Red Lobster 2014 Annual Report Download - page 23

2014 Annual Report 21
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Darden
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Darden Restaurants, Inc.:
We have audited Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s internal control over financial
reporting as of May 25, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal
Control – Integrated Framework (1992) 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 main-
tained 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 procedures
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 25,
2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework (1992) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations
of the Treadway Commission.
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. and subsidiaries as of May 25,
2014 and May 26, 2013, 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 25, 2014,
and our report dated July 18, 2014 expressed an unqualified opinion on
those consolidated financial statements.
Orlando, Florida
July 18, 2014
Certified Public Accountants