The Kroger Co.

Good morning and welcome to the Kroger Co fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call. If you'd like to ask a question once the presentation has finished, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to remove it, you may press star followed by two. Please note this event is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Rob Quast, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for Kroger's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call. I am joined today by Kroger's chairman and chief executive officer, Ron Sargent, and interim chief financial officer, Todd Foley. Before we begin, I want to remind you that today's discussions will include forward-looking statements. We want to caution you that such statements are predictions and actual events or results can differ materially. A detailed discussion of the many factors that we believe may have a material effect on our business on an ongoing basis is contained in our SEC filings. The Kroger Company assumes no obligation to update that information. After our prepared remarks, we look forward to taking your questions. In order to cover a broad range of topics from as many of you as we can, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question. I will now turn the call over to Ron.

Thanks, Rob. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining our call today. Before we begin, I'd like to just share a few comments. Kroger has always been committed to its enduring values. This has been true for Kroger since my first job in the summer of 1974, working in the Fort Mitchell, Kentucky store. In many ways, I grew up at Kroger, working summers in college and then full time for 10 years following business school. I've held various roles in stores and manufacturing, human resources, marketing strategy and sales. Kroger has really been a special place throughout my career in retail, and I'm just as proud to be a Kroger associate today as I was then. I will be serving as the interim CEO as we search for a leader for our next phase of growth. The board has formed a search committee and has engaged a nationally recognized search firm. We look forward to updating you as we have more information. As a board member, I know Kroger's strong leadership team well. and they support the unique culture that powers the company's long-term success. We care for people and we love food, the most important elements of successful grocery retail. Today Kroger operates from a position of strength. We delivered strong financial results in 2024 and have positive momentum in our business. We're confident in our plans for 2025 and our commitment to deliver total shareholder return of 8 to 11% over time. I will be especially focused on executing with speed and confidence, keeping our teams working toward the priorities that create long-term growth. We're delivering on our go-to-market strategy, providing families across America with fresh and affordable food. In my retail career, I understood that an outstanding customer experience comes from best in class store conditions, friendly associates, and great products at low prices. That's who Kroger is today, and that's who we will be tomorrow. I'll turn the call over to Todd to recap our 2024 performance and how our value creation model allows us to deliver on our goals. He will then recap our financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 24, and then cover 2025 Financial Guidance. Todd?