Independent assurance report on the non-financial reporting pursuant to Section 243b and 267a UGB

Report on the non-financial reporting pursuant to Section 243b and 267a UGB

Conclusion with limited assurance

We have performed a limited assurance engagement in the connection with the consolidated non-financial reporting pursuant to Section 243b and 267a UGB (hereafter “non-financial reporting”) for the financial year 2024 of the

Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft, Lenzing.

Based on our procedures performed and the evidence we have obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the consolidated non-financial reporting pursuant to Section 243b and 267a UGB (hereafter “non-financial reporting”) is not prepared, in all material respects, in compliance with:

• the statutory provisions of the Austrian Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act (Sections 243b and 267a of the Austrian Commercial Code (UGB)),
• the reporting requirements according to Article 8 of the EU Regulation 2020/852 (hereinafter referred to as “EU-Taxonomy-Regulation”) in respect to the disclosure requirements in the non-financial reporting,
• the requirements of the European Non-financial reporting Standards (hereinafter referred to as “ESRS”),
• the sustainability reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI Standards) Option “in accordance with”, and
• the process carried out by the company to identify the information to be included in the consolidated non-financial reporting in accordance with the legal requirements and standards for non-financial reporting (hereinafter referred to as “double materiality assessment process”); with the description set out in disclosure “Double materiality analysis”

in the currently valid version.

Basis for conclusion with limited assurance

Our limited assurance engagement on the non-financial reporting was conducted in accordance with the statutory requirements and Austrian Standards on Other Assurance Engagements and additional expert opinions as well as the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE 3000 (Revised) applicable to such engagements. An independent assurance engagement with the purpose of expressing a conclusion with limited assurance (“limited assurance engagement”) is substantially less in scope than an independent assurance engagement with the purpose of expressing a conclusion with reasonable assurance (“reasonable assurance engagement”), thus providing reduced assurance.

Our responsibility under those requirements and standards is further described in the “Responsibility of the auditor of the consolidated non-financial reporting” section of our assurance report.

We are independent Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft in accordance with the Austrian professional regulations and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Our audit firm is subject to the provisions of KSW-PRL 2022, which essentially corresponds to the requirements of ISQM 1, and applies a comprehensive quality management system, including documented policies and procedures for compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

We believe that the evidence we have obtained up to the date of the limited assurance report is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion as of that date.

Emphasis of matter

We draw attention to the information in chapter “ESRS 2 General disclosures” of the consolidated non-financial report, which describes that comparative figures reported under GRI in the previous year were partly translated to measurement units required by ESRS and thus, are not comparable.

Other information

Management is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises all information included in the “Annual and Sustainability Report” but does not include non-financial reporting and our independent assurance report.

Our conclusion on the non-financial reporting does not cover the other information and we will not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. In connection with our limited assurance engagement on the non-financial reporting, our responsibility is to read the other information when available and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the non-financial reporting or our knowledge obtained in the limited assurance engagement or otherwise appears to be misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this context.

Responsibility of the management

Management is responsible for the preparation of a non-financial reporting including the determination and implementation of the double materiality assessment processes in accordance with legal requirements and standards. This responsibility includes:

• identification of the actual and potential impacts, as well as the risks and opportunities associated with sustainability aspects and assessing the materiality of these impacts, risks and opportunities,
• preparing of a non-financial reporting in compliance with the requirements of the statutory provisions of the Austrian Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act pursuant to section 243b and 267a UGB, including compliance with the ESRS and the sustainability reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI Standards), “in accordance with”
• inclusion of disclosures in the consolidated non-financial reporting in accordance with the EU-Taxonomy-Regulation, and
• designing, implementing and maintaining of internal controls that management consider relevant to enable the preparation of sustainability report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; and to enable the double materiality assessment process to be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the ESRS.

This responsibility includes also the selection and application of appropriate methods for non-financial reporting and the making of assumptions and estimates for individual sustainability disclosures that are reasonable in the circumstances.

Inherent limitations in the preparation of non-financial reporting

When reporting forward-looking information, the company is obliged to prepare this forward-looking information based on disclosed assumptions about events that could occur in the future and possible future actions by the company. Actual results are likely to differ as expected events often do not occur as assumed.

When determining the disclosures in accordance with the EU-Taxonomy-Regulation, the management is obliged to interpret undefined legal terms. Undefined legal terms can be interpreted differently, also regarding the legal conformity of their interpretation and are therefore subject to uncertainties.

Responsibility of the auditor of the consolidated non-financial reporting

Our objectives are to plan and perform a limited assurance engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether the non-financial reporting, including the procedures performed to determine the information to be reported and the reporting in accordance with the EU-Taxonomy and the sustainability reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI Standards) Option “in accordance with”, is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a limited assurance report that includes our conclusion. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken based on this non-financial reporting.

In a limited assurance engagement, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional skepticism throughout the assurance engagement.

Our responsibilities include

• performing risk-related assurance procedures, including obtaining an understanding of internal controls relevant to the engagement, to identify disclosures where material misstatements are likely to arise, whether due to fraud or error, but not for the purpose of expressing a conclusion on the effectiveness of the Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft internal controls;
• design and perform assurance procedures responsive to disclosures in the non-financial reporting, where material misstatements are likely to arise. 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.

Summary of the work performed

A limited assurance engagement involves performing procedures to obtain evidence about the non-financial reporting.

Our engagement does not include the assurance of prior period figures, printed interviews or other additional voluntary information of the company, including references to websites or other additional reporting formats of the company.

The nature, timing and extent of assurance procedures selected depend on professional judgement, including the identification of disclosures likely to be materially misstated in the non-financial reporting, whether due to fraud or error.

In conducting our limited assurance engagement on the non-financial reporting, we proceed as follows:

• We obtain an understanding of the company’s processes relevant to the preparation of non-financial reporting.
• We assess whether all relevant information identified by the double materiality assessment process carried out by the company has been included in the non-financial reporting.
• We evaluate whether the structure and presentation of the non-financial reporting is in compliance with the requirements of the statutory provisions of the Austrian Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act as of section 243b and 267a UGB, including the ESRS and GRI.
• We perform inquiries of relevant personnel and analytical procedures on selected disclosures in the non-financial reporting.
• We perform risk-oriented assurance procedures, on a sample basis, on selected disclosures in the non-financial reporting.
• We reconcile selected disclosures in the non-financial reporting with the corresponding disclosures in the consolidated financial statements and Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft management report.
• We obtain evidence on the methods for developing estimates and forward-looking information.
• We obtain an understanding of the process to identify taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned economic activities and the corresponding disclosures in non-financial reporting.

Limitation of liability, publication and terms of engagement

This limited assurance engagement is a voluntary assurance engagement. We issue this conclusion based on the assurance contract concluded with the client, which is also based, with effect on third parties, on the “General Conditions of Contract for the Public Accounting Professions” issued by the Chamber of Tax Advisors and Auditors. These can be viewed online on the website of the Chamber of Tax Advisors and Auditors (currently at https://ksw.or.at/berufsrecht/mandatsverhaeltnis/). With regard to our responsibility and liability under the contractual relationship, point 7 of the AAB 2018 applies.

Our assurance report may only be distributed to third parties together with the consolidated non-financial reporting contained in the “Consolidated non-financial statement / Sustainability report” section of the group management report and only in complete and unabridged form. Because our report is prepared solely on behalf of and for the benefit of the company, its contents may not be relied upon by any other third party, and consequently, we shall not be liable for any other third-party claims.

Auditor responsible for the assurance engagement

The auditor responsible for the assurance engagement of the non-financial reporting is Mag. Alexander Gall.

Linz March 5, 2025

KPMG Austria GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft

Mag. Alexander Gall
Wirtschaftsprüfer
(Austrian Chartered Accountant)