EXTERNAL AUDITORS

Ship

Overview of the External Auditor

Ernst & Young was appointed by the shareholders through General Assembly Meeting held on 29th of April 2021, as the new external auditor for the group. And Mr. Ashraf Abu Sharkh, the Ernst & Young partner, was appointed as their representative and responsible for the company’s accounts.

Ernst & Young (EY) is a multinational professional services firm and one of the largest in the world. EY operates as a network of member firms which are separate legal entities in individual countries. It has 250,000 employees in over 700 offices across 150 countries and global revenue of US$ 34.8 billion. EY provides assurance (including financial audit), tax, consulting, and advisory services to companies. EY has been present in MENA since 1923 and in the UAE since 1966. EY’s Dubai office has over 1,400 staff and serves a wide variety of government, private and multinational clients.

Appointment, fees and services

The shareholders resolved on 29th of April 2021 to appoint EY as the external auditors for GNH and subsidiaries, with a total remuneration amounting to AED 370,000.

On an annual basis, the company requests quotation/proposal from different audit firms and formal evaluation (technical/financial) is conducted before nominating the external auditors for the next year, including review and recommendation from the Audit Committee and Board of Directors. The appointment of the external auditors (firms/fees) are eventually approved by the shareholders through the General Assembly Meeting.

Details about the external audit firms, fees and scope of services are briefly explained in the table below:

AUDIT FIRMS/CONSULTANTS

ALLIED ACCOUNTANTS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (RSM)

AL SHABANAT

KPMG

EXCELLENCE

MARS

Group companies

GNH- KSA Branch

GNH- KSA Branch

Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC

Gulf Nav Ship Management FZE

Gulf Navigation Group FZCO

Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC & Branches in UAE.

Associated since (year)

2021

2017

2019

2016

2020

Total audit fees for the financial statement

AED 3,200

Fees and costs of the special services, other than audit of financial statements

AED 26,834

AED 17,568

AED 231,367.50

N/A

AED 10,000

The details/nature of other services

Updating GAZT record and preparation, certification and submission of the Branch tax return

KSA branch VAT submission

Valuation Services

ESR Notification and Substance Reporting Support

Statement of other services obtained from another external auditors/ consultants


Qualified opinions were not issued/given by the auditors for the financial period 2021.