EXMAR report 2025

5.2 Consolidated financial statements 247 As part of an audit in accordance with ISA, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:  identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated 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 an 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, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s internal control;  evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the board of directors;  conclude on the appropriateness of the use of the going concern basis of accounting by the board of directors and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our statutory auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the consolidated 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 statutory auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the group to cease to continue as a going concern;  evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated financial statements, and whether the consolidated financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation;  obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities and business activities within the group to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion. We communicate with the audit committee regarding, amongst 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. We also provide the audit committee with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and we communicate with them about all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards. From the matters communicated to the audit committee, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our report unless law or regulation precludes any public disclosure about the matter. Other legal and regulatory requirements Responsibilities of the board of directors The board of directors is responsible for the preparation and the content of the directors’ report on the consolidated financial statements, including the sustainability statement and other matters disclosed in the annual report on the consolidated financial statements. Responsibilities of the statutory auditor As part of our mandate and in accordance with the Belgian standard complementary to the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as applicable in Belgium, our responsibility is to verify, in all material respects, the director’s report on the consolidated financial statements and other matters disclosed in the annual report on the consolidated financial statements, as well as to report on this matter.