Independent assurance report
To the board of directors and management of The Bidvest Group Limited
Introduction
We have been engaged by The Bidvest Group Limited to conduct an assurance engagement on selected sustainable development performance data reported in The Bidvest Group Limited’s sustainable development sections of the
2008 annual report, for the purposes of expressing a statement of independent assurance, for the year ended
June 30 2008. This assurance report is made solely to The Bidvest Group Limited in accordance with the terms of our engagement.
The following sustainable development performance data was selected for an expression of reasonable assurance:
Data type |
|
|
| Financial |
Employees |
Other |
| – Revenue |
– Number |
– Total water usage (litres) |
| – Trading profit |
– Gender |
– Total electricity usage (kWh) |
| – BEE procurement spend |
– Race (South Africa only) |
– Petrol usage (litres) |
| – Corporate social investment spend |
|
– Diesel usage (litres) |
| |
|
|
| Training |
Health and safety |
|
| – Training spend |
– Work-related fatalities |
|
Directors’ responsibility
The Bidvest Group Limited’s directors are responsible for the preparation and presentation of the identified selected sustainable development performance data in accordance with internal corporate policies and procedures, and the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) new generation guidelines.
Auditors’ responsibility
Our responsibility is to express a reasonable assurance conclusion on the selected sustainable development performance data based on our assurance engagement.
Work performed
We conducted our engagement in accordance with the International Standards for Assurance Engagements 3000, “Assurance Engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information” (ISAE 3000). This standard requires that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the assurance engagement to obtain either reasonable or limited assurance on the selected sustainable development performance data as per our terms of engagement.
Our work consisted of:
| – |
obtaining an understanding of the system used to generate, aggregate and report data based on discussions and interviews with management at selected operations and at the corporate office. The system reviewed is the mymarket.com developed sustainability data collection tool; |
| – |
performing a controls walk through for key controls implemented in the sustainability reporting system; and |
| – |
testing the accuracy of certain data reported on a sample basis for reasonable assurance. |
Inherent limitations
Non-financial data is subject to more inherent limitations than financial data, given both the nature and the methods used for determining, calculating, sampling or estimating such data. We have not carried out any work on data reported for prior reporting periods, nor in respect of future projections and targets. We refer the user to the directors’ comments here regarding the comparatives. We have not conducted any work outside of the agreed scope and therefore restrict our opinion to the agreed sustainable development performance data.
Conclusion
On the basis of our reasonable assurance procedures, the sustainable development performance data selected for reasonable assurance for the year ended June 30 2008 has been compiled in accordance with corporate policies and procedures and are free from material misstatements.
Deloitte & Touche
Per Trevor J. Brown
Partner
August 29 2008
Buildings 1 and 2
Deloitte Place
The Woodlands
Woodmead, Sandton
Docex 10 Johannesburg
National executive: GG Gelink (Chief Executive) AE Swiegers (Chief Operating Officer) GM Pinnock (Audit) DL Kennedy (Tax and Legal and Financial Advisory) L Geeringh (Consulting) L Bam (Corporate Finance) CR Beukman (Finance) TJ Brown (Clients and Markets) NT Mtoba (Chairman of the Board) CR Qually (Deputy Chairman of the Board)
A full list of Partners and Directors is available on request. |
