Independent auditors’ report to the members of United Utilities Group PLC
We have audited the group and parent company financial statements (the ‘financial statements’) of United Utilities Group PLC for the year ended 31 March 2009 which comprise the consolidated income statement, the consolidated and parent company balance sheets, the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense, the consolidated and parent company cashflow statements, the accounting policies and the related notes 1 to 31. These financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein. We have also audited the information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited.
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with sections 495, 496 and 497 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report, the directors’ remuneration report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and for being satisfied that the group and parent company financial statements give a true and fair view are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (United Kingdom and Ireland).
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and have been properly prepared in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework and whether the financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. We also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the financial statements. The information given in the directors’ report includes that specific information presented in the chairman’s and chief executive’s statements and the business review that is cross-referred from the principal activities and business review section of the directors’ report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the company has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if disclosures of directors’ benefits, remuneration, pensions and compensation for loss of office specified by law are not made.
We review whether the Corporate Governance Statement reflects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2006 Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not. We are not required to consider whether the board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read the other information contained in the annual report as described in the contents section and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside the annual report.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (United Kingdom and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s and company’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 financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited 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 financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
- the group and parent company financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 31 March 2009 and of the group’s profit for the year then ended;
- the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union;
- the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006;
- the group and parent company financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation;
- the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006; and
- the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the financial statements.
Richard Norton (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of Deloitte LLP
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
Manchester, United Kingdom
27 May 2009