Report of the statutory auditor
Zurich, 1 April 2021
To the General Meeting of Repower AG, Brusio
Report of the auditors on the consolidated financial statements
As statutory auditor, we have audited the financial statements of Repower AG, which comprise the consolidated balance sheet, consolidated income statement, consolidated cash flow statement, changes in consolidated equity and notes to the consolidated financial statements, for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Board of directors’ responsibility
The Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with Swiss GAAP FER and the requirements of Swiss law. This responsibility includes designing, implementing and maintaining an internal control system relevant to the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. The Board of Directors is further responsible for selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.
Auditor’s responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Swiss law and Swiss Auditing Standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers the internal control system relevant to the entity’s preparation of the consolidated financial statements 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 entity’s internal control system. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of the accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
Opinion
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 give a true and fair view of the financial position, the results of operations and the cash flows in accordance with Swiss GAAP FER and comply with Swiss law.
Report on key audit matters based on the circular 1/2015 of the Federal Audit Oversight Authority
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the consolidated financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. For each matter below, our description of how our audit addressed the matter is provided in that context.
We have fulfilled the responsibilities described in the Auditor’s responsibility section of our report, including in relation to these matters. Accordingly, our audit included the performance of procedures designed to respond to our assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements. The results of our audit procedures, including the procedures performed to address the matters below, provide the basis for our audit opinion on the consolidated financial statements.
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Classification, valuation and presentation of energy derivatives |
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Risk |
The accounting treatment of energy derivatives is a result of its classification as “held-for-trading” or “Cashflow-Hedges”. Classification requires judgment and has a material impact on both consolidated balance sheet presentation and group result. The valuation of these “held-for-trading” instruments is derived from observable market data on active markets. The positive and negative replacement values are presented net when legally enforceable netting agreements are in place. The Company defines policies and procedures to account for energy contracts. These include the definition of segregation of duties and controls. Due to the significance of these transactions, significant judgment and the potential impact on the financial statements, the accounting of energy derivatives was considered significant in our audit. Refer to notes 1 and 35 of the consolidated financial statements for further information. |
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Our audit response |
We evaluated the Group’s policies and procedures around classification, valuation and netting of open positions including the established segregation of duties and discussed these with the Group. We assessed internal controls over the Group’s accounting for such trading activity. For a sample of energy derivatives, we tested the observable inputs into valuation models by reference to externally available market data. Our audit did not give rise to any objections with regard to the recognition and measurement of the energy derivatives. |
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Valuation of tangible assets and energy procurement contracts |
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Risk |
Tangible assets are a material balance sheet item amounting to 44.3% of total assets in the consolidated balance sheet. These comprise primarily power plants, grids and other non-current assets of the Group. In the financial year 2020, no extraordinary value adjustments were made. In addition, there are long-term purchase commitments which could significantly affect the amount of contractual commitments and thus the potential need for provisions. The valuation of tangible assets and energy procurement contracts by Repower depends on various valuation parameters and has a material impact on net income. The testing for potential value adjustments involves the use of estimates and assumptions, such as the forecast production volume, the forecast long-term energy price curve, foreign exchange rates impacting future earnings and cash flows. In addition, discount rates are relevant in obtaining a value in use as of the date of the valuation. Refer to notes 15 and 27 for further information. |
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Our audit response |
We assessed the Group’s valuation approach related to its tangible assets and energy procurement contracts. We further assessed the process to derive the underlying assumptions and estimates around forecast production volumes, the forecast long-term energy price curve and foreign exchange rates. We evaluated the internal controls related to the budgeting and forecasting process as well as the process to derive assumptions and estimates. We evaluated the mathematical correctness of the impairment testing model and involved valuation specialists to evaluate the methodology. We assessed the cash flows derived for each tested tangible asset and how the discount rate including applicable input variables was determined. We corroborated the input variables to the discount rate based on sources provided by the Group and tested them against observable market data. Our audit did not give rise to any objections with regard to the process used to derive the assumptions and valuation of the tangible assets and energy procurement contracts. |
Report on other legal requirements
We confirm that we meet the legal requirements on licensing according to the Auditor Oversight Act (AOA) and independence (article 728 CO and article 11 AOA) and that there are no circumstances incompatible with our independence.
In accordance with article 728a para. 1 item 3 CO and Swiss Auditing Standard 890, we confirm that an internal control system exists, which has been designed for the preparation of consolidated financial statements according to the instructions of the Board of Directors.
We recommend that the consolidated financial statements submitted to you be approved.
Ernst & Young AG