Kroger 2012 Annual Report Download - page 49

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47
DI S C L O S U R E O F A U D I T O R F E E S
The following describes the fees billed to Kroger by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP related to the fiscal
years฀ended฀February฀2,฀2013฀and฀January฀28,฀2012:
Fiscal Year 2012 Fiscal Year 2011
Audit Fees .................................................. $4,439,110 $ 4,163,571
Audit-Related Fees ............................................ 45,993 —
Tax Fees .................................................... — 75,819
All Other Fees ............................................... — —
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,485,103 $ 4,239,390
Audit Fees for the years ended February 2, 2013 and January 28, 2012, respectively, were for professional
services rendered for the audits of Kroger’s consolidated financial statements, the issuance of comfort letters
to underwriters, consents, and assistance with the review of documents filed with the SEC.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit related services for the year ended February 2, 2013 were for assurance and
related services pertaining to accounting consultation in connection with attest services that are not required
by statute or regulation, and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. These
services are considered approved under the Company’s existing Audit and Non-Audit Service Pre-Approval
Policy. We did not engage PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for any audit-related services for the year ended
January 28, 2012.
Tax Fees for the year ended January 28, 2012 were for an analysis of sales tax. We did not engage
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for any tax services for the year ended February 2, 2013.
All Other Fees. We did not engage PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for other services for the years ended
February 2, 2013 and January 28, 2012.
The฀ Audit฀Committee฀requires฀that฀it฀approve฀in฀advance฀all฀audit฀and฀non-audit฀work฀performed฀by฀
PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP.฀On฀March฀13,฀2013,฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀approved฀services฀to฀be฀performed฀
by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 that are related to the audit of Kroger
or involve the audit itself. In 2007, the Audit Committee adopted an audit and non-audit service pre-approval
policy. Pursuant to the terms of that policy, the Committee will annually pre-approve certain defined services
that are expected to be provided by the independent auditors. If it becomes appropriate during the year
to engage the independent accountant for additional services, the Audit Committee must first approve the
specific฀services฀before฀the฀independent฀accountant฀may฀perform฀the฀additional฀work.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has advised the Audit Committee that neither the firm, nor any member of
the firm, has any financial interest, direct or indirect, in any capacity in Kroger or its subsidiaries.
SH A R E H O L D E R P R O P O S A L
( I T E M N O. 4 )
We have been notified by four shareholders, the names and shareholdings of which will be furnished
promptly to any shareholder upon written or oral request to Kroger’s Secretary at Kroger’s executive offices,
that฀they฀intend฀to฀propose฀the฀following฀resolution฀at฀the฀annual฀meeting:
2 0 1 3 – K R O G E R C O M P A N Y
WHEREAS, the Kroger Company purchases significant amounts of fruits and vegetables, from both domestic
and฀international฀sources,฀and฀is฀one฀of฀the฀largest฀supermarket฀chains฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice has successfully prosecuted several cases of modern-day
slavery฀in฀the฀U.S.฀agricultural฀industry฀since฀1996,฀involving฀over฀1,000฀workers,฀(see,฀for฀example,฀US฀v.฀
Ramos;฀US฀v.฀Lee;฀US฀v.฀Flores;฀US฀v.฀Cuello;฀US฀v.฀Tecum)฀and฀there฀is฀increasing฀public฀awareness฀and฀media฀
coverage฀of฀the฀abuses฀that฀many฀agricultural฀workers฀face,฀and