The independent auditor’s report
To the shareholders of J. Lauritzen A/S
We have audited the annual report of J. Lauritzen A/S for the financial year 1 January - 31 December 2007, which comprises management statement,report by the board of directors and executive management, accounting policies, income statement, balance sheet, statement of changes in equity, cash flow statement and notes.
The annual report has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU and additional Danish Disclosure requirements for annual reports.
Management’s responsibility for the annual report
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the annual report in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU and additional Danish Disclosure requirements for annual reports. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of an annual report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and using appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.
Auditors’ responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the annual report based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Danish Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the annual report is free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the annual report. The procedures selected depend on the auditors’ judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the annual report, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditors consider internal control relevant to the Company’s preparation and fair presentation of the annual report 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 Company’s internal control.
An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by Management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the annual report.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
Our audit did not result in any qualification.
Opinion
In our opinion, the annual report gives a true and fair view of the Company’s financial position at 31 December 2006 and of the results of its operations and its cash flows for the financial year 1 January - 31 December 2007 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU and additional Danish Disclosure requirements for annual reports.
