
AA BOND CO LIMITED
8
Key audit matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in the auditors’ professional judgement, were of most significance in the audit
of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement
(whether or not due to fraud) identified by the auditors, including those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit
strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters, and
any comments we make on the results of our procedures thereon, 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.
In addition to going concern, described in the Material uncertainty related to going concern section above, we determined
the matters described below to be the key audit matters to be communicated in our report. This is not a complete list of
all risks identified by our audit.
The key audit matters below are consistent with last year.
Key audit matter
How our audit addressed the key audit matter
Recoverability of amounts owed by group undertakings
(£3,319m, 2022: £3,195m) (Note 9 and Note 2.2)
We have agreed the carrying amount to the audited AA
Limited group intercompany reconciliation and have
confirmed that the balance has been recorded as a liability
in the trial balance of the counterparty. We tested the
recoverability of this balance by confirming the net current
asset position of the counterparty to evaluate the likelihood
of default. The counterparty’s ability to settle the balance is
itself dependent on amounts owed to the counterparty by
other AA group companies and we have therefore
performed a similar assessment of recoverability on those
balances. We challenged management’s assessment that
the Expected Credit Loss on receivables, which are not
immediately recoverable is immaterial. We checked the
consistency of the cash flows for the wider Group over the
last financial year. Based on the work performed above, we
are satisfied with the recoverability of the carrying value of
amounts owed by group undertakings.
This represents a key audit matter due to the size of the
intercompany receivables balance and the complexity of
the intercompany arrangements within the AA Limited
group. There is a risk that the counterparty is unable to
repay sufficient amounts to service the debt and
eventually repay the overall balance over the long term or
for the underlying businesses to underperform resulting in
an inability to refinance the current debt facilities in
advance of required repayment dates.
Recognition, measurement and disclosure of financial
liabilities (£2,160m, 2022: £2,156m) (Note 11 and Note
2.3)
We focused our testing on the completeness and valuation
of the liability at year end. We have recalculated the
valuation at amortised cost. We obtained third party
confirmation of the total outstanding loan principal as at 31
January 2023, and
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at that date. We considered the accounting
applied for the issuance of the Class A10 Notes and
redemption of the Class A6 Notes in July 2022. We
considered the refinancing transaction of the A6 Notes to
meet the definition of an "extinguishment" under IFRS 9
and, as such, the remaining unamortised debt issue costs
for these Notes were expensed immediately. Costs
directly associated with the issuance of the A10 Notes
were capitalised and are being amortised over the life of
the loan note. In addition to assessing the Company’s
compliance with IFRS 9, we reviewed the financial
statement disclosures and were satisfied with the nature
and extent of the disclosures provided. We found no
material misstatements from our testing.
This represents a key audit matter because the balance is
significant within the AA Bond Co Limited financial
statements, and the purpose of the Company is to hold
and issue the listed debt. Furthermore, in July 2022, the
entity refinanced the A6 Notes held. The accounting
related to extinguishment or modification involves a level
of judgement.