MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Supervalu has announced its Q4 2015 and full year 2015 financial results, revealing a boost in net earnings, but revenue that has fallen 10 percent over the same period last year. As the company approaches a potential spin off of its Save-A-Lot business, these falling revenues and same-store sales for Save-A-Lot in the most recent quarter may keep some investors wary of moving forward.
This past February, the company added its new Chief Executive, Mark Goss, a former advisor and consultant specializing in assisting grocery clients on several multi-billion dollar acquisitions, divestitures, and investments in food retail, distribution, and consumer packaged goods sectors.
He said of this quarter’s results in a statement, “Although fourth quarter sales were softer than we had forecast, I am optimistic about our future prospects and pleased at our ability to manage adjusted EBITDA to finish in-line with our expectations. We have a lot of positives to build on as we move forward.”
In all, Supervalu reported an increase in earnings to reach $52 million, or 20 cents a share, up from $39 million, or 14 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding debt refinancing, store closures and expenses related to the potential Save-A-Lot spinoff, adjusted per-share earnings rose to 23 cents. Revenue fell 10 percent to $3.95 billion, and Save-A-Lot same-store sales fell over 2 percent.
The company has already made moves to restructure the company's revolving credit facility and has found cheaper financing, as well as cutting its debt by $169 million during the past fiscal year. While this is presumably to set itself up to aid in a Save-A-Lot spin off, too much fall off in revenue could potentially keep investors from powering the move forward.
Luckily, results weren't too far off of most analysts' expectations, with analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecasting 19 cents a share in adjusted earnings on $4.02 billion in revenue. The company's stock was up almost 3 percent following the announcement afternoon.
