Independent auditors’ report to the shareholders of Aviva plc
We have audited the group and parent company financial statements (the “financial statements”) of Aviva plc for the year ended 31 December 2006 which comprise the Accounting Policies, the Consolidated and Parent Company Income Statements, the pro forma reconciliation of Group operating profit to profit before tax, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statement of recognised income and expense, the Consolidated and Parent Company Reconciliation of movements in shareholders’ equity, the Consolidated and Parent Company Balance Sheets, the Consolidated and Parent company cash flow Statements and the related notes 1 to 53 and A to J. We have also audited the information in the Directors’ Remuneration Report that is described as having been audited.
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual Report, the Directors’ Remuneration Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union are set out in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and, as regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. We also report to whether in our opinion, the information given in the Directors’ Report is consistent with the 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, if we have not received all information and explanations we require for audit, or if specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.
We review whether the Corporate Governance Statement reflects the Company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 Combined Code specified for our review by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not. We are not required to consider whether the Board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the Group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read other information contained in the Annual Report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. The other information comprises only the Overview, the Business review, the Board of Directors, the Directors’ report, the Corporate governance report, the Audit Committee report, the Nomination Committee report, the Risk and Regulatory Committee report, the Corporate Social Responsibility committee and the unaudited part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the 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 financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’s and 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 financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited 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 financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
- The financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, of the state of the Group’s affairs and the parent Company’s affairs as at 31 December 2006 and of the Group’s profit and the parent company’s loss for the year then ended;
- The financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation; and
- The information given in the Directors’ report is consistent with the financial statements.
Ernst & Young LLP
Registered Auditor
London
28 February 2007