CINCINNATI, OH - Kroger has announced its Q1 2015 financial report this morning, beating Wall Street analysts' expectations by hitting $619 million in profits, a 23.6 percent increase over last year.
This also marks the 46th consecutive quarter of positive identical supermarket sales growth.
"Kroger continues to deliver strong sales and earnings results. We are pleased with our start for the year, with identical supermarket sales growth in every department and supermarket division,” said Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen. "Kroger has produced consistently remarkable results for so long that it might be easy for some to take a quarter like this for granted -- so it is important to emphasize it is the efforts of our incredible team of associates, connecting with customers, that is driving our success. Time and again, we have shown that by taking care of our customers, Kroger is creating sustainable value for our shareholders.”
Total sales from Kroger also jumped a bit, hitting $33.1 billion in the first quarter. Kroger says its strong financial position has allowed the company to return more than $1.1 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends over the last four quarters.
Other highlights from Kroger’s Q1 report include:
- Total sales for Q1 2015, excluding fuel, increased 6.4% over Q1 2014.
- Kroger raised identical supermarket sales growth guidance, excluding fuel, to a range of 3.5% to 4.5% for FY 2015.
- Kroger recorded a $28 million LIFO charge during the first quarter, consistent with Q1 2014.
- FIFO gross margin was 22.1% of sales for Q1 2015.
As of 1:38 PM Eastern Time, Kroger's stock was up 0.48 to 73.39, a 0.66% increase.
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