To the Annual General Meeting of Kesko Corporation
We have audited the accounting records, the financial statements, the report of the Board of Directors and the administration of Kesko Corporation for the year ended on 31 December, 2008. The financial statements comprise the consolidated balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, statement of changes in equity and notes to the consolidated financial statements, as well as the parent company's balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and notes to the financial statements.
Responsibility of the Board of Directors and the Managing Director
The Board of Directors and the Managing Director are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and the report of the Board of Directors and for the fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the EU, as well as for the fair presentation of the parent company’s financial statements and the report of the Board of Directors in accordance with laws and regulations governing the preparation of the financial statements and the report of the Board of Directors in Finland. The Board of Directors is responsible for the appropriate arrangement of the control of the company’s accounts and finances, and the Managing Director shall see to it that the accounts of the company are in compliance with the law and that its financial affairs have been arranged in a reliable manner.
Auditors' Responsibility
Our responsibility is to perform an audit in accordance with
good auditing practice in Finland, and to express an opinion on
the parent company’s financial statements, on the consolidated
financial statements and on the report of the Board of Directors
based on our audit. Good auditing practice requires that we
comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the
audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial
statements and the report of the Board of Directors are free from
material misstatement and whether the members of the Board
of Directors of the parent company and the Managing Director
have complied with the Limited Liability Companies Act.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence
about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements
and the report of the Board of Directors. The procedures
selected depend on the auditors' judgment, including the
assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial
statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk
assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to
the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial
statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate
in the circumstances. 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 financial statements
and the report of the Board of Directors.
The audit was performed in accordance with good auditing
practice in Finland. We believe that the audit evidence we have
obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our
audit opinion.
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance, and cash flows of the group in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the EU.
Opinion on the Company’s Financial Statements and the Report of the Board of Directors
In our opinion, the financial statements and the report of the
Board of Directors give a true and fair view of both the consolidated
and the parent company's financial performance and
financial position in accordance with the laws and regulations
governing the preparation of the financial statements and the
report of the Board of Directors in Finland. The information in
the report of the Board of Directors is consistent with the information
in the financial statements.
We recommend that the financial statements should be
adopted. The proposal by the Board of Directors regarding the
use of the profit shown at the balance sheet and the distribution
of other unrestricted equity is in compliance with the Limited
Liability Companies Act. We recommend that the Members of the
Board of Directors and the Managing Director should be discharged
from liability for the financial period audited by us.
Helsinki, 9 February 2009
PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy, Authorised Public Accountants
Johan Kronberg, Authorised Public Accountant