Costco 2003 Annual Report Download - page 25

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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Costco Wholesale Corporation and sub-
sidiaries as of August 31, 2003 and September 1, 2002 and the related consolidated statements of income, stock-
holders’ equity and cash flows for the 52 weeks then ended. These consolidated financial statements are the
responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated
financial statements based on our audits. The accompanying consolidated financial statements of Costco Whole-
sale Corporation and subsidiaries as of September 2, 2001 were audited by other auditors who have ceased oper-
ations. Those auditors expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements in their report
dated October 8, 2001.
We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of
America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on
a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. An audit
also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as
evaluating the overall consolidated financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reason-
able 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 Costco Wholesale Corporation and subsidiaries as of August 31, 2003 and
September 1, 2002, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the 52 weeks then ended in con-
formity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed its method of account-
ing for stock-based compensation effective September 3, 2002.
Seattle, Washington
October 6, 2003
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