Albertson's Inc. reported earnings for the first fiscal quarter ended May 3 increased 15.4 percent to $51.2 million, or 77 cents per share, up from $44.4 million, or 66 cents per share, last year for the same period last year.
The grocery chain also reported record sales of $2.01 billion for the quarter, an increase of 10.8 percent over the $1.81 billion for the same period last year."We're very pleased with the first quarter as the results were in line with our plan for the year," said Warren E. McCain, chairman. "This was our first $2 billion sales quarter and our new distribution centers in Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Fort Worth, Texas, are operating according to our plan."
Gross margin increased to 23.00 percent from 22.72 percent for the same period a year ago. The company said the increase was due primarily to the efficiencies realized from new distribution centers. Operating and administrative expenses, as a percent to sales, increased to 18.76 percent from 18.68 percent last year. This increase was due primarily to an increase in employee benefit expenses.
"Albertson's has continued its expansion plans with the opening of two combination units and two super-stores for a total of four stores during the quarter," said McCain. "Major remodels were completed on eight stores and four older stores were closed during the quarter."
As of May 3, the company operated 523 retail food-drug stores in 17 Western and Southern states.