74 / 79
Audit Opinion
We have audited the annual financial statement
(consisting of the balance sheet; the income
statement; and the notes, which are published
together with the notes concerning the consolidat-
ed financial statement), taking into account the
bookkeeping system of Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne,
and the consolidated financial statement (consist-
ing of the balance sheet; the income statement; the
notes, which are published together with the notes
concerning the annual financial statement; the cash
flow statement; and the stockholders’ equity list) it
drew up, as well as the summarized management
report on the situation of Koelnmesse GmbH for the
fiscal year from 1 January 2015 to 31 December
2015. The bookkeeping and the preparation of these
documents in accordance with German commercial
law and the supplemental provisions of the articles
of association are the responsibility of the compa-
ny’s legal representatives. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion, based on our audit, concerning
the annual financial statement, together with the
bookkeeping system, the consolidated financial
statement it drew up, and concerning the summa-
rized management report of the consolidated
companies.
We conducted our audit of the annual and consoli-
dated financial statements in accordance with
§ 317 HGB (German Commercial Code) and the
generally accepted German standards for the audit
of financial statements promulgated by the Institut
der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW). Those standards require
that we plan and perform the audit in such a way
that any misstatements or violations of applicable
law that materially affect the presentation of the
net assets, financial position, and results of opera-
tions in the annual and consolidated financial
statements in accordance with German principles of
proper accounting and in the summarized manage-
ment report on Koelnmesse GmbH and the
Koelnmesse consolidated companies are detected
with reasonable assurance. Knowledge of the
business activities and the economic and legal
environment of the company and evaluations of
possible misstatements are taken into account in
the determination of audit procedures. The effec-
tiveness of the internal accounting control system
and the evidence supporting the disclosures in the
books and records, the annual and consolidated
financial statements, and the summarised manage-
ment report on Koelnmesse GmbH and the
Koelnmesse consolidated companies are examined
primarily on the basis of random samples within the
framework of the audit. The audit includes assessing
the accounting information of the sub-areas
included in the consolidated financial statement,
the definition of the scope of consolidation, the
accounting and consolidation principles used, and
the significant estimates made by the company’s
legal representatives, as well as evaluating the
overall presentation of the annual and consolidated
financial statements and the summarised
management report of Koelnmesse GmbH and the
Koelnmesse consolidated companies. We believe
that our audit provides a reasonably sound basis for
our assessment.
Our audit has led to no objections.