Staples 2004 Annual Report Download - page 71

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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Total Number of Approximate Dollar
Shares Purchased as Value of Shares that
Total Number Part of Publicly May Yet Be Purchased
of Shares Average Price Announced Plans or Under the Plans or
Fiscal Period Purchased Paid per Share(1) Programs(2) Programs(2)
October 31, 2004—November 27, 2004 ..... 903,136 $30.81 903,136 $636,517,000
November 28, 2004—January 1, 2005 ...... 2,180,700 $32.85 2,180,700 $564,890,000
January 2, 2005—January 29, 2005 ........ 2,080,000 $32.48 2,080,000 $497,322,000
Total for Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2004 ..... 5,163,836 $32.34 5,163,836 $497,322,000
(1) Average price paid per share includes commissions and is rounded to the nearest two decimal places.
(2) On March 4, 2004, we announced that our Board of Directors approved the repurchase by us of up to $1 billion of
our common stock pursuant to a stock repurchase program that expires on January 28, 2006.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
The information required by this Item is attached as Appendix A.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The information required by this Item is attached as part of Appendix B.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The information required by this Item is attached as part of Appendix B.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The information required by this Item is attached as Appendix C.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
Not applicable.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
1. Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, evaluated the
effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities
Exchange Act) as of January 29, 2005. Based on this evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer
concluded that, as of January 29, 2005, our disclosure controls and procedures were (1) designed to ensure that material
information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the Company’s chief
executive officer and chief financial officer by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this
report was being prepared and (2) effective, in that they provide reasonable assurance that information required to be
disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act is recorded, processed,
summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.
2. Internal Control over Financial Reporting
(a) Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
The management of Staples is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over
financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) promul-
gated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the
company’s principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by the company’s board of directors,
management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
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