Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 58

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 58 of the 2014 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 142

  • 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

56
SE L E C T I O N O F A U D I T O R S
( I T E M N O. 3 )
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฀11,฀2015,฀
the฀Audit฀Committee฀appointed฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀as฀Kroger’s฀independent฀auditor฀for฀the฀fiscal฀
year฀ending฀January฀30,฀2016.฀While฀shareholder฀ratification฀of฀the฀selection฀of฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀
as฀our฀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฀our฀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 .
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฀January฀31,฀2015฀and฀February฀1,฀2014.
Fiscal Year 2014 Fiscal Year 2013
Audit฀Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,250,203 $5,151,390
Audit-Related฀Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 441,704 $ 151,878
Tax฀Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 360,498 $ 188,021
All฀Other฀Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 85,000 —
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,137,405 $5,491,289
Audit Fees.฀Audit฀fees฀for฀fiscal฀2014฀and฀fiscal฀2013฀were฀for฀professional฀ser vices฀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฀ fees฀ for฀ fiscal฀ 2014฀ and฀ fiscal฀ 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.฀These฀fees฀also฀included฀services฀related฀to฀acquisition฀related฀due฀diligence.
Tax Fees.฀Tax฀fees฀for฀fiscal฀2014฀and฀fiscal฀2013฀were฀for฀state฀tax฀compliance,฀tax฀audit฀support฀and฀
debt฀restructuring.฀
All Other Fees.฀ Other฀ fees฀ for฀ fiscal฀ 2014฀ were฀ for฀ advisory฀ services฀ pertaining฀ to฀ retiree฀ healthcare฀
benefits.฀We฀did฀not฀engage฀PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀for฀other฀services฀in฀fiscal฀2013.
The฀ Audit฀Committee฀ requires฀ that฀it฀approve฀in฀advance฀all฀audit฀and฀non-audit฀work฀performed฀ by฀
PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP.฀On฀March฀11,฀2015,฀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.