Bridgestone 2003 Annual Report Download - page 54

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BRIDGESTONE
To the Board of Directors of Bridgestone Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Bridgestone Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2003
and 2002, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the
period ended December 31, 2003, all expressed in Japanese yen. These consolidated 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 auditing standards, procedures and practices generally accepted and applied in Japan.
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 consolidated finan-
cial position of Bridgestone Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2003 and 2002, and the consolidated results of their oper-
ations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2003, in conformity with accounting principles
and practices generally accepted in Japan (“Japanese GAAP”).
As discussed in Note 17 to the consolidated financial statements, certain subsidiaries in the Americas are involved in significant legal
matters related to tires which have been voluntarily recalled as announced in August 2000.
As discussed in Note 18 to the consolidated financial statements, in connection with the contributory funded defined benefit pension
plan, which is established under the Japanese Welfare Pension Insurance Law, the Company obtained an approval of exemption from
future obligation by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This subsequent event will have a material effect on the Company’s
consolidated financial position and results of operations.
Our audits also comprehended the translation of Japanese yen amounts into U.S. dollar amounts and, in our opinion, such translation
has been made in conformity with the basis stated in Note 2. Such U.S. dollar amounts are presented solely for the convenience of read-
ers outside Japan.
Our audits were made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic Japanese GAAP consolidated financial statements taken as
a whole. The supplemental information in Note 19 as to accounting differences between Japanese GAAP and the accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America is presented for purposes of additional analysis and is not a required part of the
basic Japanese GAAP consolidated financial statements. This information has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in our
audits of the basic consolidated financial statements and, in our opinion, is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the basic
Japanese GAAP consolidated financial statements taken as a whole.
March 30, 2004
Independent Auditors’ Report
Tohmatsu &Co.
MS Shibaura Building
13-23, Shibaura 4-chome
Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8530, Japan
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.tohmatsu.co.jp