Report on the Audit of the Financial Statements
Opinion
1. We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Sanofi India Limited (“the Company”), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at December 31, 2022, and the Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other Comprehensive Income), the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
2. In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid financial statements give the information required by the Companies Act, 2013 (“the Act") in the manner
so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at December 31, 2022, and total comprehensive income (comprising of profit and other comprehensive income), changes in equity and its cash flows for the year then ended.
Basis for Opinion
3. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SA) specified under Section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the “Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements” section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Key audit matters
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Key audit matter
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How our audit addressed the key audit matter
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Tax litigations and contingencies.
(Refer Note 9(a), 9(b), 39(a), 39(b) and 43 to the financial statements)
As at December 31, 2022, several litigations under direct and indirect tax laws are pending for decision at various authority levels, in respect of which, the Company has disclosed contingent liabilities of C 2,694 million.
The management’s assessment with regard to the tax matters is supported by advice from independent consultants.
We considered this as a key audit matter, as evaluation of these matters requires significant management judgement and estimation, interpretation of laws and regulations and application of relevant judicial precedents to determine the probability of outflow of economic resources for recognising provisions and making related disclosures in the financial statements. The application of accounting principles as given under Ind AS 37, Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets, in order to determine the amount to be recognised as a provision, or to be disclosed as a contingent liability, needs careful evaluation and judgement to be applied by the management.
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Our audit procedures included the following:
- Understanding and evaluation of the design and testing the operating effectiveness of controls in respect of assessment of tax, its accounting and disclosures in the financial statements;
- Obtaining a complete list of litigation matters and reading the underlying orders and other communications received from tax authorities and management’s responses thereto, to assess the status of the litigations;
- Evaluating the independence, objectivity and competence of management’s experts involved;
- Reading the management’s experts advice, as applicable;
- Evaluating the management’s assessment on the probability of outcome and the magnitude of potential outflow of economic resources in respect of tax matters including involvement of our tax experts for assessing complex tax matters, based on recent rulings and latest developments in case laws;
- Evaluating appropriateness of the Company’s disclosures in the financial statements.
Based on the audit procedures performed, we did not identify any
significant exceptions relating to the provisions recognised and
disclosures made in the financial statements in respect of the tax
matters.
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4. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current year. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.
Other Information
5. The Company’s Board of Directors is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual report, but does not include the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the financial statements
6. The Company’s Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in Section 134(5) of the Act with respect to the preparation of these financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance, changes in equity and cash flows of the Company in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively
for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
7. In preparing the financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable,
matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so. Those Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Company’s financial reporting process.
Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
8. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SAs 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 financial statements.
9. As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:
- Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the 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. Under Section 143(3)(i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Company has adequate internal financial controls with reference to financial statements in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
- Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management.
iv. (a) The management has represented that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, no funds have been advanced or loaned or invested either from borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds by the Company to or in any other persons or entities, including foreign entities (“Intermediaries”), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Company (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries (Refer Note 53 to the financial statements);
(b) The management has represented that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, no funds have been received by the Company from any persons or entities, including foreign entities (“Funding Parties”), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities
- Conclude on the appropriateness of management’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 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 financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
10. We communicate with those charged with governance 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.
11. We also provide those charged with governance 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.
12. From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current year 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 a 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.
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements
13. As required by the Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 (“the Order”), issued by the Central Government of India in terms of sub-section (11) of Section 143 of the Act, we give in the Annexure B a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order, to the extent applicable.
14. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, we
report that:
(a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of our audit.
(b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Company so far as it appears from our examination of those books
(c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss (including other comprehensive income), the Statement of Changes in Equity and the Statement of Cash Flows dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account.
(d) In our opinion, the aforesaid financial statements comply with the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act.
(e) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on December 31, 2022, taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on December 31, 2022, from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act.
(f) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to financial statements of the Company and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in “Annexure A”.
(g) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor’s Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended), in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:
i. The Company has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its financial statements - Refer Notes 23, 39, 43 and 45 to the financial statements;
ii. The Company was not required to recognise a provision as at December 31, 2022, under the applicable law or accounting standards, as it does not have any material foreseeable losses on long-term contract. The Company did not have any derivative contracts as at December 31, 2022.
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company during the year.
identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party (“Ultimate Beneficiaries”) or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries (Refer Note 53 to the financial statements); and
(c) Based on such audit procedures that we considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, nothing has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the representations under sub-clause (a) and (b) contain any material misstatement.
v. The dividend declared and paid during the year by the Company is in compliance with Section 123 of the Act.
15. The Company has paid/ provided for managerial
remuneration in accordance with the requisite approvals mandated by the provisions of Section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act.
For Price Waterhouse & Co Chartered Accountants LLP Firm Registration Number: 304026E/ E-300009
Arunkumar Ramdas
Partner
Place: Mumbai Membership Number: 112433
Date: February 23, 2023 UDIN: 23112433BGYMKU4843
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