Kroger CFO not opposed to big acquisition

CHICAGO, March 14 (Reuters) - Kroger Co. (KR.N) would not be opposed to doing "an acquisition of size," but prefers smaller deals to fill in its presence in markets where it already has stores, the chief financial officer of the largest U.S. grocery chain said on Wednesday.

The comments by CFO Mike Schlotman at a Bank of America conference came the day after Kroger executives said that while the company saw acquisition opportunities, it had not done any major deals recently since it could not agree on price.

Kroger's last big merger was its $13 billion combination with Fred Meyer Inc. in 1999. Since then, it has done primarily fill-in deals, adding about 250 to 300 stores to its lineup, Schlotman said. He said that those types of acquisitions have had a very high return.

Two grocery acquisitions have been announced in the past few weeks. In late February, Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI.O) said it would buy smaller rival Wild Oats Markets Inc. OATS.O and last week Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co Inc. (GAP.N), the grocer known as A&P, reached a deal to buy Pathmark Stores Inc.PTMK.O.

On Tuesday, Kroger posted a 36.4 percent jump in fiscal fourth-quarter profit and raised its earnings forecast for the current year.