THE COMPANY AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Safeway Inc. and subsidiaries (“Safeway” or the “Company”) for the 12 weeks and 36 weeks ended September 6, 2014 and September 7, 2013 are unaudited and, in the opinion of management, contain all adjustments that are of a normal and recurring nature necessary to present fairly the financial position and results of operations for such periods. These condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared on an accrual basis in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to SEC regulations. The condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes contained in the Company’s 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended. The results of operations for the 12 and 36 weeks ended September 6, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year or other future periods.

Recent Developments

On March 6, 2014, Safeway entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended on April 7, 2014 and on June 13, 2014, the “Merger Agreement”), with AB Acquisition LLC (“AB Acquisition”), Albertson’s Holdings LLC (“Albertsons Holdings”), a subsidiary of AB Acquisition, Albertson’s LLC (“Albertson’s LLC”), a subsidiary of Albertsons Holdings, and Saturn Acquisition Merger Sub, Inc. (“Merger Sub” and together with AB Acquisition, Albertsons Holdings and Albertson’s LLC, “Albertsons”), a subsidiary of Albertsons Holdings, pursuant to which the parties agreed that, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, Albertsons Holdings will acquire Safeway. At the Company's 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on July 25, 2014, Safeway stockholders approved the proposal to adopt and approve the Merger Agreement.

The Merger Agreement provides that, at the closing of the transactions contemplated thereby, Merger Sub will be merged with and into Safeway (the “Merger”), with Safeway continuing as the surviving corporation. Pursuant to the Merger, each outstanding share of common stock of Safeway will cease to be outstanding and will (other than excluded dissenting shares and shares held in treasury) be converted into the right to receive:

(i) $32.50 in cash,

(ii) pro-rata distributions of net proceeds with respect to certain sales of


(x)	Safeway’s real-estate development subsidiaries, Property Development Centers, LLC and PDC I, Inc., and assets comprised of Safeway’s shopping center portfolio including certain related Safeway stores (“PDC”), and


(y)	Safeway’s 49% interest (the “Casa Ley Interest”) in Casa Ley, S.A. de C.V., a Mexico-based food and general merchandise retailer (“Casa Ley”);

(iii) a pro-rata portion of certain after-tax amounts received by Safeway as dividends or distributions in respect of the Casa Ley Interest or that are paid from the operating earnings of PDC;

(iv) if the closing of the Merger occurs after March 5, 2015, $0.005342 per day for each day from (and including) March 5, 2015 through (and including) the closing; and

(v)

if the sale of the Casa Ley Interest and/or the PDC assets are not fully completed on or prior to the closing of the Merger or there is any deferred consideration that has not been paid to Safeway with respect to pre-closing sales of the Casa Ley Interest and/or PDC, (x) one contingent value right relating to the sale of any remaining Casa Ley Interest and deferred consideration (a “Casa Ley CVR”) and/or (y) one contingent value right relating to the sale of any remaining PDC assets and deferred consideration (a “PDC CVR” which, together with a Casa Ley CVR, is referred to as a “CVR”)

((i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) together, the “Per Share Merger Consideration”).

Each outstanding Safeway restricted stock award, restricted stock unit and performance share award covering shares of Safeway common stock shall vest and be cancelled in exchange for a right to receive the Per Share Merger Consideration with respect to the shares subject to the applicable award and, if necessary, a CVR. Each outstanding option to purchase Safeway common stock will vest and be cancelled in exchange for the right to receive a payment equal to the excess, if any, of the cash portion of the Per Share Merger Consideration over the exercise price of the applicable option, and additionally, each Safeway option with an exercise price less than the cash portion of the Per Share Merger Consideration will receive, if necessary, the applicable non-transferable CVR.

Consummation of the Merger is subject to various customary conditions, including, among others, there not having been a “material adverse effect” on Safeway, compliance with covenants and accuracy of representations and warranties (in each case subject to materiality qualifiers) and expiration of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. The parties have agreed to use their respective reasonable best efforts to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals for the Merger provided that Albertsons will not be obligated to agree to divestitures or other restrictions that would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the parties to the Merger Agreement and their respective subsidiaries, taken as a whole, after giving effect to the reasonably anticipated economic benefits of the Merger.

Distribution of Blackhawk Shares

On April 14, 2014, Safeway distributed the remaining 37.8 million shares of Blackhawk stock that it owned to its stockholders. See Note B. Beginning in the second quarter of 2014, Blackhawk was reclassified as a discontinued operation.

Restricted Cash

In accordance with the Merger Agreement, the Company contributed $40.0 million in cash to PDC in the second quarter of 2014. This cash was to be held in a reserve account until the earlier to occur of (i) payment in full of the mortgage indebtedness encumbering a shopping center in Lahaina, Hawaii and (ii) the release of the Company from any guaranty obligations in connection with such indebtedness. During the third quarter of 2014, the Company deposited $40.0 million with a trustee and achieved a full legal defeasance of the mortgage indebtedness and was released from the guaranty obligations associated with such indebtedness. Therefore, during the third quarter of 2014, the Company extinguished the $40.8 million mortgage from the condensed consolidated balance sheet. This was previously included in Mortgage Notes Payable in Note G.

Inventory

Net income reflects the LIFO method of valuing certain domestic inventories based upon estimated annual inflation. The LIFO method of inventory valuation is determined annually when actual LIFO inflation indices for the year are calculated during the fourth quarter based upon a statistical sampling of inventories; therefore, LIFO inventory costs for interim financial statements are estimated. Safeway recorded no LIFO expense during the first 36 weeks of 2014 or during the first 36 weeks of 2013.

Corporate-Owned Life Insurance ("COLI")

Safeway has COLI policies that have a cash surrender value. During 2013, Safeway borrowed against these policies. The Company has no current intention of repaying the loans prior to maturity or cancellation of the policies. Therefore, the Company offsets the cash surrender value by the related loans. At September 6, 2014, the cash surrender value of the policies was $59.5 million, and the balance of the policy loans was $42.2 million, for a net of $17.3 million, which is included in Other Assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheet.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” which provides guidance for revenue recognition. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early application is not permitted. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of ASU No. 2014-09 on its financial statements.

On April 10, 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-08 “Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity.” ASU No. 2014-08 changes the criteria for reporting discontinued operations and modifies related disclosure requirements. The new guidance is effective on a prospective basis for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2014, and interim periods within annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2015. The Company is currently assessing the future impact of ASU No. 2014-08 on its financial statements.