Safeway 2000 Annual Report Download - page 43

Safeway Inc. and Subsidiaries
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verdict in favor of Vons and the other defendants. On October
15, 1999, the court denied plaintiffs’ motion for judgment
notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial, and also denied their
motion for judgment on the unfair competition claim. On
November 1, 1999, judgment was entered in favor of defen-
dants, and plaintiffs appealed. The appeal is pending. The
Company believes that plaintiffs have no meritorious grounds
for an appeal and expects the judgment to be affirmed.
On August 23, 2000, a lawsuit entitled Baker, et al. v.
Jewel Food Stores, Inc., et al. was filed in the Circuit Court
of Cook County, Illinois, against the Company’s subsidiary,
Dominick’s, and Jewel Food Stores, a subsidiary of
Albertson’s, Inc. The complaint alleges, among other things,
that Dominick’s and Jewel conspired to fix the retail price
of milk in nine Illinois counties in the Chicago area, in vio-
lation of the Illinois Antitrust Act. The plaintiffs purport to
bring the lawsuit as a class action on behalf of all persons
residing in the nine-county area who purchased milk from
the defendants’ retail stores in these counties. The complaint
seeks unspecified damages, and an injunction enjoining the
defendants from acts in restraint of trade. If damages were
to be awarded, they may be trebled under the applicable
statute. The defendants have filed a motion for summary
judgment, seeking dismissal of the entire action. The court
has set a discovery and briefing schedule for the motion,
and the defendants expect a ruling by the fall of 2001. The
Company believes that the allegations in the complaint are
without merit and plans to defend this action vigorously.
There are also pending against the 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
ascertained at this time, any resulting liability, including any
punitive damages, will not have a material adverse effect of
the Company’s financial statements taken as a whole.
COMMITMENTS The Company has commitments under
contracts for the purchase of property and equipment and
for the construction of buildings. Portions of such contracts
not completed at year-end are not reflected in the consoli-
dated financial statements. These unrecorded commitments
were $95.7 million at year-end 2000.
NOTE L: SEGMENTS
Safeway’s food and drug business, which represents more than 98% of consolidated sales and operates in the United States and
Canada, is its only reportable segment.
The following table presents information about the Company by geographic area (in millions):
U.S. Canada Total
2000
Sales $ 28,533.9 $3,443.0 $ 31,976.9
Operating profit 2,081.5 200.2 2,281.7
Income before income taxes 1,675.6 190.9 1,866.5
Total assets 14,931.5 1,033.8 15,965.3
1999
Sales $ 25,535.3 $ 3,324.6 $ 28,859.9
Operating profit 1,815.4 182.5 1,997.9
Income before income taxes 1,499.0 175.0 1,674.0
Total assets 13,960.2 940.1 14,900.3
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