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 | Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust PLC |
|---|---|
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2020 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Alternative performance measures The company presents alternative performance measures (‘APMs’) identified as the ongoing charges ratio and net asset value return in its annual report and accounts The company did not present reconciliations from these measures to equivalent information provided in accordance with IFRS. It committed to present these in its next annual report and accounts and provided them in its most recent half-yearly report. Special dividend income The company received a special dividend in the year. The Audit Committee report included a reference to discussing the treatment of the dividend as either revenue or capital with the auditors. However, we did not identify any further information explaining how the special dividend had been treated, or the amounts involved. The company explained that the dividend had been classified as revenue and no significant judgement had been required in reaching this conclusion. We were satisfied with this explanation. The company agreed to disclose the amounts of any special dividends received in future. |
| Entity | The City of London Investment Trust plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 30 June 2020 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | The Law Debenture Corporation p.l.c. |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
Alternative performance measures A number of alternative performance measures (‘APMs’) were disclosed in the annual report and accounts but it was not clear how these measures had been computed. We asked the company to provide reconciliations in future annual reports where the basis of computing an APM cannot be immediately derived from amounts in the accounts, which the company agreed to do. |
| Entity | The Restaurant Group Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 29 December 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Trainline plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 28 February 2020 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice |
This company was part of our thematic review of cash flow and liquidity disclosures and, as such, only the disclosures relating to the cash flow statement and liquidity were reviewed. Redemption of other non-current liabilities We enquired about the presentation of the redemption of other non-current liabilities in the note of changes in liabilities arising from financing activities, observing that this presentation was inconsistent with the cash flow statement. The company acknowledged that the presentation of this redemption in the note of changes in liabilities was incorrectly shown as a cash flow and committed to correct this note in the forthcoming annual report and accounts. The treatment of the redemption in the cash flow statement was correct. Interest on CPEC repayment We enquired about the accounting for the interest paid on the CPEC repayment which is presented in the cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity. Based on the information provided by the company, we accepted the company’s accounting for the CPEC and the presentation of the interest paid in the cash flow statement. Changes in working capital We asked the company to explain the changes in working capital presented in the cash flow statement. The company provided a reconciliation of the changes in working capital, which satisfactorily explained these movements. |
| Entity | Travis Perkins plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Unilever PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Virgin Money UK PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 30 September 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | WH Smith PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 August 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | William Hill PLC |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 2 February 2020 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | March 2021 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Associated British Foods plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 14 September 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | December 2020 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Assura Properties plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 March 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | December 2020 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | AVI Global Trust plc |
| Balance Sheet Date | 30 September 2019 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | No |
| Scope of Review (2) | Full |
| Quarter Published | December 2020 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |
| Entity | Ball UK Holdings Limited |
| Balance Sheet Date | 31 December 2018 |
| Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) | Yes |
| Scope of Review (2) | Limited |
| Quarter Published | December 2020 |
| Auditor (5) | N/A |
| Case Summary / Press Notice | N/A |