Expanded stock buyback set for Las Vegas grocery operator

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Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

CINCINNATI-- Kroger Co., the largest U.S. supermarket chain, said it will buy back as much as $750 million of stock, or about 5 percent of its shares, after the stock fell 41 percent in the last year.

Kroger owns Smith's Food & Drug and PriceRite stores in Las Vegas.

The Cincinnati-based company said the stock buyback replaces a $100 million plan announced in January. Timing of the purchases will vary according to market conditions, the company said.

Joseph Pichler, Kroger chairman and chief executive, said the shares are undervalued given the company's growth prospects and success in achieving savings from the purchase of Smith's and PriceRite owner Fred Meyer Inc. for $13.5 billion in May.

Kroger and other supermarket stocks have fallen in the past year on concern about the integration of large acquisitions and investors' preference for technology stocks.