Independent Auditor’s Report on a Limited Assurance Engagement

The assurance engagement performed by EY relates exclusively to the German version of the combined non-financial statement 2023 of Beiersdorf AG. The following text is a translation of the original German independent assurance report.

To Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg

We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the non-financial statement of Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, (hereinafter the “Company”), which is combined with the non-financial statement of the Group, consisting of the section “Non-financial Statement 2023” as well as the disclosures marked with the symbol ↱↲ in the sections “Business and Strategy” and “People at Beiersdorf” of the Combined Management Report, for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 (hereinafter the “non-financial Reporting”).

Not subject to our assurance engagement are other references to disclosures made outside the non-financial Reporting.

Responsibilities of the executive directors

The executive directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of the non-financial Reporting in accordance with Sec. 315c in conjunction with Secs. 289c to 289e HGB [“Handelsgesetzbuch”: German Commercial Code] and Art. 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (hereinafter the “EU Taxonomy Regulation”) and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder as well as in accordance with their own interpretation of the wording and terms contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder as set out in section “EU Taxonomy Reporting” of the non-financial Reporting.

These responsibilities of the Company’s executive directors include the selection and application of appropriate methods for the preparation of the non-financial Reporting and making assumptions and estimates about individual non-financial disclosures that are reasonable in the circumstances. Furthermore, the executive directors are responsible for such internal control as the executive directors consider necessary to enable the preparation of a non-financial Reporting that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud (manipulation of the non-financial Reporting) or error.

The EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder contain wording and terms that are still subject to considerable interpretation uncertainties and for which clarifications have not yet been published in every case. Therefore, the executive directors have disclosed their interpretation of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder in section “EU Taxonomy Reporting” of the non-financial Reporting. They are responsible for the defensibility of this interpretation. Due to the immanent risk that undefined legal terms may be interpreted differently, the legal conformity of the interpretation is subject to uncertainties.

Independence and quality assurance of the auditor’s firm

We have complied with the German professional requirements on independence as well as other professional conduct requirements.

Our audit firm applies the national legal requirements and professional pronouncements – in particular the BS WP/vBP (“Berufssatzung für Wirtschaftsprüfer/vereidigte Buchprüfer”: Professional Charter for German Public Accountants/German Sworn Auditors) in the exercise of their Profession and the IDW Standard on Quality Management issued by the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany (IDW): Requirements for Quality Management in the Audit Firm (IDW QS 1) and accordingly maintains a comprehensive quality management system that includes documented policies and procedures with regard to compliance with professional ethical requirements, professional standards as well as relevant statutory and other legal requirements.

Responsibilities of the auditor

Our responsibility is to express a conclusion with limited assurance on the non-financial Reporting based on our assurance engagement.

We conducted our assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): “Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information” issued by the IAASB. This standard requires that we plan and perform the assurance engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether any matters have come to our attention that cause us to believe that the Company’s non-financial Reporting is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Sec. 315c in conjunction with Secs. 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder as well as the interpretation by the executive directors disclosed in section “EU Taxonomy Reporting” of the non-financial Reporting. Not subject to our assurance engagement are other references to disclosures made outside the non-financial Reporting.

In a limited assurance engagement, the procedures performed are less extensive than in a reasonable assurance engagement, and accordingly, a substantially lower level of assurance is obtained. The selection of the assurance procedures is subject to the professional judgment of the auditor.

In the course of our assurance engagement we have, among other things, performed the following assurance procedures and other activities:

• Gain an understanding of the structure of the sustainability organization and stakeholder engagement,
• Inquiries of the executive directors and relevant employees regarding the selection of topics for the non-financial Reporting, the impact and risk assessment and the policies of the Company and the Group for the topics identified as material,
• Inquiries of the executive directors and relevant employees involved in the preparation of the non-financial Reporting about the preparation process, about the internal controls related to this process as well as disclosures in the non-financial Reporting,
• Inspection of the relevant documentation of the systems and processes for collecting, aggregating and validating relevant data in the reporting period,
• Identification and assessment of risks of material misstatement in the non-financial Reporting,
• Analytical procedures on selected disclosures in the non-financial Reporting,
• Inquiries, inspection of sample documents and obtaining evidence relating to the collection and reporting of selected disclosures in the non-financial Reporting,
• Reconciliation of selected disclosures with the corresponding data in the annual financial statements and management report,
• Evaluation of the process to identify the economic activities taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned as well as the corresponding disclosures in the non-financial Reporting,
• Evaluation of the presentation of disclosures in the non-financial Reporting.

In determining the disclosures in accordance with Art. 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, the executive directors are required to interpret undefined legal terms. Due to the immanent risk that undefined legal terms may be interpreted differently, the legal conformity of their interpretation and, accordingly, our assurance engagement thereon are subject to uncertainties.

Assurance conclusion

Based on the assurance procedures performed and the evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the non-financial Reporting of the Company for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Sec. 315c in conjunction with Secs. 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder as well as the interpretation by the executive directors as disclosed in section “EU Taxonomy Reporting” of the non-financial Reporting.

We do not express an assurance conclusion on the other references to disclosures made outside the non-financial Reporting.

Restriction of use

We draw attention to the fact that the assurance engagement was conducted for the Company’s purposes and that the report is intended solely to inform the Company about the result of the assurance engagement. As a result, it may not be suitable for another purpose than the aforementioned. Accordingly, the report is not intended to be used by third parties for making (financial) decisions based on it. Our responsibility is to the Company alone. We do not accept any responsibility to third parties. Our assurance conclusion is not modified in this respect.

General Engagement Terms and Liability

The enclosed “General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften [German Public Auditors and Public Audit Firms]” as issued by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer [Institute of Public Auditors in Germany] on 1 January 2017 are applicable to this engagement and also govern our relations with third parties in the context of this engagement (www.de.ey.com/general-engagement-terms). In addition, please refer to the liability provisions contained there in no. 9 and to the exclusion of liability towards third parties. We accept no responsibility, liability or other obligations towards third parties unless we have concluded a written agreement to the contrary with the respective third party or liability cannot effectively be precluded.

We make express reference to the fact that we will not update the report to reflect events or circumstances arising after it was issued, unless required to do so by law. It is the sole responsibility of anyone taking note of the summarized result of our work contained in this report to decide whether and in what way this information is useful or suitable for their purposes and to supplement, verify or update it by means of their own review procedures.

Hanover, February 21, 2024

EY GmbH & Co. KG
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft