<p>Kroger’s Q1 performance has exceeded Wall Street expectations.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Company earnings rose from $439 million, or 78 cents per share to $481 million, or 92 cents per share and revenue grew to $30.04 billion. According to the Associated Press, analysts on average expected a profit of 88 cents per share on revenue of $30.1 billion.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Total sales rose by 3.4 percent from $29.1 billion to $30.0 billion.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Kroger achieved strong sales and record earnings per share for the quarter, and our customers' positive view of us continues to improve," said David B. Dillon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "This is because of our continued focus on the Customer 1st strategy. Our first quarter results give us the confidence to raise our guidance for the year."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2013/06/20/kroger-raises-outlook-on-stronger-1q-profit" target="_new">Kroger Report</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
