Independent auditor’s report to the members of Great Portland Estates plc Report on the audit of the financial statements 1. Opinion In our opinion: – the financial statements of Great Portland Estates plc (the ‘Parent Company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘Group’) give a true and fair view of the state of the Group and of the Parent Company’s affairs as at 31 March 2022 and of the Group profit for the year then ended; – the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards; – the Parent Company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, including Financial Reporting Standard 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework”; and – the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. We have audited the financial statements which comprise: – the Group income statement; – the Group statement of comprehensive income; – the Group and Parent Company balance sheets; – the Group and Parent Company statements of changes in equity; – the Group cash flow statement; and – the related notes 1 to 25 for the Group financial statements and i to vi for the Parent Company financial statements. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the Group financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the Parent Company financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework” (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
2. Basis for opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
3. Summary of our audit approach Key audit matters
The key audit matter that we identified in the current year was: – the valuation of the property portfolio. The key audit matter has a similar level of risk as the prior year.
Materiality
The materiality that we used for the Group financial statements was £29.0m which was determined on the basis of approximately 1% of net assets.
Scoping
Our Group audit scope comprises the audit of Great Portland Estates plc as well as the Group’s subsidiaries and joint ventures. The Group audit team performs full scope audits for all of the subsidiaries and joint venture which are subject to statutory audit requirements. Those entities not subject to an underlying statutory audit are audited based on component materiality. 100% of Group revenue, profit before tax and net assets are covered by auditing these entities.
Significant changes in our approach
Due to the improving collection of rent compared to the prior year, we have removed “Expected credit losses on rent receivables” as a key audit matter. There is lower judgement associated with this balance, therefore there is a lower level of audit effort required for the FY22 audit compared to the prior year.
Annual Report 2022 Great Portland Estates plc 165
Financial statements
We are independent of the Group and the Parent Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the Financial Reporting Council’s (the ‘FRC’s’) Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. The non-audit services provided to the Group and Parent Company for the year are disclosed in note 4 to the financial statements. We confirm that we have not provided any non-audit services prohibited by the FRC’s Ethical Standard to the Group or the Parent Company.
