In 2023, the Audit Committee continued to be comprised of Matthias Auer and Roland Abt (Chairman). In the reporting year, four regular meetings were convened, as well as one special meeting for the assessment of audit firms participating in the tender for the internal audit mandate. In addition to the members of the Audit Committee, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the CEO, and the CFO of the Group generally also attend regular meetings in an advisory capacity. When items of relevance to the external auditors are on the agenda, their representatives are also present. In addition to the Audit Committee’s typical responsibilities, primarily the analysis of the Annual and Half-Year Financial Statements, the following topics were covered in depth.

The last time a contract was awarded to an external audit firm for the internal audit mandate was in 2015. The Audit Committee was convinced that a new tender for this mandate would be sensible and appropriate. All large audit firms were invited to tender, except for PricewaterhouseCoopers, which holds the external auditors' mandate as of this year. At a separate meeting in November, the invited firms presented their services in this area. Subsequently, the Audit Committee analyzed the individual offers and selected the firm EY. The firm will begin its work in the first quarter of 2024.

The new requirements for transparency over non-financial matters (Art. 964a ff. CO) need to be fulfilled for the first time for the 2023 financial year. The Audit Committee oversaw the preparations for this new reporting section of the Annual Report.

The Accounting Manual was reviewed to assess whether it was up to date and appropriate. This led to various proposals from the finance department for adjustments in the areas of hedge accounting, share-based payments, provisions for customer financing, and value adjustments on customer receivables. All proposals were approved. They do not lead to any significant changes in the corresponding balance sheet items. The adjustments relate primarily to specifications of the valuation methodology.

The internal audit function, which was carried out by the auditing firm Deloitte, once again performed valuable work in the reporting year. Eight internal audits were carried out, and the Audit Committee discussed the reports in detail. The audit schedule for 2024 with the new internal audit will be discussed and approved in the first quarter. The Audit Committee regularly monitors management’s progress in addressing follow-up items identified during the audits.

The Audit Committee periodically apprises itself of the tax situation. The global minimum tax, which will be in effect in Switzerland as of 2024, is not expected to result in any significant changes in the tax burden of the Bystronic Group, although not all aspects of this matter are known in detail at this time.

Dr. Roland Abt

Chairman of the
Audit Committee