We have audited the accompanying consolidated financial statements of Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. and its subsidiaries, which comprise the consolidated statements of financial position as at December 31, 2012 and 2011 and January 1, 2011, and the consolidated income statements, consolidated statements of comprehensive income, consolidated statements of changes in equity and consolidated statements of cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2012, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor's judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity's preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements 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 entity's internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. and its subsidiaries as at December 31, 2012 and 2011 and January 1, 2011, and their financial performance and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2012, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
Mancera, S.C.
A member practice of Ernst & Young Global