We have audited the Group annual financial statements and the annual financial statements of Barnard Jacobs Mellet Holdings Limited, which comprise the balance sheets at 31 March 2008, and the income statements, the statements of changes in equity and cash flow statements for the year then ended, and the notes to the financial statements, which include a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes, and the directors’ report as set out on page 18 to 61.

 

The Company’s directors are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and in the manner required by the Companies Act of South Africa. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.

 

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

 

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditors’ judgement, including the assessment of risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

 

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

 

In our opinion, these financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated and separate financial position of Barnard Jacobs Mellet Holdings Limited at 31 March 2008, and its consolidated and separate financial performance and consolidated and separate cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, and in the manner required by the Companies Act of South Africa.