In: Computer Science
a. The 2014 Annual Report for Rolls-Royce Holdings plc:
"
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
to the members of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc only
OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ARISING FROM OUR AUDIT
1 OUR OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IS UNMODIFIED We have
audited the Financial Statements of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc for
the year ended 31 December 2014 set out
on pages 95 to 151. 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 2014 and of the Group’s profit for the year then ended;
the Group Financial Statements have been properly prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (Adopted IFRS);
the parent company Financial Statements have been properly prepared in accordance with UK Accounting Standards; 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.
2 OUR ASSESSMENT OF RISKS OF MATERIAL MISSTATEMENT
We summarise below the risks of material misstatement that had the
greatest effect on our audit, our key audit procedures to address
those risks and our findings from those procedures in order that
the Company’s members as a body may better understand the process
by which we arrived at our audit opinion. Our findings are the
result of procedures undertaken in the context of and solely for
the purpose of our statutory audit opinion on the Financial
Statements as a whole and consequently are incidental to that
opinion, and
we do not express discrete opinions on separate elements of the
Financial Statements.
Given the long-term nature of the Group’s business, it is inevitable that the risks that had the greatest effect on our audit change little from year to year. Nevertheless, there have been a number of changes from 2013, the most significant being:
for the 2014 audit, due to a number of revisions to the Group’s published guidance on revenue and profit, we significantly increased our focus and work on the risk relating to The pressure on and incentives for management to meet revised revenue and profit guidance;
the audit work in connection with the risk relating to Accounting for risk and revenue sharing arrangements was substantially less than that required in the 2013 audit as the Financial Reporting Council’s enquiry was concluded during the 2013 audit, there have been no changes to relevant accounting standards and only a small number of new agreements have been entered into this year; and
the risks relating to Accounting for the consolidation of Rolls-Royce Power Systems Holding GmbH and the valuation of Daimler AG’s put option required substantially less audit effort than in earlier years when the transactions took place, in part due to the exercise of the put option by Daimler AG during 2014.
The pressure on and incentives for management to meet revised
revenue and profit guidance
Refer to pages 32 to 41 (Business reviews) and pages 69 to 71
(Audit Committee report – Financial reporting)
The risk – The Group published a number of revisions to its revenue and profit guidance during the year with a generally decreasing trend in profit and revenue and there have been significant associated decreases in the Group’s share price. The Chief Executive clearly instructed the Executive Leadership Team and the senior finance executives on more than one occasion not to take any account of the pressure to meet forecasts in preparing the financial results and to be alert to how this might affect personnel across the wider Group. Nevertheless, the heightened pressure on and incentives for management to meet the latest guidance increased the inherent risk of manipulation of the Financial Statements.
The financial results are sensitive to significant estimates and
judgements, particularly in respect of revenues and costs
associated with long-term contracts, and there is a broad
range
of acceptable outcomes of these that could lead to different profit
and revenue reported in the Financial Statements. Relatively small
changes in the basis of those judgements and estimates could result
in the Group meeting, exceeding or falling short of guidance.
Our response – We have: (i) extended our enquiries
designed
to assess whether management had applied unconscious bias
or had taken systematic actions to manipulate the reported results;
(ii) compared the results to forecasts and challenged variances
at
a much more granular level than we would otherwise have done based
on our understanding of factors affecting business performance with
corroboration using external data where possible; (iii) applied an
increased level of scepticism throughout the audit by increasing
the involvement of the senior audit team personnel, with particular
focus on audit procedures designed
to assess whether revenues and costs have been recognised
in the correct accounting period and whether central adjustments
were appropriate; and (iv) challenged our entire audit approach
based on an independent review by personnel with no other
involvement in the audit.
In particular:
• when considering the risk relating to The measurement of revenue and profit in the Civil aerospace business, we challenged the basis for changes in the estimated revenues and costs in long-term contracts with a heightened awareness of the possibility of unconscious or systematic bias; and
• when considering the risk relating to The presentation of
underlying profit, we sought to identify items that affected
profit (and/or the trend in profit) unevenly in frequency or
amount
at a much lower level than we would otherwise have done and
to assess the transparency of disclosure of these items.
Our findings – Aside from one transaction which had a very small impact on the Group’s profit and which was subsequently corrected by management, our testing did not identify any indication of manipulation of results. We found the degree of caution/optimism adopted in estimates to be broadly consistent with that adopted in the previous year with no indication of conscious or unconscious bias.
154 Rolls-Royce Holdings plc
Annual Report 2014
The basis of accounting for revenue and profit in the Civil
aerospace business
Refer to page 101 and 102 (Key areas of judgement –
Introduction, Contractual aftermarket rights, Linkage of original
and long-term aftermarket contracts), pages 104 and 105
(Significant accounting policies – Revenue recognition) and pages
69 to 71 (Audit Committee report – Financial reporting)
The risk – The amount of revenue and profit recognised in a year on the sale of engines and aftermarket services is dependent, inter alia, on the appropriate assessment of whether or not each long-term aftermarket contract for services is linked to or separate from
the contract for sale of the related engines as this drives the
accounting basis to be applied. As the commercial arrangements can
be complex, significant judgement is applied in selecting the
accounting basis in each case. The most significant risk is that
the Group might inappropriately account for sales of engines and
long-term service agreements as a single arrangement for accounting
purposes as this would usually lead to revenue and profit being
recognised too early because the margin in the long-term service
agreement is usually higher than the margin
in the engine sale agreement.
Our response – We re-evaluated the appropriateness of the
accounting bases the Group applies in the Civil aerospace
business by reference to accounting standards, including examining
correspondence and attending meetings between
the Group and the Financial Reporting Council and re-examining
historical long-term aftermarket contracts. We considered whether
the enhanced disclosure included in the Financial Statements
following this dialogue enables shareholders to understand how the
accounting policies represent the commercial substance
of the Group’s contracts with its customers. We made our own independent assessment, with reference to the relevant accounting standards, of the accounting basis that should be applied to each long-term aftermarket contract entered into during the year and compared this to the accounting basis applied by the Group.
Our findings – We found that the Group has developed
a framework for selecting the accounting bases which is consistent
with a balanced interpretation of accounting standards(2013
audit finding: balanced) and has applied this consistently. We
found that the enhanced disclosure was ample. For the agreements
entered into during this year, it was clear which accounting basis
should apply.
The measurement of revenue and profit in the Civil aerospace
business
Refer to pages 101 and 102 (Key areas of judgement –
Measurement of performance on long-term aftermarket contracts),
pages 104 and 105 (Significant accounting policies – Revenue
recognition
and TotalCare arrangements) and pages 69 to 71 (Audit Committee report – Financial reporting)
The risk – The amount of revenue and profit recognised in a
year
on the sale of engines and aftermarket services is dependent,
inter alia, on the assessment of the percentage of completion of
long-term aftermarket contracts and the forecast cost profile of
each arrangement. As long-term aftermarket contracts can extend
over significant periods and the profitability of these
arrangements typically assumes significant life-cycle cost
improvement over the term of the contracts, the estimated outturn
requires significant judgement to be applied in assessing engine
flying hours, time on wing and other operating parameters, the
pattern of future maintenance activity and the costs to be
incurred. The inherent nature of these estimates means that their
continual refinement can have an impact on the profits of the Civil
aerospace business that can be significant in an individual
financial year. The assessment of the estimated outturn for each
arrangement involves detailed calculations using large and complex
databases with
a significant level of manual intervention.
Our response – We tested the controls designed and applied
by
the Group to provide assurance that the estimates used in assessing
revenue and cost profiles are appropriate and that the resulting
estimated cumulative profit on such contracts is accurately
reflected in the Financial Statements; these controls operated over
both the inputs and the outputs of the calculations. We challenged
the appropriateness of these estimates for each programme and
assessed whether or not the estimates showed any evidence of
conscious or unconscious management bias in the context of the
heightened pressure on and incentives for management to meet
the latest guidance discussed above. Our challenge was based on our
assessment of the historical accuracy of the Group’s
estimates
in previous periods, identification and analysis of changes in
assumptions from prior periods and an assessment of the consistency
of assumptions across programmes, detailed assessments of the
achievability of the Group’s plans to reduce life-cycle costs and
an analysis of the impact of these plans on forecast cost profiles
taking account of contingencies and analysis of the impact of known
technical issues on cost forecasts. Our analysis considered each
significant airframe that is powered by the Group’s engines and was
based on our own experience supplemented by discussions with an
aircraft valuation specialist engaged by the Group. We assessed
whether the valuer was objective and suitably qualified. We also
checked the mathematical accuracy of the revenue and profit for
each arrangement and considered the implications of identified
errors and changes in estimates.
Our findings – In 2013, our testing identified weaknesses in the design and operation of controls and we assessed the effectiveness of the Group’s plans for addressing these weaknesses. In planning the 2014 audit, we anticipated that the control weaknesses identified in 2013 audit would be remediated. However, our testing identified continuing, albeit reduced, control weaknesses in some areas and so, as in 2013, we increased the scope and depth of our detailed testing and analysis from that originally planned. Overall, our assessment is that the assumptions and resulting estimates
Other Information
155
Other Information
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
CONTINUED
(including appropriate contingencies) resulted in mildly cautious(2013 audit finding: mildly cautious) profit recognition and we found no indication of conscious or unconscious bias.
Recoverability of intangible assets (certification costs and
participation fees, development expenditure and contractual
aftermarket rights) and amounts recoverable on contracts primarily
in the Civil aerospace business
Refer to page 103 (Key sources of estimation uncertainty –
Forecasts and discount rates), pages 107 and 108 (Significant
accounting policies – Certification costs and participation fees,
Research and development, Contractual aftermarket rights and
Impairment of non-current assets), page 122 (Note 9 to the
Financial Statements
– Intangible assets) and pages 69 to 71 (Audit Committee report –
Financial reporting)
The risk – The recovery of these assets depends on a combination of achieving sufficiently profitable business in the future as well as the ability of customers to pay amounts due under contracts often over a long period of time. Assets relating to a particular engine programme are more prone to the risk of impairment
in the early years of a programme as the engine’s market
position is established. In addition, the pricing of business with
launch customers makes assets relating to these engines more
prone
to the risk of impairment.
Our response – We tested the controls designed and applied by the Group to provide assurance that the assumptions used in preparing the impairment calculations are regularly updated, that changes are monitored, scrutinised and approved by appropriate personnel and that the final assumptions used in impairment testing have been appropriately approved. We challenged the appropriateness of the key assumptions in the impairment test (including market size, market share, pricing, engine and aftermarket unit costs, individual programme assumptions, price and cost escalation, discount rate and exchange rates) focusing particularly on those assets with
a higher risk of impairment (those relating to the Trent 900 programme and launch customers on the Trent 900 and Trent 1000 programmes). Our challenge was based on our assessment of the historical accuracy of the Group’s estimates in previous periods, our understanding of the commercial prospects of key engine programmes, identification and analysis of changes in assumptions from prior periods and an assessment of the consistency of assumptions across programmes and customers and comparison of assumptions with publicly available data where this was available. We tested the mathematical accuracy of the impairment calculations. We considered whether the disclosures in note 9 to the Financial Statements describe the inherent degree of subjectivity in the estimates and the potential impact on future periods of revisions to these estimates.
Our findings – Our testing did not identify weaknesses in the
design and operation of controls that would have required us
to expand the nature or scope of our planned detailed test work. We
found that the assumptions and resulting estimates were balanced
(2013 audit finding: balanced) and that the disclosures
were proportionate (2013 audit finding: proportionate). We
found no errors in calculations (2013 audit finding:
none).
Liabilities arising from sales financing arrangements
Refer to page 103 (Key areas of judgement – Customer
financing contingent liabilities), page 109 (Significant accounting
policies – Sales financing support), pages 137 and 138 (Note
18
to the Financial Statements – Provisions for liabilities and
charges) and pages 69 to 71 (Audit Committee report – Financial
reporting)
The risk – The Group has contingent liabilities in respect of
financing and asset value support provided to customers. This
support typically takes the form of a guarantee with respect
to
the value of an aircraft at a future date, a commitment to buy used
aircraft or a guarantee of a customer’s future payments under an
aircraft financing arrangement. Judgement is required to assess the
likelihood of these liabilities crystallising, in order to assess
whether a provision should be recognised and, if so, the amount of
that provision. The total potential liability is significant and
can be affected by the assessment of the residual value of the
aircraft
and the creditworthiness of the customers.
Our response – We analysed the terms of guarantees on aircraft
delivered during the year in detail and obtained aircraft values
from and held discussions with aircraft valuation specialists
engaged
by the Group. We assessed whether the valuer was objective and
suitably qualified, had been appropriately instructed and had been
provided with complete, accurate data on which to base its
evaluation. For all contracts on delivered aircraft, we assessed
the commercial factors relevant to the likelihood of the guarantees
being called, including the credit ratings and recent financial
performance of the relevant customers and their fleet plans, and
critically assessed the Group’s estimate of the required provisions
for those liabilities. We considered movements in aircraft values
and potential changes in the assessed probability of a liability
crystallising since the previous year end and considered whether
the evidence supported the Group’s assessment as to whether or not
a liability needs to be recognised and the amount of the liability
recognised or contingent liability disclosed. We considered whether
the related disclosure in note 18 to the Financial Statements
appropriately explains the potential liability in excess of the
amount provided for in the Financial Statements for delivered
aircraft and highlights the significant but unquantifiable
contingent liability
in respect of aircraft which will be delivered in the future.
Our findings – We found that the assumptions and estimates were balanced (2013 audit finding: balanced) and that the disclosures were proportionate (2013 audit finding: proportionate).
156 Rolls-Royce Holdings plc Annual Report 2014
Bribery and corruption
Refer to page 147 (Note 23 to the Financial Statements – Contingent liabilities) and pages 69 to 71 (Audit Committee report – Financial reporting)
The risk – A large part of the Group’s business is characterised by competition for individually significant contracts with customers, which are often directly or indirectly associated with governments, and the award of individually significant contracts to suppliers. The procurement processes associated with these activities are highly susceptible to the risk of corruption. In addition the Group operates in a number of territories where the use of commercial intermediaries is either required by the government or is normal practice. In December 2013, the Group announced that it had been informed by the Serious Fraud Office in the UK that it had commenced a formal investigation into bribery and corruption in overseas markets. The Group is cooperating with the Serious Fraud Office and other agencies, including the US Department of Justice. Breaches of laws and regulations in this area can lead to fines, penalties, criminal prosecution, commercial litigation and restrictions on future business.
Our response – We evaluated and tested the Group’s policies, procedures and controls over the selection and renewal of intermediaries, contracting arrangements, ongoing management, payments and responses to suspected breaches of policy. We sought to identify and tested payments made to intermediaries during
the year, made enquiries of appropriate personnel and evaluated the tone set by the Board and the Executive Leadership Team and the Group’s approach to managing this risk. Having enquired of management, the Audit Committee and the Board as to whether the Group is in compliance with laws and regulations relating to bribery and corruption, we made written enquiries of the Group’s legal advisers to corroborate the results of those enquiries and maintained a high level of vigilance to possible indications of significant non-compliance with laws and regulations relating
to bribery and corruption whilst carrying out our other audit
procedures. We discussed the areas of potential or suspected
breaches of law, including the ongoing investigation, with
the
Audit Committee and the Board as well as the Group’s legal advisers
and assessed related documentation. We assessed whether the
disclosure in note 23 to the Financial Statements of the Group’s
exposure to the financial effects of potential or suspected
breaches of law or regulation complies with accounting standards
and in particular whether it is the case that the investigation
remains
at too early a stage to assess the consequences (if any), including in particular the size of any possible fines.
Our findings – We found that disclosure to be proportionate(2013 audit finding: proportionate).
Presentation and explanation of results
Refer to pages 32 to 41 (Business reviews), pages 28 to 31 (Financial Review), pages 112 and 113 (Note 2 to the Financial Statements – Segmental analysis) and pages 69 to 71 (Audit Committee report – Financial reporting)
The presentation of ‘underlying profit’
The risk – In addition to its Adopted IFRS Financial
Statements,
the Group presents an alternative income statement on an
‘underlying’ basis. The directors believe the ‘underlying’ income
statement reflects better the Group’s trading performance during
the year. The basis of adjusting between the Adopted IFRS and
‘underlying’ income statements and a full reconciliation between
them is set out in note 2 to the Financial Statements on pages 110
and 113. A significant recurring adjustment between the Adopted
IFRS income statement and the ‘underlying’ income statement relates
to the foreign exchange rates used to translate foreign currency
transactions. The Group uses forward foreign exchange contracts to
manage the cash flow exposures of forecast transactions denominated
in foreign currencies but does not generally apply hedge accounting
in its Adopted IFRS income statement. The ‘underlying’ income
statement translates these amounts at the achieved foreign exchange
rate on forward foreign exchange contracts settled in the period,
retranslates assets and liabilities at exchange rates forecast to
be achieved from future settlement of such contracts and excludes
unrealised gains and losses on such contracts which are included in
the Adopted IFRS income statement. The Group has discretion over
which forward foreign exchange contracts are settled in each
financial year, which could impact the achieved rate both for the
period and in the future. In addition, adjustments are made to
exclude one-off past-service costs on post-retirement schemes,
restructuring activities that significantly change the shape of the
Group’s operations and the effect of acquisition accounting and a
number of other items. Alternative performance measures can provide
shareholders with appropriate additional information if properly
used and presented. In such cases, measures such as these can
assist shareholders in gaining a better understanding of a
company’s financial performance and strategy. However, when
improperly used and presented, these kinds of measures might
prevent the Annual Report being fair, balanced and understandable
by hiding the real financial position and results or by making the
profitability of the reporting entity seem more attractive.
Our response – We assessed the appropriateness of the basis for the adjustments between the Adopted IFRS income statement and the ‘underlying’ income statement and recalculated the adjustments with a particular focus on the impact of the foreign exchange rates used to translate foreign currency amounts in the ‘underlying’ income statement. We assessed whether or not the selection of forward foreign exchange contracts settled in the year showed any evidence of management bias. We also assessed: (i) the extent to which the prominence given to the ‘underlying’ financial information and related commentary in the Annual Report compared to the Adopted IFRS financial information and related commentary could be misleading; (ii) whether the Adopted IFRS
and ‘underlying’ financial information are reconciled with sufficient prominence given to that reconciliation; (iii) whether the basis of the ‘underlying’ financial information is clearly and accurately described and consistently applied; and (iv) whether the ‘underlying’ financial information is not otherwise misleading in the form and context in which it appears in the Annual Report.
Other Information
157
Other Information
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
CONTINUED
Our findings – We found no concerns regarding the basis
of the ‘underlying’ financial information or its calculation
and
no indication of management bias in the settlement of forward
foreign exchange contracts. We consider that there is proportionate
disclosure of the nature and amounts of the adjustments to
allow shareholders to understand the implications of the two
bases on the financial measures being presented (2013 audit
finding: proportionate). We found the overall
presentation
of the ‘underlying’ financial information to be balanced
(2013 audit finding: balanced).
Disclosure of the effect on the trend in profit of items
which are uneven in frequency or amount
The risk – The Group’s profits are significantly impacted by items
such as cumulative adjustments to profit recognised on long-term
contracts, sale and leasebacks of spare engines to joint ventures,
research and development charges, reorganisation costs and foreign
exchange translation which can be uneven in frequency and/or
amount. If significant either to the profit for the year or to the
trend in profit, appropriate disclosure of the effect of these
items is necessary in the Annual Report and Financial Statements to
provide the information necessary to enable shareholders to assess
the Group’s performance.
Our response – We sought to identify items that affect
profit
(and the trend in profit) which are uneven in frequency or amount
at a much lower level than we would otherwise have done and to
assess the transparency of disclosure of these items.
Our findings – We identified a number of significant items that had affected profit for the year or the prior year that required appropriate disclosure in the Annual Report to enable shareholders to assess the Group’s performance. We found that proportionate disclosure of these items had been provided in the Annual Report and Financial Statements taken as a whole.
In reaching our audit opinion on the Financial Statements
we
took into account the findings that we describe above and
those
for other, lower risk areas. Overall the findings from across the
whole audit are that the Financial Statements have been prepared on
the basis of appropriate accounting policies, use mildly cautious
estimates, which are consistent when comparing this year to last,
and provide proportionate disclosure. Having assessed these
findings and evaluated uncorrected misstatements in the context of
materiality and considered the qualitative aspects of the Financial
Statements as a whole we have not modified our opinion on the
Financial Statements.
3 OUR APPLICATION OF MATERIALITY AND AN OVERVIEW
OF THE SCOPE OF OUR AUDIT
The materiality for the Group Financial Statements as a whole
was set at £70 million (2013: £86 million), determined
with reference to a benchmark of Group profit before taxation,
normalised to exclude the volatility in reported profit due to
gains and losses
on revaluation of foreign currency and other derivative financial
instruments which could otherwise result in an inappropriate
materiality level being calculated. This materiality measure
represents 4.6% of this benchmark and 34.3% of total reported
profit before tax. We carry out full audit procedures to
assess
the accuracy of the gains and losses on these derivative financial
instruments (which this year amounted to a £1.3 billion loss)
as
part of our audit of the Group’s treasury operations.
We report to the Audit Committee: (i) all material corrected identified misstatements; (ii) uncorrected identified misstatements exceeding £4 million for income statement items; and (iii) other identified misstatements that warranted reporting on qualitative grounds.
We subjected 33 of the Group’s reporting components to
audits
for group reporting purposes and 14 to specified risk-focused audit
procedures. The latter were not individually financially
significant enough to require an audit for group reporting
purposes, but did present specific individual risks that needed to
be addressed. This work also provided further audit coverage. The
remaining reporting units were subject to analytical procedures by
the Group audit team.
The Group operates shared service centres in Derby (UK) and
Indianapolis (US), the outputs of which are included in the
financial information of the reporting components they
service
and therefore they are not separate reporting components.
Each
of the service centres is subject to specified risk-focused audit
procedures, predominantly the testing of transaction processing and
review controls. Additional audit procedures are performed at
certain reporting components to address the audit risks not covered
by the work performed over the shared service centres.
Summary audit scope
UNDERLYING PROFIT BEFORE TAX
91% 9%
TOTAL ASSETS
83% 12% 5%
Audits for group reporting purposes
Specified risk-focused audit procedures
Group-level procedures only
158 Rolls-Royce Holdings plc Annual Report 2014
REVENUE
90% 7% 3%
The Group audit team instructed component auditors, and the
auditors of the shared service centres, as to the significant areas
to be covered, including the relevant risks detailed above and the
information
to be reported back. The Group audit team approved the component
materialities, which ranged from £0.3 million to £60 million,
having regard to the mix of size and risk profile of the Group
across the components. The work on 29 of the 47 components was
performed
by component auditors and the rest by the Group audit
team.
The Group audit team visited 25 component locations in the
UK,
the US, Germany and Norway, the purpose of which included an
assessment of the audit risk and strategy. Telephone conference
meetings were also held with these component auditors and with
those of the higher risk components that were not physically
visited. At these visits and meetings, the findings reported to the
Group audit team were discussed in more detail, and any further
work required by the Group audit team was then performed by the
component auditor.
4 OUR OPINION ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT
2006 IS UNMODIFIED
In our opinion:
the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006; and
the information given in the Strategic Report and Directors’ Report for the financial year for which the Financial Statements are prepared is consistent with the Financial Statements.
5 WE HAVE NOTHING TO REPORT IN RESPECT OF THE MATTERS
ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION
Under ISA (UK and Ireland) we are required to report to you if,
based on the knowledge we acquired during our audit, we have
identified other information in the Annual Report that contains a
material inconsistency with either that knowledge or the Financial
Statements, a material misstatement of fact, or that is otherwise
misleading. In particular, we are required to report to you if:
we have identified material inconsistencies between the knowledge we acquired during our audit and the directors’ statement that they consider that the Annual Report and Financial Statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s performance, business model and strategy; or
the Audit Committee report does not appropriately address matters communicated by us to the Audit Committee.
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; or
the parent company Financial Statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
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 on page 164, in relation to going concern; and
the part of the corporate governance report on page 59 relating to the Company’s compliance with the ten provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2012 specified for our review.
We have nothing to report in respect of the above responsibilities.
Scope of report and responsibilities
As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 93, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the Financial Statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. A description of the scope of an audit of Financial Statements is provided on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditscopeukprivate. This report is made solely to the Company’s members as a body and is subject to important explanations and disclaimers regarding our responsibilities, published on our website at www.kpmg.com/uk/ auditscopeukco2014b, which are incorporated into this report
as if set out in full and should be read to provide an understanding of the purpose of this report, the work we have undertaken and the basis of our opinions.
JIMMY DABOO (SENIOR STATUTORY AUDITOR)
for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor
Chartered Accountants 15 Canada Square London E14 5GL
12 February 2015"
a. Describe several pieces of information included in this audit report that are not provided in the audit report for U.S. public companies.
b. If you are an investor in Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, then do you feel more or less comfort with the underlying financial statements after reading the auditor’s opinion? Why?
In: Accounting
Results for the fourth quarter of 2019 are provided below. CVI's management is concerned as to why the operating income was lower than budgeted. 2019 fourth-quarter operating statement
Actual Budget Revenues: High-speed Internet service $1,822,800 $1,890,000 Regular-speed Internet service 2.856.000 2.646.000 4,678,800 4,536,000 Expenses Billing and collection (55 per customer per quarter) 226,800 210.000 Variable costs of high-speed service ($15 per customer per quarter) 176,400 189.000 Variable costs of regular-speed service ($5 per customer per quarter) 168,000 147.000 Fixed costs 2.650.000 2.300.000 3221 2002 846 000 Operating income $1.457 600 $1.690.000 The budget was based on CVi holding a 35% market share assuming a total budgeted market size of 120.000 customers.
The actual market size for the fourth quarter of 2019 turned out to be 125.000 customers, due to new apartment buildings in the area. The budget also assumed that 30% of CVI's customers would select the high-speed package and the remaining 70% of CVI's customers would select the regular-speed package CVI's high-speed package was budgeted with a selling price of $150 per customer per quarter. The regular-speed package had a budgeted selling price of $90 per customer per quarter. The actual prices in the fourth quarter were $155 and $85 per customer for the high-speed and regular-speed packages respectively.
[PLEASE PROVIDE TYPE-WRITTEN ANSWER -> Not hand-written, hard to understand handwriting]
Calculate each of the following variances:
a) Sales price variance
b) sales volume variance
c) Sales quantity variance
d) Sales mix variance
e) Market size variance
f) Market share variance
In: Accounting
The Cost of Producing Wine at Only a Small Fraction of the Price
Based on Dana Nigro, “What’s Behind the Bottle Price?” Wine Spectator, December 15, 2002:50–56.
Most consumer goods are not sold by the manufacturer. Instead, they are produced by the manufacturer, who sells to a wholesaler, who in turn sells to a retailer, who sells to the public. Such is the case with most wine.
There has been an outcry in recent years over increases wine in prices. Although prices have risen sharply, the multilevel market structure and the markup that occurs at the wholesale and retail levels have a much larger role in the price increases than the production of the wine itself. Total production costs for a typical $24 bottle of wine are just $4.92, or about 20.4% of the final price, whereas wholesale and retail markups together make up 40% of the final price. Not surprisingly, raw materials (grapes) are the single biggest cost. The cost of the grapes may be as much as 60% of total production costs but varies greatly from lower-quality inexpensive wines to the highest quality wines. The second-highest cost for many vintners is the barrels used to ferment the wine. French oak barrels cost as much as $700 apiece and last only a few years. The other major production cost, other than the actual physical plant where the winemaking occurs, is time. Quality wines spend 2–2 ½ years aging in barrels and then an additional 8 months in bottles before being ready for sale.
In: Economics
Revise the following passage, correcting any grammatical and
punctuation errors present. Indicate the
corrected parts in your answer by writing them in bold red
text.
In the 1970s, market researchers discovered that the most young
children were unable to tell the difference
between the television shows they watched and advertisements for
products. Because of this discovery, it was
an attempt in 1978 to put legal restrictions on television
advertisements aimed at too young children, but
advertisers objected. The industry of marketing to children has
being growing steadily since then. Between
1978 and 1998, the amount of money directly spent by children age
four to twelve increased from less than
three billion dollars a year to almost twenty-five billion dollars,
and is not end in sight. Researchers believe that
children in that age group also convince their families to spend
another two hundred billion dollars a year—
such as when a young boy, for example, convinces her mother to
purchase a more expensive computer than
she might otherwise have bought. Marketers are easy to decide to
target this young market—there is their job
to aim at consumers who can be convinced and who will spend most
money.
However, few other groups have also helped marketers figure out the
best way to target a too young
audience. Many child psychologists are now been asked to join
market-research firms to provide information
about how to reach children more effectively. Some members of the
American Psychological Association
lobbied their organization in 2002 to discipline APA members who
have helped advertisers target children, but
the APA has no taken action yet. The most psychologists feel that
the marketers and their advisers have being
allowed very much freedom to appeal to children who cannot make
informed decisions about products, but
the situation does no seem likely to change.
In: Operations Management
The balance sheet at December 31, 2021, for Nevada Harvester
Corporation includes the liabilities listed below:
Required:
1. For each liability listed above, what amount
will be reported as a current liability and as a noncurrent
liability on the December 31, 2021 balance sheet?
2. Prepare the liability section of a classified
balance sheet for Nevada Harvester at December 31, 2021. Accounts
payable and accruals are $19 million.
In: Accounting
Abstract 2. Mann JR and McDermott S. Are maternal genitourinary infection and pre-eclampsia associated with ADHD in school-aged children? J Atten Disord 2011;15(8):667-73.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypothesis that maternal genitourinary infection (GU) infection is associated with increased risk of ADHD. METHOD: The authors obtained linked Medicaid billing data for pregnant women and their children in South Carolina, with births from 1996 through 2002 and follow-up data through 2008. Maternal GU infections and pre-eclampsia were identified on the basis of diagnoses made during pregnancy, and cases of ADHD were identified on the basis of diagnoses made in the child's Medicaid file. RESULTS: There were 84,721 children in the data set used for analyses. Maternal genitourinary infection was associated with significantly increased odds of ADHD (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.23-1.35). Pre-eclampsia was also associated with increased risk (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.07-1.32). Children whose mothers had both GU infection and pre-eclampsia were 53% more likely to have ADHD, compared to those with neither exposure. When we examined specific infection diagnoses, chlamydia/nongonococcal urethritis, trichomoniasis, urinary tract infection, and candidiasis were associated with increased risk of ADHD, whereas gonorrhea was not. DISCUSSION: Maternal GU infection appeared to be associated with increased risk of ADHD, and based on the findings it was concluded that further research is needed to describe the mechanism(s) underlying the association.
The authors report “pre-eclampsia was also associated with increased risk (OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.07-1.32” of ADHD. Based only on this statement, which of the following is most likely NOT responsible for this observed result?
| a |
Confounding by gestational age |
| b |
Systematic error |
| c |
Random error |
In: Math
***IN C++***
Create student structure with the following fields:
Name (cstring or null-terminated character array)
Student ID (int – unique random value between 1000 and 9999)
grade (char – Values A thru F)
birthday (myDate – random value: range 1/1/2000 to 12/31/2005)
Home Town (string)
Create an array of pointers to students of size 10.
Example: Student *stuPtr[10];
Write a function that populates the array with 10 students.
Example: populate(stuPtr);
Write a display function that displays the contents of the array on the screen as shown below –
nicely formatted and left justified.
The displayed list should be nicely formatted with column names like this: All columns should
be left-justified.
Name
Student ID
Grade
Birthday
Home Town
Tom Thumb
1002
C
January 1, 2002
Small Ville
Fred Flintstone
1995
D
February 3, 2003
Bedrock
Sponge Bob
2987
B
June 3, 2001
Bikini Bottom
Create a menu that shows the following options:
1)
Display list sorted by Name
2)
Display list sorted by Student ID
3)
Display list sorted by Grade
4)
Display list sorted by Birthday
5)
Display list sorted by Home Town
6)
Exit
You need to write a sorting function for each of the menu items – 5 options needs 5 functions.
Note:
You must create a function that returns a date between a range of 2 dates.
You will use the myDate class in this program – you will not create any other class. The Student
structure is NOT a class.
Take advantage of your myDate class that you just wrote. Also, it might be helpful to create a
new function that returns a string for the date format:
string myDate::toString( );
In: Computer Science
C++ Only
Create a function named PrintStudents, which takes a string input filename and an integer minimum score value and a string output file name as a parameters. The function will read the student scores and names from the file and output the names of the students with scores greater than or equal to the value given. This function returns the integer number of entries read from the file. If the input file cannot be opened, return -1 and do not print anything to the file.
Read each line from the given filename, parse the data, process the data, and write the required information to the file.
Each line of the file contains <FIRST-NAME LAST-NAME>, <SCORE>, <SUBJECT> . Read and parse the data, then write to the output file the names and classes for scores matching the criteria.
Example: With the following data and value of 80:
Constance Shelton, 67, APPM 2002 Charlotte Edwards, 85, CSCI 1300 Alyssa Hill, 78, MATH 1000 Pat Owens, 75, HUMN 1342 Shannon Jimenez, 96, LING 2000 Kristen Swanson, 80, PSYC 1001 Jim Schwartz, 60, CVEN 3241
Your function should return 7 and output to the file should contain:
Charlotte Edwards, CSCI 1300 Shannon Jimenez, LING 200 Kristen Swanson, PSYC 1001
You only need to write the function code for PrintStudents. The split() function is provided, and functions as it does in the homework assignments, to make parsing the output easier. Recall that split takes a string s and splits it at the input delimiter sep, to fill the array words[] up to a capacity of max_words. The return value of split is the number of actual words the string is split into.
int split(string s, char sep, string words[], int max_words);
In: Computer Science
Case Study – Psychology and Motivation
Read the following case study and answer the questions that follow:-
Jennifer was diagnosed with dyslexia at the end of her first year of studying for a psychology degree. It has an impact on her ability to read journal articles and other text, do statistics, read, and take down numbers from slides. Despite these difficulties she’s just started a PhD in psychology, having obtained an excellent undergraduate degree through extremely hard work and determination: “Little did they know that I worked up until 3-4 in the morning on many occasions, as it would sometimes take me ages to read through some of the journals I was using”. However, additional understanding and support from academic and support staff could have made the process much less stressful.
She found that, while some lecturers wanted to do everything for her when she revealed that she had dyslexia, others thought it meant she was unable to do statistics or needed a great deal of extra support. However, in many cases all that was required was something relatively minor – for example, to have information on a handout so that she wouldn’t be required to take down material from a slide. Unfortunately, with some academic staff this requirement just didn’t seem to sink in, meaning that Jennifer would have to keep repeating her request, which was quite embarrassing in front of the rest of the class.
Although she passed the statistics module, Jennifer had great difficulty with the subject area. “The only way I got through it was by going back to basics in terms of having to work out equations by hand – it was the only way I was going to grasp the concepts, and I had to pay for extra tuition as the amount of time allotted for statistics wasn’t enough,” she explains. Whilst her department made some attempt to assist all students with statistical difficulties, putting on extra statistics classes for students with dyslexia, the person who took these was not very approachable and appeared to just run through the same notes used in lectures, thereby undercutting what potentially could have been a useful support mechanism.
Alternative examination arrangements have been made for Jennifer, such as extra time, and a separate room. However, recently the disability unit has not been so helpful, with one staff member commenting that she couldn’t see why Jennifer would want a top-up assessment, given that she had managed to get a first in her undergraduate degree.
There was also a breakdown of communication between the disability unit and lecturing staff, with one lecturer not knowing that alternative examination arrangements had been made for Jennifer and other disabled students in her class. Rather than waiting for the students to return to the lecture hall after their in-class assessment, he started the second part of the lecture and publicly reprimanded Jennifer for being late, which caused her much embarrassment.
Jennifer states: “It did surprise me that there were a few psychology lecturers who didn’t seem to have any understanding of dyslexia. Thankfully the majority of the department had an understanding, but those few who are not can make things very difficult for someone like myself”.
Questions
1. Utilizing the model of motivation explain the process that Jennifer went through in the case study.
2. What category of motives drove Jennifer in the case study?
3. Explain Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and state what need(s) Jennifer sought to meet in accordance with the basic needs pyramid.
4. Was Jennifer extrinsically or extrinsically motivated based on the case study? Give three reasons based on the case study.
5. What challenges did Jennifer face, that sought to challenge her motivation?
In: Psychology