Pleasanton-Based Safeway In Talks Over Possible Sale Of Company

PLEASANTON (CBS/AP) - Safeway says it's in talks to possibly put itself up for sale.

The Pleasanton-based supermarket operator says that discussions are ongoing but that it hasn't yet reached an agreement. It added that it isn't certain that the talks will end in a deal.

The company, which has more than 1,300 U.S. locations, says it's postponing its investor conference that had been scheduled for early March.

For the fourth quarter, Safeway earned $100 million, or 35 cents per share, from continuing operations. Excluding one-time items, it earned 53 cents per share, above the 47 cents per share Wall Street expected.

A year earlier, it earned $170.7 million, or 71 cents per share.

Revenue was $11.31 billion, short of the $11.49 billion analysts expected.