In accordance with professional standards applicable to the Statutory Auditors’ procedures for annual and consolidated financial statements presented according to the European single electronic reporting format, we have verified that the presentation of the financial statements to be included in the annual financial report referred to in paragraph I of article L.451-1-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code (Code monétaire et financier) and prepared under the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer’s responsibility, complies with this format, as defined by European Delegated Regulation No. 2019/815 of December 17, 2018.
On the basis of our work, we conclude that the presentation of the financial statements to be included in the annual financial report complies, in all material respects, with the European single electronic reporting format.
It is not our responsibility to ensure that the financial statements to be included by the Company in the annual financial report filed with the AMF correspond to those on which we carried out our work.
We were appointed Statutory Auditors by the Shareholders’ Meetings held on February 22, 1994 for PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit and on February 4, 2003 for KPMG Audit.
At August 31, 2022, PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit and KPMG Audit were in the twenty-ninth year and the twentieth consecutive year of their engagement, respectively.
Management is responsible for preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view in accordance with French accounting principles, and for implementing the internal control procedures it deems necessary for the preparation of financial statements that are free of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern, and using the going concern basis of accounting, unless it expects to liquidate the Company or to cease operations.
The Audit Committee is responsible for monitoring the financial reporting process and the effectiveness of internal control and risk management systems, as well as, where applicable, any internal audit systems, relating to accounting and financial reporting procedures.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors.
Our role is to issue a report on the financial statements. Our objective is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free of material misstatement. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with professional standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions taken by users on the basis of these financial statements.
As specified in article L.823-10-1 of the French Commercial Code, our audit does not include assurance on the viability or quality of the Company’s management.
As part of an audit conducted in accordance with professional standards applicable in France, the Statutory Auditors exercise professional judgment throughout the audit. They also: