Statutory auditor

Duration of the mandate and term of office of the lead auditor

PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, St. Gallen, has been the independent auditor of SFS Group AG and several subsidiaries since 1993. The independent auditor is elected by the Annual General Meeting for a period of one year. The lead auditor in the present mandate, Gianluca Galasso, took office at the Annual General Meeting of 2021.

Audit fees

In the reporting period, the independent auditor charged SFS Group around CHF 1.3 million (PY CHF 1.1 million) for the audit of SFS Group AG, the Group financial statements and several subsidiaries.

Additional fees

PricewaterhouseCoopers AG and affiliated companies did not raise invoices for audit-related services in the reporting period (PY none). For additional services related to tax compliance and other tax consulting services, a total amount of CHF 0.5 million (PY CHF 0.4 million) and for other consulting services a total amount of CHF 0.1 million (PY CHF 0.2 million) was invoiced from PricewaterhouseCoopers AG to SFS Group.

In conjunction with the pending acquisition of Gödde GmbH, Oltrogge Werkzeuge GmbH and Hch. Perschmann GmbH (Financial and Tax Due Diligence), SFS Group paid CHF 0.3 million (PY none) to PricewaterhouseCoopers AG.

Informational instruments pertaining to an external audit

The AC briefs the Board of Directors on the work done by and the working relation with the statutory auditor at least once a year.

Each year, the statutory auditor submits an audit plan and a comprehensive report on the financials for the attention of the Board of Directors and the AC. The report contains conclusions on financial accounting, the internal control system and the process and results of the audit.

The AC evaluates and discusses the annual scope, the audit plans and the audit results with the statutory auditor. In the reporting period, the external and internal auditors were present at three meetings (PY three) of the AC.

The AC makes an annual assessment of the effectiveness, performance, independence and fees paid to the statutory auditor, and provides the entire Board of Directors with a proposal for the election of the auditor by the General Meeting.

This evaluation is based on the reports and presentations provided by the statutory auditor, the discussions held in the meetings, its objectivity and its technical and operational competency.

The AC assesses the sustainability, the scope and the fee for the services rendered by the statutory auditor. For internal organizational structure and further functions of the AC reference is made to the section “Internal organizational structure” above.