Reporting 2020

Independent Auditor’s Report

To BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT –Aktiengesellschaft von 1877-, Bremen, and BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG, Bremen

Audit opinions

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT –Aktien-gesellschaft von 1877-, Bremen, and BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG, Bremen, and their subsidiaries (the Group), comprising the consolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 2020, the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the consolidated income statement, the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the consolidated statement of cash flows for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2020, and the notes to the consolidated financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. In addition, we audited the group management report of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- and BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2020. We did not audit the contents of the components of the group management report listed in the “Other information” section of our auditor’s report in compliance with German law.


In our opinion, based on the findings of our audit,

  • the attached consolidated financial statements comply in all material respects with IFRSs, as adopted by the EU, and the additional requirements of German law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB and, in accordance with these requirements, give a true and fair view of the Group’s net assets and financial position as of December 31, 2020, and of its results of operations for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2020, and
  • the attached group management report as a whole presents an accurate view of the Group’s position. The group management report is consistent with the consolidated financial statements, complies with German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development. Our audit opinion on the group management report does not cover the contents of the components of the group management report listed in the “Other information” section.

Pursuant to Section 322 (3) Sentence 1 HGB, we state that our audit has not led to any reservations with regard to the compliance of the consolidated financial statements or the group management report.

Basis for the audit opinions

We conducted our audit of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report in accordance with Section 317 HGB and German generally accepted standards for the audit of financial statements promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer [Institute of Public Auditors in Germany] (IDW). Our responsibility according to these regulations and standards is described in further detail in the “Responsibility of the auditor for the audit of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report” section of our auditor’s report. We are independent of the consolidated companies in compliance with the provisions of German commercial law and professional law and have fulfilled our other German professional obligations in compliance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions regarding the consolidated financial statements and the group management report.

Note to highlight a matter

Please refer to the legal representatives’ remarks in the “Principles of Group accounting” section of the notes to the consolidated financial statements and the “Basic Group information” section of the group management report, which set out that the Group consists of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877-, Bremen, and the group of BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG, Bremen. The annual financial statements and management report of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877-, Bremen, and the consolidated financial statements and group management report of BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG, Bremen, as of December 31, 2020, were voluntarily combined into one set of financial statements (consolidated financial statements) and management report (group management report). In this respect, the consolidated financial statements and group management report refer to the Group as a whole and not to the individual company and individual group with its parent company and subsidiaries.

Our audit opinions on the consolidated financial statements and group management report are not modified in this regard.

Other information

The legal representatives are responsible for the other information. The other information includes the following components of the management report, the contents of which were not audited:

  • the corporate governance statement according to Section 289f HGB and Section 315d HGB included in the “Management and control” section of the management report
  • the separate non-financial report according to Section 289b (3) HGB and Section 315b (3) HGB
  • the sustainability report

The other information also includes the other parts of the financial report – without further cross-references to external information – with the exception of the audited consolidated financial statements, the audited group management report and our auditor’s report.

Our audit opinions regarding the consolidated financial statements and the group management report do not extend to the other information, and accordingly we provide neither an audit opinion nor any other form of audit conclusion in this regard.

As part of our audit, we have a responsibility to read the other information and to evaluate whether it

  • exhibits material discrepancies with the consolidated financial statements, the group management report or the knowledge we have obtained during our audit, or
  • otherwise appears to be misstated in any material respect.

Responsibility of the legal representatives and the Supervisory Board for the consolidated financial statements and the group management report

The legal representatives are responsible for preparing the consolidated financial statements, which in all material respects comply with IFRSs, as adopted by the EU, and the additional requirements of German law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB, and for the consolidated financial statements giving a true and fair view of the net assets, financial position and results of operations of the Group in accordance with these requirements. Furthermore, the legal representatives are responsible for the internal controls that they deemed necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

When preparing the consolidated financial statements, the legal representatives are responsible for assessing the Group’s status as a going concern. In addition, they have a responsibility to disclose matters related to the status as a going concern, if relevant. They are also responsible for accounting on the basis of the going concern principle, unless they intend to liquidate the Group or discontinue its business operations, or there is no realistic alternative.

Furthermore, the legal representatives are responsible for preparing the group management report, which as a whole provides an accurate view of the Group’s position and is, in all material respects, consistent with the consolidated financial statements, complies with German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development. The legal representatives are also responsible for the arrangements and measures (systems) that they considered necessary to enable the preparation of a group management report in compliance with applicable German legal requirements and to allow sufficient appropriate evidence to be provided for the assertions in the group management report.

The Supervisory Board is responsible for overseeing the Group’s financial reporting process for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report.

Responsibility of the auditor for the audit of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report

Our objective is to obtain reasonable assurance as to whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and whether the group management report as a whole provides an accurate view of the Group’s position and is in all material respects consistent with the consolidated financial statements and with the findings of the audit, complies with German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development, and to issue an auditor’s report containing our audit opinions regarding the consolidated financial statements and the group management report.

Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but not a guarantee that an audit carried out in compliance with Section 317 HGB and German generally accepted standards for the audit of financial statements promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) will always detect a material misstatement. Misstatements can arise from transgressions or inaccuracies and are deemed material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken based on the consolidated financial statements and group management report.

We exercise professional judgement and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. In addition,

  • we identify and assess the risk of material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error, in the consolidated financial statements and the group management report, plan and implement audit procedures in response to these risks and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions. The risk that material misstatements are not detected is higher in the case of transgressions than in the case of inaccuracies, as transgressions can entail fraudulent collaboration, falsifications, deliberate omissions, misleading depictions or the suspension of internal controls.
  • we gain an understanding of the internal control system relevant for the audit of the consolidated financial statements and of the arrangements and measures relevant for the audit of the group management report in order to plan audit procedures that are appropriate given the circumstances, but not with the aim of providing an audit opinion regarding the effectiveness of these systems.
  • we evaluate the appropriateness of the accounting policies used by the legal representatives and the reasonableness of the estimated values presented by the legal representatives and the associated disclosures.
  • we draw conclusions about the appropriateness of the going concern principle applied by the legal representatives and, on the basis of the audit evidence obtained, whether there is material uncertainty regarding events or circumstances that could cause significant doubt about the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we come to the conclusion that there is material uncertainty, we are obliged to call attention to the associated disclosures in the consolidated financial statements and in the group management report in the auditor’s report or, if these disclosures are inappropriate, to modify our respective audit opinion. We draw our conclusions based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or circumstances may mean that the Group is no longer a going concern.
  • we evaluate the overall presentation, the structure and the content of the consolidated financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated financial statements present the underlying transactions and events such that the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the net assets, financial position and results of operations of the Group in accordance with IFRSs, as adopted by the EU, and the additional requirements of German law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB.
  • we obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence for the company’s accounting information or business activities within the Group in order to provide audit opinions regarding the consolidated financial statements and the group management report. We are responsible for directing, monitoring, and implementing the audit of the consolidated financial statements. We bear sole responsibility for our audit opinions.
  • we evaluate the consistency of the group management report with the consolidated financial statements, its legality, and the view it gives of the position of the Group.
  • we conduct audit procedures regarding the forward-looking disclosures made by the legal representatives in the group management report. On the basis of sufficient appropriate audit evidence, we examine the significant assumptions underlying the legal representatives’ forward-looking disclosures in particular and evaluate the appropriateness of the derivation of the forward-looking disclosures from these assumptions. We do not provide a separate audit opinion regarding the forward-looking disclosures or the underlying assumptions. There is a considerable, unavoidable risk that future events will differ significantly from the forward-looking disclosures.

Topics for discussion with those responsible for monitoring include the planned scope and scheduling of the audit as well as significant audit findings, including any deficiencies in the internal control system that we find during our audit.

Intended purpose

We issue this auditor’s report based on the contract concluded with BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT-Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- and BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG. The audit was performed for the purposes of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- and
BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG, and the auditor’s report is only intended for the information of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- and BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG regarding the result of the audit. The auditor’s report is not intended to act as a basis for (asset) decisions by third parties. Our sole responsibility is to BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELL-SCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877- and BLG LOGISTICS GROUP AG & Co. KG. In contrast, we do not accept any responsibility toward third parties.

Bremen, March 31, 2021


PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH


Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft


Dr. Thomas Ull

German Public Auditor


ppa. Stefan Geers

German Public Auditor

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