5.—(1) If the transfer date falls after 31st December 1996 and the financial year dealt with in the last statement of accounts prepared by the Authority under section 42 of the Harbours Act 1964 before the transfer date does not end on 31st December 1996, it shall be the duty of the Successor Company to prepare a statement of accounts giving a true and fair view of the state of affairs and the income and expenditure of the Authority in respect of the financial year ending on 31st December 1996.
(2) The statement of accounts prepared under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be audited by auditors appointed by the Authority (or, if no such appointment has been made before the dissolution date, by the Successor Company), and a person shall not be qualified to be so appointed unless that person is eligible for appointment as a company auditor in accordance with section 25 of the Companies Act 1989.
(3) Subsections (2) to (9) of section 42 of the Harbours Act 1964 (accounts and reports relating to harbour activities and associated activities), and any regulations made under subsection (7) or (9) of that section, shall apply in relation to the preparation under sub-paragraph (1) above of the statement of accounts by the Successor Company in respect of the financial year ending on 31st December 1996 and to the statement of accounts so prepared as they apply in relation to the preparation under that section of a statement of accounts by a statutory harbour undertaker in respect of that period and to the statement of accounts so prepared.