Neiman Marcus 2005 Annual Report Download - page 81

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Neiman Marcus, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Neiman Marcus, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of
July 29, 2006 (Successor Company) and July 30, 2005 (Predecessor Company), and the related consolidated statements of earnings, cash
flows, and shareholders' equity for the nine weeks ended October 1, 2005 (Predecessor Company), the forty-three weeks ended July 29,
2006 (Successor Company) and each of the two years in the period ended July 30, 2005 and July 31, 2004 (Predecessor Company). Our
audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15. We also have audited management's assessment,
included in the accompanying "Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting", that the Company maintained
effective internal control over financial reporting as of July 29, 2006, based on the 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 and financial statement schedule, 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 and financial statement schedule, 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 the Company as of July 29, 2006 (Successor Company) and July 30, 2005 (Predecessor Company), and the results of its
operations and its cash flows for the nine weeks ended October 1, 2005 (Predecessor Company), the forty-three weeks ended July 29,
2006 (Successor Company) and each of the two years in the period ended July 30, 2005 and July 31, 2004 (Predecessor Company), in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, such financial statement
schedule, when considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly, in all material
respects, the information set forth therein. Also, in our opinion, management's assessment that the Company maintained effective internal
control over financial reporting as of July 29, 2006, 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 July 29, 2006, based
on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission.
/S/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Dallas, Texas
September 25, 2006
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