstatements and the group management report for thebusiness year from March 1, 2002 through February28, 2003 complies with the conditions for exemptionfrom preparing consolidated financial statements anda group management report in accordance withGerman law.Mannheim, May 15, 2003KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-GesellschaftAktiengesellschaftWirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaftWalterHeubleinWirtschaftsprüfer WirtschaftsprüferIn our opinion, the consolidated financial statementspresent fairly the assets and liabilities, financialF-80