Supervalu 2Q earnings in line but revenue misses

Second-quarter numbers from supermarket chain Supervalu were in line with expectations on the earnings front, but weaker-than-forecast in terms of revenue.

Net earnings from continuing operations came in at $30m, or $0.11 per diluted share, on consolidated net sales of $3.87bn, down from earnings of $31m and sales of $4.06bn in the same period a year ago.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.10, down from $0.13 the year before but in line with analysts’ expectations.

Sales disappointed, however, against expectations of $3.94bn.

Wholesale earnings for the quarter declined 5.5% to $1.73bn, mostly due to stores from the previous year no longer supplied by the company, partially offset by a rise in sales to new stores operated by existing customers and new customers.

Sales at Save-a-Lot came in at $1.06bn compared to $1.09bn the year before, while sales in Retail dropped 5.4% to $1.03bn.

President and chief executive officer Mark Gross said: “As we expected, the transformation of our business continues to take time, but I am optimistic about our ability to grow our wholesale business by adding new customers, securing long-term supply agreements with existing customers, and expanding overall product sales to all customers.

“We expect wholesale sales in the second half of this year to be higher than last year as we add new customers, grow our base business, and cycle select customer losses from last year.”