Boston, MA 10/18/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Eden Prairie-based SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU), which had largely reduced its stores earlier this year, is finally seeing the results coming in. On Thursday, the company has announced its better-than-expected second quarter results, though the share values remained in a negative territory. ,
The company, which had reported a loss of $111 million in the same quarter previous year has posted a net profit of $40 million in the quarter. The company has been able to beat the market estimate of 11 cents per share as against its reported 13 cents earning per share. The sales for the quarter are recorded at $3.95 billion, up against the market average consensus of $3.88 billion.
Earlier this year, the company had sold more than half of its stores including Albertsons and Jewel-Osco, in order to focus more on its Save-A-Lot segment along with its wholesale and distribution business. The company plans to increase its investments in its traditional supermarkets which has not gone down well among the investors as the share prices reflected the market sentiments.
The company’s Save-A-Lot segment has recorded a 4.6 percent improvement in this quarter. This is a first ever growth posted by Save-A-Lot in the last six quarters.There is a marginal improvement in the chain’s sales from the last quarters, though it posted a fall of 0.3 percent. Supervalu’s traditional retail grocery chains, including Cub, the sales are reported to be down 0.9 percent, but still better than the expectations.
The company’s sales in wholesale grocery, the third major group, were $1.84 billion, a 1.6 percent decrease on account of the low sales to the existing customers. However, the segment’s operating profit was slightly up against the previous year level.
Sam Duncun, CEO of Supervalu,made a statement that during the quarter, their investments in its traditional stores have been more than their expectations. He also added that the investments were aimed at raising he stores’ operating standards.
