Independent auditors’ report

To the Shareholders of Saudi Stock Exchange Company

Opinion

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of Saudi Stock Exchange Company (“Tadawul”) (“the Company”) and its subsidiaries (“the Group”), which comprise the consolidated statement of financial position as at 31 December 2019, the consolidated statements of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the consolidated financial statements, comprising significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Group as at 31 December 2019, and its consolidated financial performance and its consolidated cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) that are endorsed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other standards and pronouncements issued by the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (“SOCPA”).

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (“ISA”) that are endorsed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group in accordance with the professional code of conduct and ethics that are endorsed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that are relevant to our audit of the consolidated financial statements, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Responsibilities of Management and those charged with governance for the consolidated financial statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS that are endorsed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other standards and pronouncements issued by SOCPA, the Regulations for Companies, and the Company’s By-laws and for such internal control as Management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated financial statements, Management is responsible for assessing the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless Management either intends to liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Those charged with governance, the Board of Directors, is responsible for overseeing the Group’s consolidated financial reporting process.

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors’ report that includes our opinion. “Reasonable assurance” is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISA that are endorsed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISA that are endorsed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism 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 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 Management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of Management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting 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, then we are required to draw attention in our auditors’ 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 auditors’ 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, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among 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 of Saudi Stock Exchange Company (“the Company”) and its subsidiaries (“the Group”).

For KPMG Al Fozan & Partners
Certified Public Accountants

Khalil Ibrahim Al Sedais
License No. 371

6 Sha’ban 1441H
Corresponding to: 30 March 2020