To the PUMA SE, Herzogenaurach
We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the combined separate non-financial group report of PUMA SE, Herzogenaurach (hereinafter: “company”), which was combined with the non-financial report of the parent company for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022 (hereinafter the “consolidated non-financial report”). This consolidated non-financial report consists of the chapter “Sustainability”, the section “Culture” in the chapter “Our People” and the sections “Compliance Management System” and “Corporate Social Responsibility” in the chapter “Corporate Governance Statement in accordance with Section 289f and Section 315d HGB” of the Annual Report 2022 of PUMA SE, Herzogenaurach.
Not subject of our assurance engagement was the material audit of the external sources of documentation, interviews, case studies, expert opinions, Environmental Profit & Loss as well as checking the content of links to internet pages mentioned in the non-financial report (see Annex 1 to the assurance report).
Management of PUMA SE, Herzogenaurach, is responsible for the preparation of the consolidated non-financial report in accordance with Sections 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB and Article 8 of REGULATION (EU) 2020/852 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of June 18, 2020 on establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (hereinafter the “EU Taxonomy Regulation”) and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder, as well as for making their own interpretation of the wording and terms contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereunder as set out in section “Reporting in accordance with the EU taxonomy regulation” of the consolidated non-financial report.
This responsibility of the legal representatives of the company includes the selection and application of appropriate non-financial reporting methods and making assumptions and estimates about individual non-financial disclosures of the group that are reasonable in the circumstances. Furthermore, management is responsible for such internal control as they consider necessary to enable the preparation of a consolidated non-financial report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud (manipulation of the non-financial group report) or error.
The EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts issued thereunder contain wording and terms that are still subject to considerable interpretation uncertainties and for which clarifications have not yet been published in every case. Therefore, management has disclosed their interpretation of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder in section “Reporting in accordance with the EU taxonomy regulation” of the consolidated non-financial report. They are responsible for the defensibility of this interpretation. Due to the immanent risk that indeterminate legal terms may be interpreted differently, the legal conformity of the interpretation is subject to uncertainties.
We have complied with the independence and quality assurance requirements set out in the national legal provisions and professional pronouncements, in particular the Professional Code for German Public Auditors and Chartered Accountants (in Germany) and the quality assurance standard of the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany (Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer, IDW) regarding quality assurance requirements in audit practice (IDW QS 1).
Our responsibility is to express a conclusion with limited assurance on the consolidated non-financial report based on our assurance engagement.
We conducted our assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): “Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information” issued by the IAASB. This standard requires that we plan and perform the assurance engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether any matters have come to our attention that cause us to believe that the company’s consolidated non-financial report, other than the external sources of documentation or expert opinions mentioned in the non-financial report, is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Sections 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts issued thereunder as well as the interpretation by management disclosed in section “Reporting in accordance with the EU taxonomy regulation” of the consolidated non-financial report.
In a limited assurance engagement, the procedures performed are less extensive than in a reasonable assurance engagement, and accordingly, a substantially lower level of assurance is obtained. The selection of the assurance procedures is subject to the professional judgment of the assurance practitioner.
In the course of our assurance engagement we have, among other things, performed the following assurance procedures and other activities:
In determining the disclosures in accordance with Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, management is required to interpret undefined legal terms. Due to the immanent risk that undefined legal terms may be interpreted differently, the legal conformity of their interpretation and, accordingly, our assurance engagement thereon are subject to uncertainties.
Based on the assurance procedures performed and the evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the consolidated non-financial report of PUMA SE, Herzogenaurach for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022 has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Sections 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts issued thereunder as well as the interpretation by management as disclosed in section “Reporting in accordance with the EU taxonomy regulation” of the consolidated non-financial report.
We do not express an assurance opinion on the external sources of documentation, interviews, case studies, expert opinions, Environmental Profit & Loss as well as content of links to internet pages mentioned in the consolidated non-financial report (see Annex 1 to the assurance report).
This assurance report is solely addressed to the PUMA SE.
Our assignment for PUMA SE and professional liability is governed by the General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (German Public Auditors and Public Audit Firms) (Allgemeine Auftragsbedingungen für Wirtschaftsprüfer und Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften) in the version dated January 1, 2017 (Appendix 2). By reading and using the information contained in this assurance report, each recipient confirms having taken note of provisions of the General Engagement Terms (including the limitation of our liability for negligence to EUR 4 million as stipulated in No. 9) and accepts the validity of the attached General Engagement Terms with respect to us.
Nuremberg, April 24, 2023
KPMG AG
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
Marc Stauder
Wirtschaftsprüfer
[German Public Auditor]
Klaus-Peter Käuffelin
Wirtschaftsprüfer
[German Public Auditor]
