Staples 2002 Annual Report Download - page 65

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Report of Independent Auditors
Board of Directors and Shareholders
Staples, Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Staples, Inc. and subsidiaries as of February 1,
2003 and February 2, 2002, and the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for
each of the three years in the period ended February 1, 2003. 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 in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the 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. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the
amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe
that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated
financial position of Staples, Inc. and subsidiaries at February 1, 2003 and February 2, 2002, and the consolidated results
of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended February 1, 2003, in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
As discussed in Note A to the consolidated financial statements, effective February 3, 2002, the Company adopted
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, ‘‘Accounting for Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.’’
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Ernst & Young LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
March 4, 2003
C-2