Report of the auditors:
Parent company financial statements
Independent auditors’ report to the members of Experian plc
We have audited the parent company financial statements of Experian plc for the year ended 31 March 2009 which comprise the parent company profit and loss account, the parent company balance sheet and the related notes. These parent company financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein. We have also audited the information in the report on directors’ remuneration that is described as having been audited.
We have reported separately on the Group financial statements of Experian plc for the year ended 31 March 2009.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report, the report on directors’ remuneration and the parent company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and UK Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the parent company financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). This report, including the opinion, has been prepared for and only for the Company’s members as a body in accordance with Article 110 of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991. We also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial statements. The information given in the directors’ report includes that specific information presented in the business review that is cross referred from the directors’ report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the Company has not kept proper accounting records or if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
We read the other information contained in the annual report, and consider whether it is consistent with the audited parent company financial statements. This other information comprises only the Group financial highlights, the directors’ report, the chairman’s statement, the business review, the board of directors, the unaudited part of the report on directors’ remuneration, the corporate governance statement and all of the other information listed on the contents listing. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the parent company financial statements. 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 parent company financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the directors in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the 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 parent company financial statements 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 parent company financial statements.
Opinion
In our opinion:- the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the Group financial statements.
- the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies (Jersey) Law
1991; and
- the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial statements.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London, United Kingdom
19 May 2009