REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. -- A&P shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a shareholder proposal to sell the company immediately at the company's brief and sparsely attended annual meeting here last week.
Shareholders also, by large margins, elected 10 directors to new terms and ratified Deloitte & Touche, New York, as independent auditor for the company.
Christian Haub, A&P chairman and chief executive officer, opened the meeting by welcoming the small group of shareholders to Rehoboth Beach, the site of one of A&P's newest and most technologically advanced Super Fresh stores. Haub commented that "A&P executives were happy" about the new store's performance and invited shareholders to visit.
In response to questions from Sam Yake, an attorney and shareholder speaking for proponents of the proposal to sell A&P, Haub said "the corporation is always examining ways to deploy its financial resources" and that stock buybacks were one of the many options that A&P continually considered.
Haub also noted, in response to another question, that A&P held "regular analyst calls and meetings" to keep the investment community informed about the company and that A&P's recent quarterly earnings announcement "has been greeted positively" by analysts who cover the company.
Haub also said that the corporation had "never repriced outstanding options" and "had no intention of doing so in the future."
In response to another shareholder question, Fred Corrado, A&P vice chairman and chief financial officer, said the corporation had three sites remaining to sell in its sale/lease-back program that began nine months ago. "A&P has already realized $140 million from this effort and expects between $10 million and $20 million more from the remainder," Corrado said.