H O N I N D U S T R I E S I n c . a n d S U B S I D I A R I E S R E P O R T O F I N D E P E N D E N T A U D I T O R S To the Board of Directors and Shareholders, HON INDUSTRIES Inc.: In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders’ equity, and cash  flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of HON INDUSTRIES Inc. and its subsidiaries at January 3, 2004, and  December 28, 2002, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the fiscal years ended January 3, 2004, and December 28, 2002,  in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements are the responsibility of  the Company’s management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our  audits of these statements in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which 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, assessing the accounting principles used  and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a  reasonable basis for our opinion. The financial statements of the Company as of December 29, 2001, and for the fiscal year then ended, prior to the  adjustments discussed in the Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets note, were audited by other independent accountants who have ceased opera- tions. Those independent accountants expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements in their report dated February 1, 2002. As disclosed in the Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets note, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for goodwill and  other intangible assets upon adoption of the accounting guidance of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, Goodwill and Other  Intangible Assets, on December 30, 2001. As discussed above, the financial statements of HON INDUSTRIES Inc., as of December 29, 2001, and for the period then ended, were  audited by other independent accountants who have ceased operations. As described in the Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets note, these  financial statements have been revised to include the transitional disclosures required by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (Statement)  No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, which was adopted by the Company as of December 30, 2001. We audited the transitional disclo- sures described in the Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets note. In our opinion, the transitional disclosures for 2001 in the Goodwill and Other  Intangible Assets note are appropriate. However, we were not engaged to audit, review, or apply any procedures to the 2001 financial statements  of the Company other than with respect to such disclosures, and, accordingly, we do not express an opinion or any other form of assurance on the  2001 financial statements taken as a whole. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chicago, Illinois February 6, 2004 58