Note G—Interest Expense Net interest expense for each of the last three fiscal years consisted of the following: Year Ended August 30, August 31, August 25, (in thousands) 2003 2002 2001 Interest expense $86,635 $80,466 $102,667 Interest income (1,054) (169) (623) Capitalized interest (791) (437) (1,379) $84,790 $79,860 $100,665 Note H—Stock Repurchase Program As of August 30, 2003, the Board of Directors had authorized the Company to repurchase up to $3.3 billion of common stock in the open market. From January 1998 to August 30, 2003, the Company has repurchased a total of 72.1 million shares at an aggregate cost of $2.8  billion. During fiscal 2003, the Company repurchased 12.3 million shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $891.1 million. At times in the past, the Company utilized equity forward agreements to facilitate its repurchase of common stock. There were no equity forward agreements for share repurchases as of August 30, 2003. At August 31, 2002, the Company held equity forward agreements, which were settled in cash during fiscal 2003, for the purchase of approximately 2.2 million shares of common stock at an average cost of $68.82 per share. Such obligations under the equity forward agreements at August 31, 2002, were not reflected on the balance sheet. During 2003, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity” (SFAS 150). SFAS 150 applied to the Company’s use of equity forward agree- ments to repurchase common stock and would have required the Company to record any forward purchase obligations as a liability on the balance sheet. All of the Company’s outstanding forward purchase contracts were settled prior to the adoption of SFAS 150 during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003. Accordingly, the adoption of SFAS 150 had no impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company has granted options to purchase common stock to some of its employees and directors under various plans at prices equal to the market value of the stock on the dates the options were granted. Options become exercisable in a one to seven year period, and expire ten years after the grant date. See Note A for additional information regarding the Company’s stock option plans. A summary of outstanding stock options is as follows: Note I—Employee Stock Plans Number Weighted Average of Shares Exercise Price Outstanding August 26, 2000 10,767,622 $ 25.64 Granted 908,566 25.53 Exercised (2,135,328) 22.12 Canceled (1,084,683) 27.16 Outstanding August 25, 2001 8,456,177 26.33 Granted 1,134,064 46.88 Exercised (2,621,247) 25.26 Canceled (684,435) 29.50 Outstanding August 31, 2002 6,284,559 30.09 Granted 1,475,922 71.55 Exercised (1,763,940) 27.79 Canceled (714,840) 32.00 Outstanding August 30, 2003 5,281,701 $42.14 42 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)