Safeway 1998 Annual Report Download - page 39

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 39 of the 1998 Safeway 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 44

  • 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

Note L: Segments
S a f e w a y ’s retail gro c e ry business, which re p resents more than 98% of consolidated sales, is its only re p o rtable segment. The following
table presents information about the Company by geographic area (in millions):
U.S. Canada Total
1998
Sales $21,241.7 $3,242.5 $24,484.2
Operating profit 1,467.3 134.4 1,601.7
Income before income taxes 1,272.3 124.6 1,396.9
Total assets 10,541.9 847.7 11,389.6
1997
Sales $19,075.9 $3,407.9 $22,483.8
Operating profit 1,169.6 110.1 1,279.7
Income before income taxes and extraordinary loss 978.4 97.9 1,076.3
Total assets 7,613.7 880.2 8,493.9
1996
Sales $13,797.5 $3,471.5 $17,269.0
Operating profit 752.8 138.9 891.7
Income before income taxes 652.2 115.4 767.6
Total assets 4,625.4 919.8 5,545.2
has meritorious defenses to plaintiffs’ claims and plans to
defend this lawsuit vigorously.
Safeway acquired Dominick’s in November 1998. At that
time, there was pending against Dominick’s a class action
lawsuit that had been filed in the U.S. District Court for the
N o rt h e rn District of Illinois in March 1995, alleging gender
discrimination and seeking compensatory and punitive dam-
ages in an unspecified amount. The lawsuit also alleges national
origin discrimination, but the court denied plaintiffs’ class
c e rtification motion as to those claims. The Company believes
D o m i n i c k ’s has meritorious defenses and plans to defend this
lawsuit vigoro u s l y.
T h e re are also pending against Company various claims
and lawsuits arising in the normal course of business, some of
which seek damages and other relief, which, if granted, would
require very large expenditures.
It is management’s opinion that although the amount of
liability with respect to all of the above matters cannot be
a s c e rtained at this time, any resulting liability, including any
punitive damages, will not have a material adverse effect on
the Company’s financial statements taken as a whole.
Commitments The Company has commitments under contracts
for the purchase of pro p e rty and equipment and for the con-
s t ruction of buildings. Portions of such contracts not completed
at year-end are not reflected in the consolidated financial state-
ments. These unrecorded commitments were $63.8 million at
year-end 1998.