As it continues pursuing a merger with The Kroger Co., Albertsons Cos. beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue.
A Yahoo Finance-published analyst consensus estimate called for adjusted diluted earnings per share of 67 cents and revenues of $17.64 billion.
Identical sales increased 7.9% while digital sales advanced 33% in the quarter year over year, Albertsons noted.
Net revenue was $18.15 billion versus $16.73 billion in the year-prior quarter. The company’s 7.9% increase in identical sales and higher fuel revenue contributed to the overall sales gain, with retail price inflation as the primary driver of the ident increase, Albertsons reported. Operating income was $582.4 million versus $599.6 million in the year-earlier period.
“Our team continues to deliver a strong performance as we execute against our Customers for Life strategy and bring people together around the joys of food and inspire well-being,” said Vivek Sankaran, Albertsons CEO, in announcing the financial results. “Our investments in digital transformation, differentiation in Own Brands and Fresh offerings, and the modernization of our operational capabilities contributed to these results. I want to thank all of our teams for their commitment to serving our customers and living our values every day. As we look ahead to the balance of the year and into fiscal 2023, we believe that all of these initiatives position us well to continue to drive top-line growth and deepen our customer and community engagement both online and in-store. At the same time, our ongoing productivity engine is expected to continue to support our investments and partially offset anticipated inflationary cost increases, declines in COVID-19 vaccination and at-home test kit revenue, and macro-consumer headwinds.”
