Safeway 2005 Annual Report Download - page 51

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
31
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Safeway Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Safeway Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of
December 31, 2005 and January 1, 2005, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders' equity, and
cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2005. We also have audited management's
assessment, included in the accompanying “Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting,” that
the Company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria
established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission. 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. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements, an opinion on management's
assessment, and an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting 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
financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was
maintained in all material respects. Our audit of 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, evaluating
management's assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing
such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable
basis for our opinions.
A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company's
principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company's
board of directors, management, and other personnel 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 the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or
improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected
on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to
future periods are subject to the risk that the 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, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position of Safeway Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2005 and January 1, 2005, and the results of their operations
and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2005, in conformity with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, management's assessment that the
Company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, is fairly stated, in all
material respects, based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Furthermore, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on the criteria
established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission.