Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 57

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 57 of the 2013 Kroger annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 152

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152

55
AD V I S O R Y V O T E O N E X E C U T I V E C O M P E N S A T I O N
( I T E M N O. 3 )
The฀Dodd-Frank฀Wall฀Street฀Reform฀and฀Consumer฀Protection฀Act,฀enacted฀in฀July฀2010,฀requires฀that฀we฀
give฀our฀shareholders฀the฀right฀to฀approve,฀on฀a฀nonbinding,฀advisory฀basis,฀the฀compensation฀of฀our฀named฀
executive฀officers฀as฀disclosed฀earlier฀in฀this฀proxy฀statement฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀SEC’s฀rules.
As discussed earlier in our Compensation Discussion and Analysis, our compensation philosophy is to:
•฀ make฀total฀compensation฀competitive;
•฀ include฀opportunities฀for฀equity฀ownership฀as฀part฀of฀compensation;฀and
•฀ use฀incentive฀compensation฀to฀help฀drive฀performance฀by฀providing฀superior฀pay฀for฀superior฀results.
Furthermore, as previously disclosed, an increased percentage of total potential compensation is
performance-based฀as฀opposed฀to฀time-based฀as฀half฀of฀the฀compensation฀previously฀awarded฀to฀the฀named฀
executive฀officers฀as฀restricted฀stock฀(and฀earned฀based฀on฀the฀passage฀of฀time)฀is฀now฀only฀earned฀to฀the฀
extent฀that฀performance฀goals฀are฀achieved.฀In฀addition,฀annual฀and฀long-term฀cash฀bonuses฀are฀performance-
based฀and฀earned฀only฀to฀the฀extent฀that฀performance฀goals฀are฀achieved.฀In฀addition,฀annual฀and฀long-term฀
cash฀bonuses฀are฀performance-based฀and฀earned฀only฀to฀the฀extent฀that฀performance฀goals฀are฀achieved.฀In฀
tying฀a฀ large฀portion฀of฀executive฀compensation฀to฀achievement฀of฀short-term฀and฀long-term฀strategic฀ and฀
operational฀goals,฀we฀seek฀to฀closely฀align฀the฀interests฀of฀our฀named฀executive฀officers฀with฀the฀interests฀of฀
our shareholders.
The vote on this resolution is not intended to address any specific element of compensation. Rather, the
vote฀relates฀to฀the฀compensation฀of฀our฀named฀executive฀officers฀as฀described฀in฀this฀proxy฀statement.฀The฀
vote฀is฀advisory.฀This฀means฀ that฀the฀vote฀is฀not฀binding฀on฀Kroger.฀The฀Compensation฀Committee฀of฀our฀
Board฀of฀Directors฀is฀responsible฀for฀establishing฀executive฀compensation.฀In฀so฀doing฀that฀Committee฀will฀
consider, along with all other relevant factors, the results of this vote.
We฀ask฀our฀shareholders฀to฀vote฀on฀the฀following฀resolution:
“RESOLVED,฀that฀the฀compensation฀paid฀to฀the฀Company’s฀named฀executive฀officers,฀as฀disclosed฀pursuant฀
to฀ Item฀ 402฀ of฀ Regulation฀ S-K,฀ including฀ the฀ Compensation฀ Discussion฀ and฀ Analysis,฀ compensation฀
tables,฀and฀the฀related฀narrative฀discussion,฀is฀hereby฀APPROVED.”
TH E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S R E C O M M E N D S A V O T E F O R T H I S P R O P O S A L .
SE L E C T I O N O F A U D I T O R S
( I T E M N O. 4 )
The฀Audit฀Committee฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀is฀responsible฀for฀the฀appointment,฀compensation฀and฀
retention฀of฀Kroger’s฀independent฀auditor,฀as฀required฀by฀law฀and฀by฀applicable฀NYSE฀rules.฀On฀March฀12,฀
2014, the Audit Committee appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Kroger’s independent auditor for the
fiscal฀year฀ending฀January฀31,฀2015.฀While฀shareholder฀ratification฀of฀the฀selection฀of฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀
LLP฀ as฀ Kroger’s฀ independent฀ auditor฀ is฀ not฀ required฀ by฀ Kroger’s฀ Regulations฀ or฀ otherwise,฀ the฀ Board฀ of฀
Directors฀is฀submitting฀the฀selection฀of฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀to฀shareholders฀for฀ratification,฀as฀it฀has฀
in past years, as a good corporate governance practice. If the shareholders fail to ratify the selection, the Audit
Committee฀may,฀but฀is฀not฀required฀to,฀reconsider฀whether฀to฀retain฀that฀firm.฀Even฀if฀the฀selection฀is฀ratified,฀
the Audit Committee in its discretion may direct the appointment of a different auditor at any time during the
year฀if฀it฀determines฀that฀such฀a฀change฀would฀be฀in฀the฀best฀interests฀of฀Kroger฀and฀its฀shareholders.
A฀representative฀of฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀is฀expected฀to฀be฀present฀at฀the฀meeting฀to฀respond฀to฀
appropriate฀questions฀and฀to฀make฀a฀statement฀if฀he฀or฀she฀desires฀to฀do฀so.
TH E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S R E C O M M E N D S A V O T E F O R T H I S P R O P O S A L .