Independent Practitioner’s Report

Independent Practitioner’s Report on a Limited Assurance Engagement on Non-financial Reporting1

To Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA, Hamburg

We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the Separate Non-financial Group Report of Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA, Hamburg, (hereinafter the “Company”) for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2022 (hereinafter the “Separate Non-financial Group Report”).

Not subject to our assurance engagement are the external sources of documentation or expert opinions mentioned in the Non-financial Group Statement, which are marked as unassured.

Responsibility of the Executive Directors

The executive directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of the Separate Non-financial Group Report in accordance with §§ (Articles) 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB ("Handelsgesetzbuch": "German Commercial Code”).

This responsibility includes the selection and application of appropriate non-financial reporting methods and making assumptions and estimates about individual non-financial disclosures of the Group that are reasonable in the circumstances. Furthermore, the executive directors are responsible for such internal controls as the executive directors consider necessary to enable the preparation of a Separate Non-financial Group Report that is free from material misstatement whether due to fraud or error.

Independence and Quality Control of the Audit Firm

We have complied with the German professional provisions regarding independence as well as other ethical requirements.

Our audit firm applies the national legal requirements and professional standards – in particular the Professional Code for German Public Auditors and German Chartered Auditors (“Berufssatzung für Wirtschaftsprüfer und vereidigte Buchprüfer“: “BS WP/vBP”) as well as the Standard on Quality Control 1 published by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (Institute of Public Auditors in Germany; IDW): Requirements to quality control for audit firms (IDW Qualitätssicherungsstandard 1: Anforderungen an die Qualitätssicherung in der Wirtschaftsprüferpraxis - IDW QS 1) – and accordingly maintains a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Responsibility of the Assurance Practitioner

Our responsibility is to express a conclusion with limited assurance on the Separate Non-financial Group Report 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 Separate Non-financial Group Report, other than the external sources of documentation or expert opinions mentioned in the Separate Non-financial Group Report, are not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with §§ 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB.

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 judgement of the assurance practitioner.

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

  • Gain an understanding of the structure of the Group’s sustainability organization and stakeholder engagement
  • Inquiries of the executive directors and relevant employees involved in the preparation of the Separate Non-financial Group Report about the preparation process, about the internal control system relating to this process and about disclosures in the Separate Non-financial Group Report
  • Identification of likely risks of material misstatement in the Separate Non-financial Group Report
  • Analytical procedures on selected disclosures in the Separate Non-financial Group Report
  • Reconciliation of selected disclosures with the corresponding data in the consolidated financial statements and group management report
  • Evaluation of the presentation of the Separate Non-financial Group Report
  • Inquiries on the relevance of climate-risks

Assurance Opinion

Based on the assurance procedures performed and evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Separate Non-financial Group Report of the Company for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2022 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with §§ 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB.

We do not express an assurance opinion on the external sources of documentation or expert opinions mentioned in the Separate Non-financial Group Report, which are marked unassured.

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. Consequently, it may not be suitable for any other 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. We do not accept any responsibility to third parties. Our assurance opinion is not modified in this respect.

Frankfurt, 5 April 2023

PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Nicolette Behncke
Wirtschaftsprüferin
[German public auditor]

Claudia Niendorf Senger
Wirtschaftsprüferin
[German public auditor]

1 PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH has performed a limited assurance engagement on the German version of the Separate Non-financial Group Report and issued an independent practitioner`s report in German language, which is authoritative. The following text is a translation of the independent practitioner`s report.