We have audited the Group Accounts of Electrocomponents plc for the year ended 31 March 2006 which comprise the Group Income Statement, the Group Balance Sheet, the Group Cash Flow Statement, the Group Statement of Recognised Income and Expense, the Group Significant Accounting Policies and the related notes 1 to 32. These Group Accounts have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein.

We have reported separately on the Company Accounts of Electrocomponents plc for the year ended 31 March 2006 and on the information in the 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 section 235 of the Companies Act 1985. 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 auditor's 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 and the Group Accounts in accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the EU are set out in the Statement of Directors' Responsibility for the Financial Statements.

Our responsibility is to audit the Group Accounts in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).

We report to you our opinion as to whether the Group Accounts give a true and fair view and whether the Group Accounts have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and 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 Group Accounts. The information given in the Directors' Report includes that specific information presented in the Business Review that is cross referenced from the Principal Activity and Business Review section of the Directors' Report. We also report to you if, in our opinion, we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law regarding directors' remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.

We review whether the Corporate Governance Statement reflects the Company's compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 FRC 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 and consider whether it is consistent with the audited Group Accounts. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Group Accounts. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

Basis of Audit Opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK 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 Group Accounts. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the directors in the preparation of the Group 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 Group 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 Group Accounts.

Opinion

In our opinion:

  • the Group Accounts give a true and fair view, in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU, of the state of the group's affairs as at 31 March 2006 and of its profit for the year then ended;
  • the Group Accounts have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation; and
  • the information given in the Directors' Report is consistent with the Group Accounts.

KPMG Audit Plc
Chartered Accountants
Registered Auditor
8 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8BB
1 June 2006

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