US food distributor United Natural Foods has posted second-quarter net income of US$5.5m compared with $5.2m a year earlier, narrowly beating analysts’ estimates.

The company’s net sales were up 18.6% year-on-year to $338.4m. Excluding acquisitions, sales were up 2.3%.

United Natural Foods said it expects sales to rise 18% to 22% in the third quarter.