Annual Financial Report and Notice of AGM

RNS Number : 7666G

Land Securities Group PLC

11 June 2013

 



11 June 2013

Land Securities Group PLC ('Land Securities')

Publication of Annual Report and Accounts and Notice of AGM 2013

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Land Securities has made available the following documents to shareholders:

-    Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 2013

-    Notice of the 2013 Annual General Meeting ('AGM')

In compliance with LR 9.6.1, the above documents have been submitted to the FCA via the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available to the public for inspection at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM and electronically on Land Securities' website at http://www.landsecurities.com/investors.  

The Company announces that, following a competitive tender process, it proposes to appoint Ernst & Young LLP (E&Y) as auditor of the Group commencing with the 2013/14 financial year.  As resigning auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has provided the Company with a 'statement of circumstances' confirming that it resigned as auditor of the Company following its unsuccessful participation in the tender process. A copy of the 'statement of circumstances' is set out in the Notice of the AGM.  Following the resignation of PwC with effect from 10 June 2013, the Board appointed E&Y to fill the 'casual vacancy' in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and proposes the re-appointment of E&Y as auditor of the Company at the AGM.

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Annual General Meeting

Land Securities' AGM will be held at 11am on Thursday, 18 July 2013 at The National Gallery, London.

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In accordance with DTR 6.3.5, the Company provides the following information which is extracted from page 95 of the Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13.  Page, note and section reference in the text below refer to those Annual Report and Accounts.

Independent auditors' report to the members of Land Securities Group PLC

We have audited the financial statements of Land Securities Group PLC for the year ended 31 March 2013 which comprise the Group Income Statement, the Group Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Group and Company Balance Sheets, the Group and Company Statements of Cash Flows, the Group and Company Statements of Changes in Equity and the related notes. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and, as regards the Parent Company financial statements, as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006.

Respective responsibilities of Directors and auditors

As explained more fully in the Statement of Directors' responsibilities set out on page 94, the Directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board's Ethical Standards for Auditors. This report, including the opinions, has been prepared for and only for the Company's members as a body in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions, 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.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements

An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group's and the Parent Company's circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the Directors; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the Annual Report 2013 to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial statements. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

Opinion on financial statements

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 March 2013 and of the Group's profit and Group's and Parent Company's cash flows for the year then ended;

- the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union;

- the Parent Company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union and as applied in accordance with the  provisions of the Companies Act 2006; 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 lAS Regulation.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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 Directors' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following:

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 92, in relation to going concern;

- the parts of the Corporate Governance Statement relating to the Company's compliance with the nine provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified for our review; and

- certain elements of the report to shareholders by the Board on Directors' remuneration.

Parwinder Purewal

(Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of:

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors

London

14 May 2013

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Lucy Turner

Assistant Company Secretary

0207 024 5246

 

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