Estee Lauder 2008 Annual Report Download - page 114

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 114 of the 2008 Estee Lauder annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 120

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120

The Board of Directors and Stockholders
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and subsidiaries
(the “Company”) as of June 30, 2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders’ equity
and comprehensive income, and cash fl ows for each of the years in the three-year period ended June 30, 2008.
These consolidated fi nancial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on these consolidated fi nancial statements based on our 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 audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the fi nancial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence support-
ing the amounts and disclosures in the fi nancial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles
used and signifi cant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall fi nancial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated fi nancial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the fi nancial
position of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and subsidiaries as of June 30, 2008 and 2007, and the results of their
operations and their cash fl ows for each of the years in the three-year period ended June 30, 2008, in conformity with
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United
States), The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.’s internal control over fi nancial reporting as of June 30, 2008, based on criteria
established in Internal Control— Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated August 21, 2008 expressed an unqualifi ed opinion on the effective-
ness of the Company’s internal control over fi nancial reporting.
As discussed in the notes to the consolidated fi nancial statements, effective July 1, 2006, the Company changed their
method for quantifying errors based on SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108, “Considering the Effects of Prior Year
Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements,” and effective June 30, 2007, the
Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 158, “Employers’ Accounting for Defi ned Benefi t
Pension and Other Postretirement Plans—an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 132(R).” Also as
discussed in the notes to the consolidated fi nancial statements, effective July 1, 2007, the Company adopted Financial
Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an interpretation of
FASB Statement No. 109.”
New York, New York
August 21, 2008
112 THE EST{E LAUDER COMPANIES INC.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM