At TJX, we believe that maintaining the highest level of credibility with our shareholders goes far beyond communications and disclosure standards set by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We have always done and will continue to do our very best to communicate openly with investors, while we set realistic goals and work diligently to achieve them. Indeed, we remain committed to saying what we mean and meaning what we say.

To us, however, there is more to it. We believe that part of managing our business with integrity means managing for the long term. Through our long-term, bottom-line orientation, we have achieved a very solid track record of steady growth with excellent returns for our shareholders. Over the years, we have not experienced the extreme highs and lows in financial results that have become all too common in today’s world. Rather, our growth has been consistent, well executed and managed for long-term success.

We have achieved our consistent growth through both weak and strong economic periods. We successfully grew our business in the early eighties as well as early nineties, both recessionary periods. Further, we achieved growth during the Gulf War in 1991. We have also achieved growth in the most recent recessionary environment. While we would always prefer a strong economy in which to operate, we have proven our ability to grow during difficult times.

The strength of our off-price concept and our approach to prudent growth have enabled us to establish and successfully grow other divisions that position us for growth far into the future. Winners, in Canada, HomeGoods, in the U.S., and T.K. Maxx, in the U.K. and Ireland, all achieved excellent results in 2002. Winners is further along on its maturity curve and has HomeSense, established in 2001, through which to continue to expand in Canada. HomeGoods and T.K. Maxx have significant growth planned for the near and longer terms. A.J. Wright has great long-term potential as we believe the U.S. can support over 1,000 stores. The beauty of all of these concepts is that they capitalize on what TJX knows best — how to run an off-price business — and enable us to share expertise and best practices throughout the Company.

TJX has always managed its business with financial strength and excellent returns to shareholders as key priorities. We believe this also falls under our commitment to act with integrity. Our solid balance sheet enables us to maintain a strong investment grade credit rating, which is above that of almost all other retailers and so important to our vendors, landlords and bankers. In fact, in 2002, we received an upgrade of our credit rating from Standard and Poor’s.

Our Company continues to achieve earnings growth and returns to investors that far exceed most other companies, both within and outside retail. The 2003 Fortune 500 rankings placed TJX in the top ten percent among all Fortune 500 companies for our 10-year earnings per share compound annual growth rate and total return to investors. We were ranked in the top five percent of Fortune 500 companies for our returns on assets and shareholders’ equity.

The significant amount of excess cash generated by our operations enables us to internally fund the growth of our business as well as execute a substantial stock buyback program. Our disciplined approach to investing capital is designed to ensure that our new stores produce returns that are well above our cost of capital and highly attractive relative to the retail industry.

Conservative accounting practices and financial methodologies, along with full and accurate disclosure, have been traditions at TJX since day one. These approaches have served us well over our history and we believe will help ensure our future success, in the short and long term.