PROVIDENCE – United Natural Foods Inc. on Tuesday reported a loss of $21 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 that ended Nov. 2, or 35 cents per diluted share.
One year prior, the natural and organic food wholesale distributor reported a loss of $39 million, or 67 cents per diluted share.
United also posted increased revenue of $7.87 billion in the quarter, which beat Wall Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected $7.62 billion. A year ago, the company reported revenue of $7.55 billion.
“Our performance this quarter represents a solid start to fiscal 2025 and serves as an early proof point of our recently introduced multiyear strategic plan predicated upon bringing value to our customers and suppliers while enhancing our efficiency, improving free cash flow and reducing net leverage,” said Sandy Douglas, UNFI’s CEO.
“We’re encouraged by positive volume trends attributable to new business with existing customers and new customer additions," he said. "This volume strength primarily reflects successful execution by our customer base, supported by UNFI’s value-added positioning and unique go-to-market strategy. We remain focused on operational execution, driving efficiencies and delivering strengthening service levels to customers and suppliers during the important holiday selling season.”
UNFI revenue channels for the fiscal first quarter:
- Sales to chains totaled $3.2 billion, an increase of 3.5% year over year.
- Sales to independent retailers totaled $1.8 billion, a 2.4% decrease year over year.
- Sales to “supernatural” stores, including Whole Foods Market IP Inc., totaled $1.8 billion, a rise of 13.8% year over year.
- Retail sales totaled $586 million, a decline of 3.3% year over year.
- Sales classified as “other” totaled $666 million, a rise of 3.1% year over year.
The first quarter results come after UNFI filed a WARN notice on Nov. 21 that it was laying off 121 employees who report to its offices in Lincoln.
The layoffs are expected to happen during a two-week period starting Jan. 24, and during another two-week period starting June 20, according to the WARN notice.
Of the 121 employees, about 50 live and work in Rhode Island while the rest work remotely. All affected employees have been notified.
The layoffs mainly affect positions in accounts payable, billing and human resources.