Universal Registration Document - Fiscal 2023

Other verifications and information pursuant to legal and regulatory requirements

Presentation of the financial statements to be included in the annual financial report

We have also verified, 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, 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’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.

Appointment of the Statutory Auditors

We were appointed Statutory Auditors by the Shareholders’ Meetings held on February 4, 2003 for KPMG S.A. and on December 19, 2022 for ERNST & YOUNG Audit.

As at August 31, 2023, KPMG S.A. was in the twenty-first consecutive year of their engagement and ERNST & YOUNG Audit in the first year.

Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the financial statements

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.

Responsibilities of the Statutory Auditors relating to the audit of the financial statements

Objective and audit approach

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:

• identify and assess the risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures in response to those risks, and obtain audit evidence considered to be sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for their opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control;
• obtain an understanding of the internal control procedures relevant to the audit 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 internal control;
• evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management and the related disclosures in the notes to the financial statements;
• assess the appropriateness of management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. This assessment is based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of the audit report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern. If the Statutory Auditors conclude that a material uncertainty exists, they are required to draw attention in the audit report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are not provided or are inadequate, to issue a qualified opinion or a disclaimer of opinion;
• evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements and assess whether these statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.