ST. LOUIS — A shareholder at the Supervalu annual meeting here Tuesday threatened to file a class-action lawsuit against the company for mismanagement.
The shareholder, who said he owned 45,000 shares, criticized Craig Herkert, chairman and chief executive officer, for taking a $950,000 bonus at the same time the company is eliminating the dividend and asked if he would agree to cut his salary to $1 per year for the next two years "to show us your commitment." When Herkert said he would not make that commitment, the shareholder said the company should expect the class-action suit.
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In his remarks to shareholders, Herkert repeated comments he made to analysts last week that Supervalu intends to complete the rollout of its fair-price-plus-promotions program at Jewel-Osco by Labor Day, "and the results there should help us with our next market, which we will announce very soon."
He said the company expects to have all markets operating with the fair-price program within the next 18 months.
Supervalu disclosed a week ago it was launching a strategic review of the company that could include asset sales.