We have audited the Group and parent company Financial
Statements (the ‘Financial Statements’) of BG Group
plc for the year ended 31 December 2009 which comprise
the Consolidated income statement, the Consolidated
statement of comprehensive income, the Balance sheets,
the Statements of changes in equity, the Cash flow
statements, the Principal accounting policies and
the related notes. The financial reporting framework
that has been applied in their preparation is applicable
law and International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and, as
regards the parent company Financial Statements,
as applied in accordance with the provisions of the
Companies Act 2006.
RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS AND AUDITORS
As explained more fully in the Statement of Directors’
Responsibilities for preparing the Financial Statements,
the Directors are responsible for the preparation
of the Financial Statements and for being satisfied
that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility
is to audit the Financial Statements in accordance
with applicable law and International Standards on
Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require
us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s
Ethical Standards for Auditors. This report, including
the opinions, has been prepared for and only for
the Company’s members as a body in accordance with
Chapter 3 Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and for
no other purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions,
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.
SCOPE OF THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts
and disclosures in the Financial Statements sufficient
to give reasonable assurance that the Financial Statements
are free from material misstatement, whether caused
by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of:
whether the accounting policies are appropriate to
the Group’s and the parent company’s circumstances
and have been consistently applied and adequately
disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting
estimates made by the Directors; and the overall
presentation of the Financial Statements.
OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
In our opinion:
- the Financial Statements give a true and fair
view of the state of the Group’s and of the parent
company’s affairs as at 31 December 2009 and
of the Group’s profit and Group’s and parent
company’s cash flows for the year then ended;
- the Group Financial Statements have been properly
prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted
by the European Union;
- the parent company Financial Statements have
been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs
as adopted by the European Union and as applied
in accordance with the provisions of the Companies
Act 2006; and
- the Financial Statements have been prepared in
accordance with the requirements of the Companies
Act 2006 and, as regards the Group Financial
Statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.
Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies
Act 2006
In our opinion:
- the part of the Remuneration report to be audited
has been properly prepared in accordance with
the Companies Act 2006; and
- the information given in the Directors’ Report
for the financial year for which the Financial
Statements are prepared is consistent with the
Financial Statements.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following:
Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report
to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept
by the parent company, or returns adequate for
our audit have not been received from branches
not visited by us;
- the parent company Financial Statements and the
part of the Remuneration report to be audited
are not in agreement with the accounting records
and returns;
- certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration
specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and
explanations we require for our audit.
Under the Listing Rules we are required to review:
- the Directors’ statement, set out in the Other statutory information section, in relation to going concern; and
- the parts of the Corporate Governance section
of the Directors’ Report relating to the Company’s
compliance with the nine provisions of the June
2008 Combined Code specified for our review.
Nicholas Blackwood
(Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on
behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
London
10 March 2010