Investor Presentaiton

4 Stress at the Low-Income Consumer Segment Companies are calling attention to increasing stress amongst low-income consumers, who generally have the highest marginal propensity to drive incremental consumption across the economy "Consumer spend growth has now reverted to pre-pandemic trends with nominal spend for customer stable and relatively flat year-on- year. Cash buffers continue to normalize to pre-pandemic levels with lower income groups normalizing faster." - Jeremy Barnum, J.P. Morgan CFO, Q3 2023 Earnings Call (October 13, 2023) "Our customer has household income around $35,000 ... but she -- certainly in 2023, she's under some challenge. We talked about this in our first quarter call. It really showed up in mid-March where the SNAP reductions and the tax refund lowering -- or in some cases, didn't get one at all, really had a pressure -- put pressure on our consumer. As she's still battling the inflationary pressures, even though it's moderating, it's certainly on a 2-year stack, is still significant for our consumer." - Jeffrey Owen, CEO, Dollar General, Goldman Sachs Retailing Conference (September 12, 2023) "Budget-conscious households are facing external spending pressures. These customers are buying smaller pack sizes and, at times, prioritizing the lowest shelf price. These customers are building smaller baskets and switching to lower-priced items to stretch their budgets. They are also exhibiting spending patterns that ebb and flow with payroll periods and SNAP benefit distributions. We expect these broader economic headwinds to continue pressuring customer spending in the second half of the year" - Rodney McMullen, CEO, Kroger, Q2 2024 Earnings Call (September 8, 2023) Moreover, we expect the resumption of student loan payments to pose further headwinds to an already strained consumer segment Source: Company transcripts 18

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