E-Z-GO 2003 Annual Report Download - page 36

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34
Management is responsible for the integrity and objectivity of the financial data presented in this Annual
Report. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting princi-
ples generally accepted in the United States and include amounts based on management’s best esti-
mates and judgments. The independent auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, have audited the consolidated
financial statements and have considered the internal control structure to the extent they believed nec-
essary to support their report, which appears below.
We conduct our business in accordance with the standards outlined in the Textron Business Conduct
Guidelines which is communicated to all employees. Honesty, integrity and high ethical standards are
the core values of how we conduct business. Every Textron division prepares and carries out an annual
Compliance Plan to ensure these values and standards are maintained. Our internal control structure is
designed to provide reasonable assurance, at appropriate cost, that assets are safeguarded and that
transactions are properly executed and recorded. The internal control structure includes, among other
things, established policies and procedures, an internal audit function, and the selection and training of
qualified personnel. Textron’s management is responsible for implementing effective internal control sys-
tems and monitoring their effectiveness, as well as developing and executing an annual internal control
plan.
The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, on behalf of the shareholders, oversees management’s
financial reporting responsibilities. The Audit Committee, comprised of six directors who are not officers
or employees of Textron, meets regularly with the independent auditors, management and our internal
auditors to review matters relating to financial reporting, internal accounting controls and auditing. Both
the independent auditors and the internal auditors have free and full access to senior management and
the Audit Committee.
Lewis B. Campbell Ted R. French
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Vice President and
Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer
January 29, 2004
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
Textron Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Textron Inc. as of January 3, 2004
and December 28, 2002, and the related consolidated statements of operations, cash flows and
changes in shareholders’ equity for each of the three years in the period ended January 3, 2004. These
financial statements are the responsibility of Textron’s management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the 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 manage-
ment, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits pro-
vide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material
respects, the consolidated financial position of Textron Inc. at January 3, 2004 and December 28, 2002
and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended January 3, 2004, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States.
As discussed in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2002 Textron adopted Financial
Accounting Standards No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets” and the remaining provisions of
Financial Accounting Standards No. 141, “Business Combinations.”
As discussed in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2003 Textron adopted Financial
Accounting Standards No. 150, “ Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of
Both Liabilities and Equity.”
Boston, Massachusetts
January 29, 2004