Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 58

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 58 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

56
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฀1,฀2014฀and฀February฀2,฀2013:
Fiscal Year 2013 Fiscal Year 2012
Audit Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,151,390 $4,428,204
Audit-Related฀Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151,878 45,993
Tax Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188,021 —
All Other Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — —
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,491,289 $4,474,197
Audit Fees฀for฀the฀years฀ended฀February฀1,฀2014฀and฀February฀2,฀2013,฀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฀1,฀2014฀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.฀These฀fees฀also฀included฀services฀related฀to฀acquisition฀related฀due฀diligence฀which฀were฀approved฀by฀
the฀Audit฀Committee฀in฀June฀2013.
Tax Fees for฀the฀year฀ended฀February฀1,฀2014฀were฀for฀tax฀audit฀support฀and฀debt฀restructuring.฀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฀1,฀2014฀and฀February฀2,฀2013.
The฀ Audit฀Committee฀requires฀that฀it฀approve฀in฀advance฀all฀audit฀and฀ non-audit฀work฀performed฀by฀
PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP.฀On฀March฀12,฀2014,฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀approved฀services฀to฀be฀performed฀
by฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀for฀the฀remainder฀of฀fiscal฀year฀2014฀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. 5 )
We฀have฀been฀notified฀by฀five฀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:
“ T H E K R O G E R C O M P A N Y
HU M A N R I G H T S R I S K A S S E S S M E N T - 2 0 14
RESOLVED,฀that฀shareholders฀of฀The฀Kroger฀Company฀(“Kroger”)฀urge฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors฀to฀report฀
to฀shareholders,฀at฀reasonable฀cost฀and฀omitting฀proprietary฀information,฀on฀Kroger’s฀process฀for฀identifying฀
and฀analyzing฀potential฀and฀actual฀human฀rights฀risks฀of฀Kroger’s฀operations฀and฀supply฀chain฀(referred฀to฀
herein฀as฀a฀“human฀rights฀risk฀assessment”)฀addressing฀the฀following:
•฀ Human฀rights฀principles฀used฀to฀frame฀the฀assessment
•฀ Frequency฀of฀assessment