Page 321 - 2012 Annual Report

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VIVENDI l 2012 l Annual Report
FINANCIAL REPORT – CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – STATUTORY AUDITORS’ REPORT ON THE
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – STATUTORY AUDITORS’ REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS –
STATUTORY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 4
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IV - VIVENDI SA 2012 STATUTORY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. STATUTORY AUDITORS’ REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. STATUTORY AUDITORS’ REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
This is a free translation into English of the statutory auditors’ report on the financial statements issued in French and it is provided solely for the convenience
of English-speaking users.The statutory auditors’ report includes information specifically required by French law in such reports, whether modified or not. This
information is presented below the audit opinion on the financial statements and includes an explanatory paragraph discussing the auditors’ assessments of certain
significant accounting and auditing matters. These assessments were considered for the purpose of issuing an audit opinion on the financial statements taken as
a whole and not to provide separate assurance on individual account balances, transactions or disclosures.
This report also includes information relating to the specific verification of information given in the management report and in the documents addressed to the
shareholders. This report should be read in conjunction with and construed in accordance with French law and professional auditing standards applicable in France.
To the Shareholders,
In compliance with the assignment entrusted to us by your annual general
shareholders’ meetings, we hereby report to you, for the year ended
December 31, 2012, on:
✱ the audit of the accompanying financial statements of Vivendi S.A.,
hereinafter referred to as “the Company”;
✱ the justification of our assessments;
✱ the specific verifications and information required by law.
These financial statements have been approved by your Management
Board. Our role is to express an opinion on these financial statements
based on our audit.
I. Opinion on the financial statements
We conducted our audit in accordance with professional standards
applicable in France; those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement. An audit involves
performing procedures, using sampling techniques or other methods of
selection, to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements. An audit also includes evaluating the
appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of
accounting estimates made, as well as the overall presentation of the
financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained
is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the
assets and liabilities and of the financial position of the Company as at
December 31, 2012 and of the results of its operations for the year then
ended in accordance with French accounting principles.
II. Justification of our assessments
In accordance with the requirements of article L. 823-9 of the French
Commercial Code (Code de commerce) relating to the justification of our
assessments, we bring to your attention the following matters:
ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
INTERESTS IN EQUITY AFFILIATES
Note 1 to the financial statements states that your Company recognizes
impairment losses when the carrying amount of its financial assets
exceeds their book value. Based on the information available at the date
of this report, we assessed the approach adopted by your Company to
determine book value of the financial assets. We also verified that the
information related to the depreciations of the interests in equity affiliates
presented in the notes “Major events” and “3. Net Financial Income” was
appropriate.
TAX
Note 5 to the financial statements describes the accounting principles
used by the Company to assess and recognize tax assets and liabilities,
and tax positions adopted by your Company. We verified the assumptions
underlying the positions as of December 31, 2012 and ensured that Note
5 to the financial statements gives appropriate information.
PROVISIONS FOR LITIGATION
Note 24 to the financial statements describes the methods used to
evaluate and recognize provisions for litigation. We assessed the methods
used by your Company to list, calculate and account for such provisions.
We also assessed the data and assumptions underlying the estimates
made by the Company. As stated in Note 1 to the financial statements,
some facts and circumstances may lead to changes in estimates and
assumptions which could have an impact upon the reported amount of the
provisions. We also ensured that Note “15. Provisions” to the financial
statements gives appropriate information.
These assessments were made as part of our audit of the financial
statements taken as a whole, and therefore contributed to the opinion we
formed which is expressed in the first part of this report.