US retailer Kroger has posted net earnings of $303 million (€271 million) for the first quarter of 2017, with $0.32 per diluted share.
This represents a like-for-like decrease of 56% compared to the same period last year, where Kroger posted net earnings of $696 million (€623 million), and $0.71 per diluted share.
The company said that these figures include charges related to the withdrawal liability for certain multi-employer pension funds and a voluntary retirement offering. Without these charges, its net earnings were $546 million (€489 million), with $0.58 per diluted share, which still represents a decrease of 21.5%.
Future Strategy
Kroger reports a growth in sales of 4.9%, however, its operating profit fell by just under 50% as a result of long-term debt and other responsibilities.
Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said, "We are driving our strategy of lowering costs to reinvest in ways that provide the right value to our customers".
“We're pleased that identical supermarket sales in the last nine weeks of the first quarter were positive, and that has continued in the second quarter to date."
Kroger expects flat to 1% growth in identical supermarket sales, excluding fuel, for 2017, and said that it is committed to achieving a net earnings per diluted share growth rate of 8-11%.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
