We have audited the financial statements of Neptune Orient Lines Limited and the consolidated financial statements of the Group for the financial year ended 31 December 2002, set out on pages 11 to 84. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's directors. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with Singapore Standards on Auditing. Those Standards require that we plan and perform our audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by the directors, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion,

We have considered the financial statements and auditors' reports of the subsidiaries of which we have not acted as auditors, and the financial statements of the subsidiaries which are not required by the law of its country of incorporation to be audited, being financial statements included in the consolidated financial statements. The names of the subsidiaries are stated in Note 48 to the financial statements.

We are satisfied that the financial statements of the subsidiaries that have been consolidated with the financial statements of the Company are in form and content appropriate and proper for the purposes of the preparation of the consolidated financial statements and we have received satisfactory information and explanations as required by us for those purposes.

The auditors' reports on the financial statements of the subsidiaries were not subjected to any material qualification and in respect of subsidiaries incorporated in Singapore did not include any comment made under Section 207(3) of the Act.