PC15. Auditor’s report

To the annual meeting of the shareholders of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ), Corporate Registration Number 556012-6293

REPORT ON THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS AND CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS

We have audited the annual accounts and consolidated accounts of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ) for the year 2015 The annual accounts and consolidated accounts of the company are included in the printed version of this document on pages 40–130.

Responsibilities of the Board of Directors and the Managing Director for the annual accounts and consolidated accounts

The Board of Directors and the Managing Director are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these annual accounts and consolidated accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, as adopted by the EU, and the Annual Accounts Act, and for such internal control as the Board of Directors and the Managing Director determine is necessary to enable the preparation of annual accounts and consolidated accounts that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these annual accounts and consolidated accounts based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing and generally accepted auditing standards in Sweden. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the annual accounts and consolidated accounts are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the annual accounts and consolidated accounts. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the annual accounts and consolidated accounts, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the company’s preparation and fair presentation of the annual accounts and consolidated accounts 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 company’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the Board of Directors and the Managing Director, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the annual accounts and consolidated accounts.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions.

Opinions

In our opinion, the annual accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Annual Accounts Act and present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the parent company as of 31 December 2015 and of its financial performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the Annual Accounts Act. The consolidated accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Annual Accounts Act and present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the group as of 31 December 2015 and of their financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, as adopted by the EU, and the Annual Accounts Act. A corporate governance statement has been prepared. The statutory administration report and the corporate governance statement are consistent with the other parts of the annual accounts and consolidated accounts.

We therefore recommend that the annual meeting of shareholders adopt the income statement and balance sheet for the parent company and the group.

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements

In addition to our audit of the annual accounts and consolidated accounts, we have also audited the proposed appropriations of the company’s profit or loss and the administration of the Board of Directors and the Managing Directors of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ) for the year 2015.

Responsibilities of the Board of Directors and the Managing Director

The Board of Directors is responsible for the proposal for appropriations of the company’s profit or loss, and the Board of Directors and the Managing Director are responsible for administration under the Companies Act.

Auditor’s responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion with reasonable assurance on the proposed appropriations of the company’s profit or loss and on the administration based on our audit. We conducted the audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards in Sweden.

As a basis for our opinion on the Board of Directors’ proposed appropriations of the company’s profit or loss, we examined the Board of Directors’ reasoned statement and a selection of supporting evidence in order to be able to assess whether the proposal is in accordance with the Companies Act.

As a basis for our opinion concerning discharge from liability, in addition to our audit of the annual accounts and consolidated accounts, we examined significant decisions, actions taken and circumstances of the company in order to determine whether any member of the Board of Directors or the Managing Directors is liable to the company. We also examined whether any member of the Board of Directors or the Managing Directors has, in any other way, acted in contravention of the Companies Act, the Annual Accounts Act or the Articles of Association.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinions.

Opinions

We recommend to the annual meeting of shareholders that the profit be appropriated in accordance with the proposal in the statutory administration report and that the members of the Board of Directors and the Managing Directors be discharged from liability for the financial year.

INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE REPORT RELATING TO SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

Pages 28 and 32–33 of this document contain an extract of the Sustainability Report. A complete Sustainability Report has been prepared by the company, which contains our full assurance report. Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the sustainability report has not, in all material respects, been prepared in accordance with the criteria stipulated in the full version of the assurance report.