The CEO and president of US grocery retailer Supervalu Inc said today (27 July) he was “disappointed” with the company’s first-quarter performance.
The company posted net earnings of US$67m for the three months to 19 June, down 40.7% on the same quarter last year. Net sales fell 9.2% to $11.54bn.
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The company added that when adjusted for $25m in net after-tax charges, primarily related to market exits in Connecticut and Cincinnati and the labour dispute at Shaws, first-quarter net earnings were $92m.
Supervalu president and CEO Craig Herkert said: “While we are putting in the right programmes to best serve our customers, we are disappointed with our first-quarter sales performance. We continue to control our margins well and take costs out of the business.”
The company attributed the plummeting results to negative identical-store sales, which fell 7.2% alongside previously announced market exits.
Excluding Shaw’s, which was impacted by a labour dispute during the quarter, identical-store sales were down 6.5%.
Supervalu said the identical-store sales were down to a challenging economic environment and heightened competitive activity.
However, Herkert reaffirmed the company’s full-year earnings guidance. “We are pleased to reaffirm our full-year earnings guidance before one time items,” he said.
