The following statement, which should be read in conjunction with the auditors' statement of auditors' responsibilities set out in
their report, is made with a view to distinguishing for shareholders the respective responsibilities of the Directors and of the
auditors in relation to the financial statements.
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements. The Directors are required to prepare
financial statements for the group in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Company law requires
the Directors to prepare such financial statements in accordance with IFRS, the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS
Regulation.
International Accounting Standard 1 requires that financial statements present fairly for each financial period the company's
financial position, financial performance and cash flows. This requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions,
other events and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria for assets, liabilities, income and expenses
set out in the International Accounting Standards Board's 'Framework for the preparation and Presentation of Financial
Statements'. In virtually all circumstances, a fair presentation will be achieved by compliance with all applicable International
Financial Reporting Standards. The Directors are also required to:
- properly select and apply accounting policies;
- present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable
information; and
- provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRS is insufficient to enable users to
understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity's financial position and financial
performance.
The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the
financial position of the company, for safeguarding the assets, for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud
and other irregularities and for the preparation of a directors' report and directors' remuneration report which comply with the
requirements of the Companies Act 1985.
The Directors consider that in preparing the financial statements the Company and the Group have used appropriate accounting
policies, consistently applied and supported by reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates, and that all accounting standards
which they consider to be applicable have been followed. The Directors have responsibility for ensuring that the Company keeps
accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the Company and the Group, and which
enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985.
The Directors have general responsibilities for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the
Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
