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 FRC's Operating Procedures, for Corporate Reporting Review, 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 | Scottish Power Limited |
|---|---|
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | KPMG LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Shaftesbury Capital PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Classification of amounts due from subsidiary undertakings
Statement of cash flows We asked the company to explain the rationale for classifying certain intercompany cash flows in the parent company cash flow statement as operating activities. The company noted that it intended to adopt FRS 101, ‘Reduced Disclosure Framework’, and will not present a parent company statement of cash flows in its future reporting. We closed our enquiries on this basis. |
| Entity | South East Water Limited |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2024 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | SThree plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 30 November 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Interim dividends We asked the company to clarify the basis on which its FY22 and FY23 interim dividends had both been recognised as paid in the financial year ended 30 November 2023. The company provided further information to support the timing of the recognition in the statement of changes in equity and agreed to clarify the wording of its accounting policy to explain the trigger event for recognition. The company’s response prompted subsequent questions about the timing of the recognition in the consolidated statement of cash flows of payments made to its share administrator relating to these interim dividends. The company explained that a partial prepayment of the FY22 interim dividend, transferred to its share administrator in the year ended 30 November 2022, had been reported within movements in receivables in cash flows from operating activities in the consolidated statement of cash flows for that year, rather than as a dividend payment within cash flows from financing activities. In the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended 30 November 2023, this dividend payment was reported as a cash outflow in financing activities, with a corresponding cash inflow reported in movements in receivables. As a result of our correspondence, the company decided to restate the comparative figures in its 2024 annual report and accounts for this misclassification and referred to our interaction with them in the note explaining the restatement. |
| Entity | Team Internet Group Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | Crowe U.K. LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Tern PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | CLA Evelyn Partners Limited |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Going concern We requested clarification of the basis on which the directors satisfied themselves that the company was a going concern, and whether there were material uncertainties or significant judgements that should have been disclosed in making this determination. The company explained its assessment, why it believed that there was no material uncertainty, and that no significant judgement was involved. Nevertheless, we noted that some judgement was involved in this assessment given that the going concern status appeared to be dependent on events not wholly within the company’s control. In the light of this, the company agreed to consider carefully, whether the disclosure of a material uncertainty or a significant judgement may be necessary, should similar circumstances arise in the future. Sources of estimation uncertainty We enquired about the company’s disclosures under IAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ regarding major sources of estimation uncertainty in respect of the valuation of investments classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. The company explained that, as materially all of the valuations were based on the unadjusted price of a recent fundraise, the key estimates disclosed with respect to the valuation of investments were not sources of estimation uncertainty requiring disclosure under IAS 1. We closed our enquiry but encouraged the company to explain in future reporting that such disclosures represent uncertainties not within the scope of IAS 1. We also recommended that the company clarify the classification within the fair value hierarchy of these financial investments, and the methodology used in their valuation, as they appeared to represent Level 2 measurements |
| Entity | The Edinburgh Investment Trust plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2024 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | The Pebble Group plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | The Unite Group PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | Deloitte LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Volex Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2024 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Whitbread PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 28 August 2024 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2025 |
| Auditor (5) | Deloitte LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | December 2024 |
| Auditor (5) | Johnston Carmichael LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Admiral Group Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | December 2024 |
| Auditor (5) | Deloitte LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Albion KAY VCT PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | December 2024 |
| Auditor (5) | Johnston Carmichael LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Alpha Growth Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2023 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | December 2024 |
| Auditor (5) | PKF Littlejohn LLP |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
We asked the company for further information about the impact of IFRS 17 on the 2023 annual report and financial statements, as the audit opinion stated that ‘…[the auditor was] unable to obtain sufficient and appropriate supporting evidence to assess the impact of implementing IFRS 17 on the group’s financial statements’. The company provided further information showing that the group had issued insurance contracts that were within the scope of IFRS 17, however, it explained that the Board believed that while the financial statements did not fully comply with IFRS 17, the impact on net assets would not have been material and would be presentational only. The company agreed to fully implement the measurement, presentation and disclosure requirements of IFRS 17 in the 2024 annual report and accounts. In view of this undertaking and in the specific circumstances of the company, we did not consider it proportionate to take further action in respect of the 2023 annual report and financial statements. |