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Safeway (FRA:SWY) Intangible Assets : €257 Mil (As of Sep. 2014)


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What is Safeway Intangible Assets?

Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured. Safeway's intangible assets for the quarter that ended in Sep. 2014 was €257 Mil.


Safeway Intangible Assets Historical Data

The historical data trend for Safeway's Intangible Assets can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Safeway Intangible Assets Chart

Safeway Annual Data
Trend Dec04 Dec05 Dec06 Dec07 Dec08 Dec09 Dec10 Dec11 Dec12 Dec13
Intangible Assets
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 292.65 325.76 357.05 359.28 339.09

Safeway Quarterly Data
Dec09 Mar10 Jun10 Sep10 Dec10 Mar11 Jun11 Sep11 Dec11 Mar12 Jun12 Sep12 Dec12 Mar13 Jun13 Sep13 Dec13 Mar14 Jun14 Sep14
Intangible Assets Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 279.45 339.09 335.91 243.54 256.78

Safeway Intangible Assets Calculation

Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured. Examples of intangible assets include trade secrets, copyrights, patents, trademarks. If a company acquires assets at the prices above the book value, it may carry goodwill on its balance sheet. Goodwill reflects the difference between the price the company paid and the book value of the assets.


Safeway  (FRA:SWY) Intangible Assets Explanation

If a company (company A) received a patent through their own work, though it has value, it does not show up on its balance sheet as an intangible asset. However, if company A sells this patent to company B, it will show up on company B's balance sheet as an intangible asset.

The same applies to brand names, trade secrets etc. For instance, Coca-Cola's brand is extremely valuable, but the brand does not appear on its balance sheet, because the brand was never acquired.

Some intangibles are amortized. Amortization is the depreciation of intangible assets.

Many intangibles are not amortized. They may still be written down when the company decides the asset is impaired.

Whenever you see an increase in goodwill over a number of years, you can assume it's because the company is out buying other businesses above book value. GOOD if buying businesses with durable competitive advantage.

If goodwill stays the same, the company when acquiring other companies is either paying less than book value or not acquiring. Businesses with moats never sell for less than book value.

Intangibles acquired are on balance sheet at fair value.

Internally developed brand names (Coke, Wrigleys, Band-Aid) however are not reflected on the balance sheet.

One of the reasons competitive advantage power can remain hidden for so long.


Be Aware

Companies may change the way intangible assets are amortized, and this will affect their reported earnings.


Safeway Intangible Assets Related Terms

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Safeway (FRA:SWY) Business Description

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Safeway Inc was incorporated in the state of Delaware in July 1986 as SSI Holdings Corporation and, thereafter, its name was changed to Safeway Stores, Incorporated. In February 1990, the Company changed its name to Safeway Inc. The Company is a food and drug retailers in the United States, with 1,335 stores at year-end 2013. The Company's U.S. retail operations are located principally in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region. The Company also has a network of distribution, manufacturing and food-processing facilities. The Company retail business operates into seven geographic retail operating segments; Denver, Eastern, Northern California, Phoenix, Northwest, Texas and Southern California. In all geographical retail operating segments, it operates one store format, where each store offers the same general mix of products with similar pricing to similar categories of customers. The Company does not operate supercenters, warehouse formats, combination clothing/grocery stores or discount stores. It owns and operates GroceryWorks.com Operating Company, LLC ("GroceryWorks"), an online grocery channel doing business under the names Safeway.com and Vons.com. Safeway's stores provide grocery items tailored to local preferences. Its stores offer a selection of food and general merchandise and feature a variety of specialty departments such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy. In addition, its stores offer Starbucks coffee shops and adjacent fuel centers. The Company also owns more than 300 other trademarks registered and/or pending in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and other jurisdictions, including trademarks for its product and services such as Safeway, Safeway SELECT, Rancher's Reserve, O Organics, Lucerne, Primo Taglio, Eating Right, mom to mom, waterfront BISTRO, Bright Green, Pantry Essentials, Open Nature, Refreshe, Snack Artist, Signature Café, Priority, just for U, My Simple Nutrition, Ingredients for Life, and other trademarks such as Pak'N Save Foods, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, and Carrs Quality Centers. Blackhawk, a subsidiary of Safeway, provides third-party gift cards, prepaid cards, telecom cards and sports and entertainment cards to a group of top North American retailers for sale to retail customers. The competitive factors that affect the Company's business are location, quality, price, condition of assets, marketing and promotional strategies, service and consumer loyalty to other brands and stores. It faces intense competition from traditional grocery retailers, non-traditional competitors such as supercenters and club stores, as well as from specialty supermarkets, drug stores, dollar stores, convenience stores and restaurants. The Company's compliance with the federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations have been adopted regulating the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise related to the p

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