US supermarket group Supervalu Inc said it is on track to deliver full-year earnings guidance as it reporting a third-quarter profit today (12 January).

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For the quarter ended 5 December, the nation’s fourth-largest food retailer by sales reported a profit of US$109m, compared with a prior-year loss of $2.9bn.


Revenue, however, dropped 9.5% to $9.2bn as same-store sales fell 6.5%.


Craig Herkert, Supervalu’s CEO and president, said sales were “softer than we had anticipated”, and the results “largely reflect the benefit of stabilizing margins and better controls over expenses”.


“We recognise the challenging environment we face for the balance of the year, but continue to position the company for long-term success by focusing on activities that are sustainable and will best serve the local needs of our customers,” Herkert said. “We are affirming our full-year earnings guidance provided in October.”

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Retail food net sales reached $7.1bn in the third quarter compared to $7.9bn last year, a decline of 9.4%, driven by a “challenging economic environment, heightened competitive activity, and deflationary pressures”.


Herkert added: “We are on track to deliver our earnings guidance. Sales remain under pressure and, with our focus on margins and expense management, we are countering the underperformance on the top line.”


Supervalu’s identical-store sales are now projected to fall around 5% for the year compared to the previous guidance of a 4% fall.


Fiscal 2010 net earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $1.95 to $2.05 on a GAAP basis and $2.01 to $2.11 on an adjusted basis.