Whole Foods 2010 Annual Report Download - page 30

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We periodically make other commitments and become subject to other contractual obligations that we believe to be routine
in nature and incidental to the operation of the business. Management believes that such routine commitments and
contractual obligations do not have a material impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Following is a summary of dividends declared on common shares in fiscal year 2008 (in thousands, except per share
amounts):
Date of Dividend per Date of Date of Total
declaration common share record payment amount
November 20, 2007 $ 0.20 January 11, 2008 January 22, 2008 $ 27,901
March 10, 2008 0.20 April 11, 2008 April 22, 2008 28,041
June 11, 2008 0.20 July 11, 2008 July 22, 2008 28,057
During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008, the Company’s Board of Directors suspended the quarterly cash dividend on
common shares.
During fiscal year 2008, the Company retired approximately 4.5 million shares held in treasury that had been repurchased for
a total of approximately $200 million. On November 8, 2009, the Company’s stock repurchase program expired in
accordance with its terms.
The effect of exchange rate changes on cash included in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows resulted in an increase
in cash and cash equivalents totaling approximately $0.9 million for fiscal year 2010 and decreases in cash and cash
equivalents totaling approximately $1.3 million and $1.6 million for fiscal years 2009 and 2008, reflecting the relative
strengthening and weakening of the Canadian and United Kingdom currencies compared to the U.S. dollar during these
periods.
Our principal historical sources of liquidity have been cash generated by operations, available cash and cash equivalents,
short-term investments and amounts available under our revolving line of credit. Absent any significant change in market
condition, we expect planned expansion and other anticipated working capital and capital expenditure requirements for the
next twelve months will be funded by these sources. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company will continue to
generate cash flows at or above current levels or that our revolving line of credit and other sources of capital will be available
to us in the future.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Our off-balance sheet arrangements at September 26, 2010 consist of operating leases disclosed in the above contractual
obligations table and the undrawn portion of our revolving credit facility discussed in Note 10 to the consolidated financial
statements, “Long-Term Debt,” in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” We have no other off-balance
sheet arrangements that have had, or are reasonably likely to have, a material current or future effect on our consolidated
financial statements or financial condition.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of our financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires us to make
estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and related disclosures of
contingent assets and liabilities. Actual amounts may differ from these estimates. We base our estimates on historical
experience and on various other assumptions and factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. On an
ongoing basis, we evaluate the continued appropriateness of our accounting policies and resulting estimates to make
adjustments we consider appropriate under the facts and circumstances.
We have chosen accounting policies that we believe are appropriate to report accurately and fairly our operating results and
financial position, and we apply those accounting policies in a consistent manner. Our significant accounting policies are
summarized in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
We believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical in the preparation of our financial statements because
they involve the most difficult, subjective or complex judgments about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain.
Inventory Valuation
We value our inventories at the lower of cost or market. Cost was determined using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method for
approximately 93.9% and 93.6% of inventories at September 26, 2010 and September 27, 2009, respectively. Under the
LIFO method, the cost assigned to items sold is based on the cost of the most recent items purchased. As a result, the costs of
the first items purchased remain in inventory and are used to value ending inventory. The excess of estimated current costs
over LIFO carrying value, or LIFO reserve, was approximately $19.4 million and $27.1 million at September 26, 2010 and