Exhibit 99.1
Report of Independent Auditors
To the board of directors of Solstad Rederi AS
Qualified Opinion
We have audited the combined carve-out financial statements of Solstad Offshore PSV (Solstad PSV), which comprise the combined statements of financial position as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the related combined statements of comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flow for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”).
In our opinion, except for the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section of our report, the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Solstad PSV at December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).
Basis for Qualified Opinion
As discussed in Note 1, the accompanying combined financial statements of Solstad PSV are presented solely to comply with Rule 3-05 of Regulation S-X and are not presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard 1, First-time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as they do not include an opening statement of financial position nor the corresponding notes for that statement of financial position, which constitute a departure from International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the IASB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAS). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are required to be independent of Solstad PSV and to meet our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the relevant ethical requirements relating to our audits. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our qualified audit opinion.
Responsibilities of Management for the Financial Statements
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board, and for the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, management is responsible for assessing Solstad PSV’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate Solstad PSV or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
2
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with GAAS will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Misstatements are considered material if there is a substantial likelihood that, individually or in the aggregate, they would influence the judgment made by a reasonable user based on the financial statements.
In performing an audit in accordance with GAAS, we:
● | Exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. |
● | Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. |
● | Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of Solstad PSV’s internal control. Accordingly, no such opinion is expressed. |
● | Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements. |
● | Conclude whether, in our judgment, there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about Solstad PSV’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. |
We are required to communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit, significant audit findings, and certain internal control-related matters that we identified during the audit.
/s/ Ernst & Young AS
Bergen, Norway
May 16, 2023