The audit fee disclosed for Severn Trent plc (a UK company providing water to homes and businesses) was £1.0 million in its 2005 accounts.

(a) Discuss how many man-days of audit time you think would be reasonable to audit this company where:

(i) the sales were £2,084 million;

(ii) the profit before tax was £217 million;

(iii) the fixed assets were £5,440 million;

(iv) the current assets were £656 million;

(v) there were 16,374 staff, with 11,569 in the UK and the remainder principally in the US and Europe

(b) Discuss the suggestion that audit fees are inadequate