Vilmorin & Cie - Annual report 2017-2018

Management REPORT 3 Report of the Board of Directors to the Joint Annual General Meeting (Ordinary and Extraordinary) of December 7, 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Vilmorin & Cie 95 2017-2018 The half-yearly and annual financial statements Preparation of the half-yearly and annual financial statements comes under the responsibility of the financial departments and General Management of each subsidiary. Procedures are defined locally to match the business of the different companies, but must respect a general schedule defined by Vilmorin & Cie. Any significant decisions that need to be taken when the financial statements are established are confirmed by the company before being definitively adopted by the respective Boards of Directors, and by Vilmorin & Cie’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Consolidation operations are carried out using consolidation files completed by each subsidiary in compliance with procedures and a specific schedule. Information feedback is structured in such a way as to guarantee the permanence and homogeneity of the methods used to record transactions in accordance with Vilmorin & Cie’s accounting principles: coherence of the accounting reference, methods and consolidation rules,
 standardization of presentation formats,
 use of a shared computing tool for information feedback and shared consolidation. Control All the data intended to be disclosed is controlled and analyzed with reference to the information collected and reported. Instructions are given and controls made in order to guarantee a standard, homogeneous formalization process. Information is prepared under the responsibility of the Business Units and the subsidiaries. The Corporate Finance Department co-ordinates closely with the Statutory Auditors and other external auditors, who work with the subsidiaries and the Consolidation Department according to a schedule prepared together. All the accounting and financial items prepared by the main consolidated subsidiaries are audited at least once by external auditors when the accounts are closed. At this audit, the CEO and CFO of each subsidiary pledge together through a co-signed letter of confirmation that the financial information is of high quality, reliable and exhaustive. Auditing missions in the different countries are entrusted in almost all cases to members of the network of the two Statutory Auditors who, after examining together all the financial statements and methods used to draw them up, certify Vilmorin & Cie’s consolidated financial statements. They certify that the consolidated financial statements and parent company financial statements present a true, consistent and fair picture. They are given information prior to the elaboration of the financial statements and present a summary of their work to the financial and accounting managers in the Business Units for the six-month and yearly positions. The consolidated financial statements are reviewed by the Executive Committee and the Audit and Risk Management Committee before they are approved by the Board of Directors. Assessment of internal control Within Vilmorin & Cie, and in accordance with the AMF model, the internal auditing service issued internal control questionnaires with regard to the accounting and financial information. These questionnaires were reviewed in conjunction with the Statutory Auditors, in order to adapt them more closely to Vilmorin & Cie’s activities and environment. The questionnaires were deployed in the Business Units and subsidiaries in the form of self-assessment. This self-assessment was, in certain cases, confirmed through interviews conducted directly by the Statutory Auditors or internal auditors. For fiscal year 2016-2017, no major anomaly was highlighted. Subsidiaries, shareholdings and branches We remind you that the table of subsidiaries and shareholdings is appended to this report in accordance with article L.233-15 of the French Commercial Code (1) . Vilmorin & Cie did not directly carry out any significant acquisition or disposal during fiscal year 2017-2018. Pursuant to article L.233-6 and L.247-1 of the French Commercial Code, we inform you that our Company did not purchase or dispose of any stake in a French company during the past fiscal year. In accordance with article L.232-1, II of the French Commercial Code, we hereby inform you that our Company has no branches. (1) Cf. consolidation scope on page 208.