Unilever Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F 2000

46
Unilever Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F 2000 Financial Statements
Report of independent auditors
Report of the auditors to the members
of Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC
We have audited the accounts set out on pages 47 to 90,
97 to 106 and 108 to 109.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
As described on page 45, the directors are responsible
for preparing the Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F.
This includes responsibility for preparing the accounts in
accordance with applicable accounting standards in the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Our responsibilities,
as independent auditors, are established by Netherlands and
United Kingdom law, relevant Stock Exchange rules and by
our professional guidance.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the accounts
give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in
accordance with Book 2 of the Civil Code in the Netherlands
and the United Kingdom Companies Act 1985. We would
also report to you if, in our opinion, the directors’ report
was not consistent with the accounts, if proper accounting
records had not been kept, if we had not received all the
information and explanations we require for our audit,
or if information required regarding directors’ remuneration
and transactions was not disclosed.
We read the other information contained in the
Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F and consider
the implications for our audit report if we become aware
of any material misstatements or inconsistencies with
the accounts.
As auditors of Unilever PLC we review whether the
statement on page 32 reflects the Company’s compliance
with the seven provisions of the Combined Code specified
for our review by the United Kingdom’s Financial Services
Authority and we report if it does not. We are not required
to consider whether the directors’ statements on internal
control cover all risks and controls or to form an opinion
on the effectiveness of the Group’s corporate governance
procedures or its risk and control procedures.
Basis of opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards
generally accepted in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom
and the United States. An audit includes an examination,
on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and
disclosures in the accounts. It also includes an assessment
of the most important estimates and judgements made
by the directors in the preparation of the accounts, and
of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to
the Group’s circumstances, consistently applied and
adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all
the information and explanations which we considered
necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence
to give reasonable assurance that the accounts are free from
material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other
irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also
evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation
of information in the accounts.
The Netherlands and United Kingdom opinion
In our opinion, the accounts give a true and fair view of
the state of affairs of the Unilever Group, Unilever N.V. and
Unilever PLC at 31 December 2000 and of the profit, total
recognised gains and cash flows of the Group for the year
then ended. In our opinion the accounts of the Unilever
Group, and of Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC respectively,
have been properly prepared in accordance with Book 2
of the Civil Code in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
Companies Act 1985.
United States opinion
In our opinion, the accounts present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of the Unilever Group
at 31 December 2000 and 1999, and the results of its
operations, total recognised gains and its cash flows for
each of the three years in the period ended 31 December
2000, in accordance with the general information,
Accounting Standards and the accounting policies on
pages 47 to 49.
The accounting principles applied vary in certain significant
respects from accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States. The approximate effect of the major
differences in the determination of net profit and capital
and reserves is shown on page 98.
PricewaterhouseCoopers N.V. PricewaterhouseCoopers
Registeraccountants Chartered Accountants
Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Registered Auditors
London, England
As auditors of Unilever N.V. As auditors of Unilever PLC
5 March 2001