PROVIDENCE – United Natural Foods Inc. on Tuesday reported a $3 million loss in its fiscal second quarter, an improvement from the $15 million loss from a year ago.
The per-diluted-share loss for the quarter ending Feb. 1 was 5 cents per diluted share, compared to the 25 cents loss per diluted share last year.
Quarterly sales totaled $8.1 billion, an increase from $7.7 billion one year prior. This was driven by a 3% increase in wholesale unit volumes, including the benefit of new business with existing and new customers, as well as inflation, and by natural product growth.
The quarterly sales also beat Wall Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected $7.96 billion.
“During the second quarter, we delivered solid sales growth and our sixth consecutive quarter of sequentially improving adjusted [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization]
,” said Sandy Douglas, UNFI’s CEO. “We also continued to execute against our multiyear strategic plan focused on creating sustainable value for our customers and suppliers, while enhancing our profitability and free cash flow generation and reducing net leverage. Our continued positive volume trends serve as an indicator of the strength of our customer base and the unique role UNFI plays in the food distribution supply chain.”
“We are currently working to complete the previously announced product-focused realignment of our wholesale business designed to create more customized service for our customers and suppliers,” he added.
United Natural expects full-year earnings in the range of 70 cents to 90 cents per share, with revenue in the range of $31.3 billion to $31.7 billion.
(Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.)