Lowe's 2003 Annual Report Download - page 27

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2003 ANNUAL REPORT 25
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of January 30,
2004 and January 31, 2003, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three fiscal
years in the period ended January 30, 2004. 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 of America. 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 pres-
entation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, such financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at January 30, 2004 and
January 31, 2003, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended January 30, 2004 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 accounting for stock-based compensation
effective February 1, 2003.
Charlotte, North Carolina
March 19, 2004 (April 2, 2004, as to the third paragraph in Note 10)
Independent Auditors’ Report
to the board of directors and stockholders of lowe’s companies, inc.