Red Lobster 2005 Annual Report Download - page 29

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Darden Restaurants 37
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated bal-
ance sheets of Darden Restaurants, Inc. and subsidiaries
as of May 29, 2005 and May 30, 2004, and the related
consolidated statements of earnings, changes in stock-
holders’ equity and accumulated other comprehensive
income (loss), and cash flows for each of the years in the
three-year period ended May 29, 2005. These consoli-
dated financial statements are the responsibility of the
Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express
an opinion on these consolidated financial statements
based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the
standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States). Those standards require that we
plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance
about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the
accounting principles used and significant estimates made
by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide
a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements
referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the
financial position of Darden Restaurants, Inc. and subsidiar-
ies as of May 29, 2005 and May 30, 2004, and the results of
their operations and their cash flows for each of the years
in the three-year period ended May 29, 2005 in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards
of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United
States), the effectiveness of Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s
internal control over financial reporting as of May 29, 2005
based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and
our report dated July 28, 2005 expressed an unqualified
opinion on management’s assessment of, and the effective
operation of, internal control over financial reporting.
Orlando, Florida
July 28, 2005