Red Lobster 2007 Annual Report Download - page 33

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Annual Report 2007 31
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting, that Darden Restaurants, Inc. maintained
effective internal control over financial reporting as of May 27,
2007, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations
of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s
management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control
over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness
of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on management’s assessment and an opinion
on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit 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 effective internal control over
financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit
included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial
reporting, evaluating management’s assessment, testing and evaluat-
ing the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a
process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control
over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures
that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable
detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions
of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance
that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation
of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company are being made only in accordance with authorizations
of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of
unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets
that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections
of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to
the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes
in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or
procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, management’s assessment that Darden
Restaurants, Inc. maintained effective internal control over financial
reporting as of May 27, 2007, is fairly stated, in all material respects,
based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations
of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Also, in our opinion, Darden
Restaurants, Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over financial reporting as of May 27, 2007, based
on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO).
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated balance sheets of Darden Restaurants, Inc. as
of May 27, 2007 and May 28, 2006, and the related consolidated
statements of earnings, changes in stockholders’ equity and
accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), and cash flows
for each of the years in the three-year period ended May 27, 2007,
and our report dated July 18, 2007 expressed an unqualified opinion
on those consolidated financial statements.
Orlando, Florida
July 18, 2007
Certified Public Accountants
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal
Control Over Financial Reporting
R