SpartanNash said fourth-quarter sales were up 10.3% but net income for the quarter and year was down sharply from a year ago, driven by increased costs and other factors.
The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer and wholesaler reported sales of $2.3 billion for the 12-week fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31., and sales of $9.6 billion for the full year, an increase of 8% over year-ago levels.
Retail comparable sales increased 9.1% for the quarter and 7.7% for the fiscal year. Retail shelf-price inflation was up 11.2% in the quarter, and but item counts were down 2.1%.
The company said it expects high rates of inflation to continue, but to moderate throughout year. Unit volumes are expected to continue to remain weak, although the company said its unit volumes are outperforming the market overall.
“We’ve grown share in that space,” said Jason Monaco, executive VP and chief financial officer, in a conference call with analysts. “Throughout the year
we’ve had some nice share performance, and we expect that similar trend of slightly down volumes and stronger revenues to continue to play out.”
The company said its overall basket size was up about 8.5% in dollars in the fourth quarter, which was “a little better than it was the previous couple of quarters,” said Tony Sarsam, president and CEO.The company also saw traffic up about 1.5% vs a year ago.“A lot of folks are looking for getting a great deal, or getting great cost on like items,” said Sarsam. “And then once in a while splurging on […]
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