Independent Assurance Report to the Board of Directors of Expolanka Holdings PLC
Scope
We have been engaged by Expolanka Holdings PLC (“the Entity”) to perform a “limited assurance engagement,” as defined by Sri Lanka Standard on Assurance Engagements, here after referred to as the engagement, to report on the Economic, Environment, Social and Governance (EESG) indicators of the Entity’s Integrated Annual Report (the “Subject Matter”) as of 31 March 2023.
Criteria applied by Expolanka Holdings PLC
In preparing the Subject Matter, Expolanka Holdings PLC applied the following criteria (“Criteria”):
- The Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, publicly available at GRI’s global website www.globalreporting.org.
Such Criteria were specifically designed for purpose of assisting you in determining whether Entity’s Economic, Environment, Social and Governance (EESG) indicators of the Entity’s Integrated Annual Report FY 2022/23 is in accordance with the relevant criteria; As a result, the subject matter information may not be suitable for another purpose.
Expolanka Holdings PLC’s responsibilities
Expolanka Holdings PLC’s management is responsible for selecting the Criteria, and for presenting the EESG indicators contained in the Integrated Annual Report in accordance with that Criteria, in all material respects. This responsibility includes establishing and maintaining internal controls, maintaining adequate records and making estimates that are relevant to the preparation of the subject matter, such that it is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Ernst & Young’s responsibilities
Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the presentation of the Subject Matter based on the evidence we have obtained.
We conducted our engagement in accordance with the Sri Lanka Standard for Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information (SLSAE 3000 (Revised), and the terms of reference for this engagement as agreed with the Expolanka Holdings PLC on 1 June 2023.Those standards require that we plan and perform our engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether, in all material respects, the Subject Matter is presented in accordance with the Criteria, and to issue a report. The nature, timing, and extent of the procedures selected depend on our judgment, including an assessment of the risk of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
We believe that the evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our limited assurance conclusions.
Our Independence and Quality Control
We have maintained our independence and confirm that we have met the requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by CA Sri Lanka and have the required competencies and experience to conduct this assurance engagement.
EY also applies International Standard on Quality Control 1, Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Financial Statements, and Other Assurance and Related Services Engagements, and accordingly maintains a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Description of procedures performed
Procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and timing from and are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement. Consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. Our procedures were designed to obtain a limited level of assurance on which to base our conclusion and do not provide all the evidence that would be required to provide a reasonable level of assurance.
Although we considered the effectiveness of management’s internal controls when determining the nature and extent of our procedures, our assurance engagement was not designed to provide assurance on internal controls. Our procedures did not include testing controls or performing procedures relating to checking aggregation or calculation of data within IT systems.
A limited assurance engagement consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for preparing the subject matter and related information and applying analytical and other appropriate procedures.
Our procedures included:
- Validated the information presented and checked the calculations performed by the organisation through recalculation
- Performed a comparison of the content given in the Report against the criteria given in the selected sustainability standards/frameworks.
- Conducted interviews with relevant organisation’s personnel to understand the process for collection, analysis, aggregation and presentation of data. Interviews included selected key management personnel and relevant staff
- Read the content presented in the Report for consistency with our overall knowledge obtained during the course of our assurance engagement and requested changes wherever required.
- Provided guidance, recommendations and feedback on the improvement of the sustainability reporting indicators to improve the presentation standard.
We also performed such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.
Emphasis of matter
Economic, Environment, Social management data/information are subject to inherent limitations given their nature and the methods used for determining, calculating and estimating such data.
We also do not provide any assurance on the assumptions and achievability of prospective information presented in the Integrated Annual Report.
Conclusion
Based on our procedures and the evidence obtained, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the Economic, Environment, Social and Governance (EESG) indicators of the Entity’s Integrated Annual Report as of 31 March 2023 in order for it to be in accordance with the Criteria.
30 June 2023
Colombo
