<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Minneapolis, MN</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By Eric Anderson<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.26.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Nash Finch Co.’s first quarter net earnings plummeted by 62.2%, at the hands of lower gross margins in its military distribution segment and increasing operating expenses.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Net earnings dropped from $6.2 million to $2.7 million, while sales for the first quarter 2013 increased by 2.3& from $1.07 billion to $1.09 billion.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The acquisition of eighteen No Frills® stores during the third quarter of 2012 and twelve Bag ‘N Save® stores during the second quarter of 2012 contributed to a net increase in total company sales of $35.0 million.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Adjusted EBITDA came in at $18.6 million, or 1.7% of sales, down from 2.2% of sales in the first quarter last year.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“Adjusted EBITDA came in slightly better than we expected for the quarter. We are continuing to see pressure on gross margins in the military segment from lower contractual margin rates and lower food price inflation than the first quarter last year,” said Alec Covington, President and CEO.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.nashfinch.com/index.html" target="_new">Nash Finch</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
