our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted
in accordance with NSAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise
from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these annual financial statements.
The scope of the audit does not include assurance on the future viability of the Company or on the efficiency or
effectiveness with which the Management Board has conducted or will conduct the affairs of the Company.
As part of an audit in accordance with NSAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional
skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the annual financial statements, whether due
to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit
evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a
material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may
involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures
that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the
effectiveness of the Company’s internal control.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting
estimates and related disclosures made by the Management Board.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of the Management Board’s use of the going concern basis of
accounting and based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to
events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going
concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our
auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the annual financial statements or, if such disclosures are
inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the
date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to
continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the annual financial statements, including
the disclosures, and whether the annual financial statements represent the underlying transactions and
events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
We communicate with the Supervisory Board regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of
the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify
during our audit.
We also provide the Supervisory Board with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical
requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that
may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From matters communicated with the Supervisory Board, we determine those matters that were of most
significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters.
We describe these matters in our auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the
matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that the matter should not be communicated in
our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the
public interest benefits of such communication.
Other Information including the Report on the Company’s operations
The other information comprises the Report on the Company’s operations for the financial year ended
December 31, 2023, the Corporate Governance Statement which is a separate part of the Report on the
Company’s operations and the Separate Statement on non-financial information specified in Article 49b clause
1 of the Accounting Act and the Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2023 (but does not include the
financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon).