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United Kingdom Opinion
Independent
auditors’ report to the shareholders
of BT Group plc
We have audited the financial
statements which comprise the group profit and loss account, group and company
balance sheets, group cash flow statement,
group statement of total recognised gains and losses and the related notes which
have been prepared under the historical cost convention and the accounting policies
set out in the Accounting Policies section. We have also audited the disclosures
required by Part 3 of Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985
contained in the directors’ remuneration report (‘‘the audited part’’).
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The
directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the financial
statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and accounting standards
are set out in the statement of
directors’ responsibilities. The directors are also responsible for preparing
the directors’ remuneration
report.
Our
responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the audited part
of the directors’ remuneration report in accordance with relevant
legal and regulatory requirements and United Kingdom Auditing Standards
issued by the Auditing Practices Board. This report, including the opinion,
has been prepared for and only for the company’s
members as a body in accordance with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 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 whether the financial statements and the audited
part of the directors’ remuneration
report have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
We also report to you if, in our opinion, the directors’ report is
not consistent with the financial statements, if the company has not kept
proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information
and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified
by law regarding directors’ remuneration
and transactions is not disclosed.
We
read the other information contained in the Annual Report and Form 20-F
and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements.
The other information comprises only those sections set out in the table
of contents including Financial headlines, Chairman’s message, Chief
Executive’s
statement, Operating and financial
review, Report of the directors, Corporate governance and Risk factors.
We
review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the company’s compliance with the seven provisions of the Combined Code issued in June 1998 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 to form an opinion on the effectiveness of
the company’s or group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk
and control procedures.
Basis of audit opinion
We
conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards 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 audited part of the directors’ remuneration report. 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 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 audited part of the directors’ remuneration report 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.
Opinion
In our opinion:
the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state
of affairs of the company and the group at 31 March 2004 and of
the profit and cash flows of the group for the year then ended;
the financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance
with the Companies Act 1985; and those parts of the directors’
remuneration report required by Part 3 of Schedule 7A to the Companies
Act 1985 have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies
Act 1985.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP
Chartered
Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
19 May 2004
United States Opinion
To the
board of directors and shareholders of BT Group plc
In our opinion, the accompanying
group profit and loss account, group balance sheet, group cash flow statement,
group statement of total recognised gains and
losses and the related notes present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position of BT Group plc and its subsidiaries at 31 March 2004 and 2003, and
the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years
in the period ended 31 March 2004, in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United Kingdom. These financial statements are the responsibility
of the group’s management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on
these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these
statements in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United
States of America, which require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Accounting
principles generally accepted in the United Kingdom vary in certain important
respects from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. Information relating to the nature and effect of such differences is
presented in the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles section.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP
Chartered
Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
19 May 2004
Notes:
(a) The maintenance and integrity of the BT Group plc website
is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by
the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and,
accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes
that may have occurred to the financial statements since they
were initially presented on the website.
(b) Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation
and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation
in other jurisdictions.
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