World Fuel Services 2008 Annual Report Download - page 51

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors
of World Fuel Services Corporation:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of
income, shareholders’ equity and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
World Fuel Services Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) at December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2008
in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion,
the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2008, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’s management is
responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and
for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s
Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under item 9A. As described in Management’s
Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, management has excluded certain assets acquired from
Texor Petroleum Company, Inc., principally the assets comprising its wholesale motor fuel distribution business
and the Texor Petroleum trade name (collectively, the “Texor business”), from its assessment of internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008 because the assets were acquired in a purchase business
combination in June 2008. We have also excluded the Texor business from our audit of internal control over
financial reporting. The Texor business’ total assets and total revenues represent approximately 8.9% and 2.8%,
respectively, of the related consolidated financial statement amounts as of and for the year ended December 31,
2008. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements and on the Company’s internal
control over financial reporting based on our integrated 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 audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all
material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal
control over financial reporting 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 audits also included performing such other
procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable
basis for our opinions.
As discussed in Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed its method of
accounting for fair value measurements in 2008, and in 2007, as discussed in Note 9, the Company changed it’s
method of accounting for uncertainty in income taxes.
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 (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) 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 (iii) 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.
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