Independent Practitioner’s Limited Assurance Report on Sustainability Information1
To VONOVIA SE, Bochum
We have been engaged to perform a limited assurance engagement on the disclosures in the accompanying ESG Factbook of VONOVIA SE, Bochum, (hereinafter the “Company”) for the period 1 January to 31 December 2023 (hereinafter the “Report”).
Management’s Responsibility for the Report
Company’s Management is responsible for the preparation and presentation of the Report in accordance with the criteria as set out in the Report (hereinafter the “Criteria”). In addition, Company’s Management is also responsible for the selection and the acceptability of the Criteria. The responsibility also includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the proper preparation and presentation of the Report and applying an appropriate basis of preparation; and making estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.
Audit Firm’s Independence and Quality Management
We have complied with the German professional provisions regarding independence as well as other ethical requirements.
Our audit firm applies the national legal requirements and professional standards – in particular the Professional Code for German Public Auditors and German Chartered Auditors (“Berufssatzung für Wirtschaftsprüfer und vereidigte Buchprüfer”: “BS WP/vBP”) as well as the Standard on Quality Management 1 published by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (Institute of Public Auditors in Germany; IDW): Requirements to quality management for audit firms (IDW Qualitätsmanagementstandard 1: Anforderungen an das Qualitätsmanagement in der Wirtschaftsprüferpraxis – IDW QMS 1 (09.2022)), which requires the audit firm to design, implement and operate a system of quality management that complies with the applicable legal requirements and professional standards.
Practitioner’s Responsibility
Our responsibility is to express a limited assurance conclusion on the disclosures in the Report based on our work performed.
Within the scope of our engagement we did not perform an audit on external sources of information or expert opinions, referred to in the Report.
We conducted our work in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised). This Standard requires that we plan and perform the assurance engagement to obtain limited assurance whether any matters come to our attention that cause us to believe that the disclosures in the Company’s Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2023 have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Criteria.
In a limited assurance engagement the evidence-gathering procedures are more limited than for a reasonable assurance engagement, and therefore less assurance is obtained than in a reasonable assurance engagement. The procedures selected depend on the practitioner’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the Report with the Criteria. Within the scope of our work we performed primarily on a test basis amongst others the following procedures:
- Obtaining an understanding of the structure of the sustainability organization and of the stakeholder ngagement
- Inquiries of personnel involved in the preparation of the Report regarding the preparation process, the internal control system relating to this process and selected disclosures in the Report
- Identification of the likely risks of material misstatement of the Report under consideration of the Criteria
- Analytical evaluation of selected disclosures in the Report
- Evaluation of the presentation of the selected disclosures regarding sustainability performance
Conclusion
Based on our limited assurance engagement, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the disclosures in the Company’s Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2023 have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Criteria.
Restriction on Use
Our report is issued to the Company. The accompanying Report has been prepared for specific purposes of the Company and may not be suitable for other purposes.
Cologne, 24 April 2024
PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
Theres Schäfer
Wirtschaftsprüferin
(German Public Auditor)
ppa. Thomas Groth