Red Lobster 2016 Annual Report Download - page 27

DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC. • 2016 ANNUAL REPORT 23
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Darden Restaurants, Inc.:
We have audited Darden Restaurants, Inc. and subsidiaries’ internal control
over financial reporting as of May 29, 2016, based on criteria established in
Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) 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, included in the accompanying
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on 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, assessing the risk that a material weakness
exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of
internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included 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 proce-
dures 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, Darden Restaurants, Inc. maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of May 29,
2016, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework (2013) 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 29, 2016 and May 31,
2015, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, comprehensive
income, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in
the three-year period ended May 29, 2016, and our report dated July 25, 2016
expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
Orlando, Florida
July 25, 2016
Certified Public Accountants
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM