CRR Case Summaries and Entity-specific Press Notices
The FRC publishes, on a quarterly basis, summaries of its findings from recently closed reviews that resulted in a substantive question to a company (‘Case Summaries’). In addition, it publishes the names of companies whose reviews were closed in the previous quarter without the need for a substantive question. No Case Summary is prepared for such reviews.
Case Summaries, which are available for cases closed in the quarter ending March 2021 onwards, are included in the table below. As, currently, the FRC is subject to existing legal restrictions on disclosing confidential information received from a company, the Case Summaries can only be disclosed with the company's consent. Where consent has been withheld by the company, that fact is disclosed in the table.
From March 2018 until March 2021, the FRC published the names of companies whose reviews were closed in the previous quarter but did not prepare Case Summaries. However, on an exceptional basis, specific cases may be publicised through entity-specific Press Notices, which can also be found in the table below.
The FRC’s reviews are based solely on the company’s annual report and accounts (or interim reports) and do not benefit from detailed knowledge of the company’s business or an understanding of the underlying transactions entered into. They are, however, conducted by staff of the FRC who have an understanding of the relevant legal and accounting framework. The FRC’s correspondence with the company provides no assurance that the annual report and accounts (or interim reports) are correct in all material respects; the FRC’s role is not to verify the information provided but to consider compliance with reporting requirements. The FRC’s correspondence is written on the basis that the FRC (which includes the FRC’s officers, employees and agents) accepts no liability for reliance on its letters or Case Summaries by the company or any third party, including but not limited to investors and shareholders.
Key
- Only a certain number of CRR’s reviews result in substantive questioning of the Board. Matters raised may cover questions of recognition, measurement and/or disclosure.
- CRR’s routine reviews of companies’ annual reports and accounts generally cover all parts over which the FRC has statutory powers (that is, strategic reports, directors’ reports and financial statements). Similarly, CRR’s routine reviews of companies’ interim reports will generally cover all information in that document. Limited scope reviews arise for a number of reasons, including those conducted when a company’s annual report and accounts or interim report are selected for thematic review or reviews that have been prompted by a complaint. In accordance with the Supervision Committee’s Operating Procedures, CRR does not identify those companies whose reviews were prompted by a complaint.
- The FRC may ask a company to refer to its exchanges with CRR when the company makes a change to a significant aspect of its annual report and accounts or interim report in response to a review.
- Case closed after 1 January 2021 but performed under operating procedures that did not allow for the publication of Case Summaries.
- From the quarter ended June 2023, the FRC started identifying the auditor of the annual report and accounts, or the audit firm that issued a review report on the interim report, that was the subject of the CRR review. This information was also back-dated for closed cases publicised from the quarter ended September 2022. Cases marked N/A relate to those published prior to September 2022 or interim reviews that did not have a review opinion.’
Case Summaries
CRR Case Summaries and Entity-specific Press Notices (Excel version)
| Entity | Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC |
|---|---|
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Mazars LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Assura plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Deloitte LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Ernst & Young LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
This company was selected as part of our thematic review of deferred tax assets and, as such, only these disclosures were reviewed. Recognition of deferred tax assets We asked the company to clarify why a movement in deferred tax assets resulting from the effect of a change in the rate of taxation on losses had been recognised directly in equity. The company satisfactorily explained that the movement related to the remeasurement of a deferred tax asset arising from historical share-based payment transactions. The tax amounts were originally recognised with an offsetting entry to equity. We also asked the company to clarify the accounting policy applied to Research and Development Expenditure Credits (‘RDEC’) and explain the basis on which they gave rise to a deferred tax asset. The company explained that, as it was loss-making in the period, it was required to restrict its RDEC claim by an amount equal to the current rate of UK corporation tax (i.e.19%). This restricted amount is carried forward to be used in discharging any liability of the company to pay corporation tax in a subsequent accounting period. They clarified that they consider this restricted amount to relate to a tax credit, as referred to in IAS 12, ‘Income Taxes’. The company agreed to disclose the accounting policy for RDEC within the ‘Government Grants’ section of the Notes to the Financial Statements in the annual report and accounts to 31 December 2022. The company did not propose including any significant judgements made in selecting the policies applied to the RDEC income or related tax as it does not consider that they have a sufficiently significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements. Reconciling items in the effective tax rate reconciliation We requested more information on the reconciling items ‘effect of change in deferred tax rate’ and ‘difference in UK tax rates’ included in the reconciliation of total income tax credit. The company clarified that these reconciling items disaggregate the effect of the change in the UK's main rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25%, effective from 1 April 2023, between the remeasurement of brought forward deferred tax asset balances and the remeasurement of current period movements on deferred tax, respectively. |
| Entity | AstraZeneca PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Auto Trader Group plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | KPMG LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Big Yellow Group PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | KPMG LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 28 February 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | KPMG LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Bodycote plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Bytes Technology Group Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 28 February 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Ernst & Young LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Castings P.L.C. |
| Balance Sheet Date | 30 September 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Centrica plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Deloitte LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
This company was selected as part of our thematic review of TCFD and climate and, as such, only disclosures relevant to these areas were reviewed. Relative impact and uncertainty of disclosed climate-related risks and opportunities We asked the company to clarify the relative impact of the disclosed climate-related risks and opportunities on gross margin, and also to give an indication of the level of uncertainty attached to forecasting the impact of potential opportunities.
Climate targets and ambitions We noted that the summary of the group’s climate transition plan in the annual report included a large number of targets and aspirations, but it was not clear which of these represented firm commitments incorporated into budgets, business plans and accounting assumptions, or which targets are included in the Climate Transition Dashboard used by the Centrica Leadership Team and Board to track progress on the strategic response to climate-related risks and opportunities. The company agreed to clarify both points in future annual reports. We also asked the company to report metrics for each of the targets included in the Climate Transition Dashboard in future years, comparative information for each metric, and an explanation of any significant movements, including where progress has not been as expected. The company agreed to these requests. |
| Entity | Clarkson PLC (3) |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Transactions in company shares relating to employee incentives in the statement of cash flows The consolidated cash flow statement presented a cash outflow within financing activities in relation to the company’s acquisition of its own shares. The notes to the financial statements indicated that this outflow, and the movements in bonus accruals (presented within operating activities in the statement of cash flows), were presented net of an amount relating to the settlement of employee incentives using the company’s shares. We asked the company to explain the rationale for the adjustments that resulted in the net presentation of each item. As a result of our enquiry, the company reconsidered its approach and agreed to restate the comparative cash flows in its next annual report and accounts to present the total amount paid for its shares within financing activities and to make a corresponding adjustment to movements in bonus accruals within operating activities. As the restatement affected a primary statement, we asked the company to disclose the fact that the matter had come to its attention as result of our enquiry. |
| Entity | Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Ernst & Young LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 30 June 2022 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Dignity plc (3) |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2021 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2023 |
| Auditor (5) | Ernst & Young LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Impairment testing and related disclosures We asked the company for further information about how impairment testing was performed, including how cash-generating units (CGUs) were identified and the funeral market share assumptions applied in testing. The company explained that, in addition to its goodwill impairment test, other non-current assets were assessed for impairment at a cost centre level, using CGUs which consist of a local network of funeral branches. The company agreed to enhance its description of these matters in future accounts to meet the requirements of IAS 36, ‘Impairment of Assets’, paragraph 130(d)(i). The company provided the market share assumptions used and agreed to disclose these values in future accounts, as well as an explanation of how these assumptions differ from past experience or external information, as required by IAS 36, paragraphs 134(d)(ii) and (f)(ii). Impairment of financial assets We asked the company to explain its rationale for not presenting apparently material impairment losses in relation to financial assets on the face of the consolidated income statement as required by paragraph 82(ba) of IAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’. The company agreed to present this charge on the face of the income statement in future financial statements to the extent material and agreed to restate the 2021 comparatives to the 2022 income statement accordingly. As the restatement affected a primary statement, we asked the company to disclose the fact that the matter had come to its attention as a result of our enquiry. |