PROVIDENCE – United Natural Foods Inc. reported a profit of $7 million in the company’s fiscal third quarter that ended April 29, or 12 cents per diluted share, a decrease from $67 million a year prior, or $1.10 per diluted share, the company said Wednesday.
The organic and specialty food distributor’s quarterly revenue totaled $7.51 billion, an increase from $7.24 billion one year prior.
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The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 63 cents per share. The revenue figure also missed forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $7.52 billion.
“Our third-quarter results continue to demonstrate the strength of our customer value proposition as sales and product penetration increased despite significant industry headwinds,” said UNFI CEO Sandy Douglas. “However, our profitability was impacted by a greater than expected decline in gross margins reflecting a challenging operating and macroeconomic backdrop, which contributed to lower inflationary benefits primarily related to reduced procurement gains, as well as higher shrink.”
In June 2022, UNFI launched its “Fuel the Future” along with a new leadership structure. The strategy shift, UNFI said, will allow the grocery wholesaler to focus on four areas of the business with growth potential: services, wholesale, retail and corporate business.
UNFI revenue channels for the fiscal third quarter:
- The company’s sales to chains totaled $3.1 billion, an increase of 0.6% year over year.
- Sales to independent retailers totaled $1.9 billion, a 2.3% increase year over year.
- Sales to “supernatural” stores, including Whole Foods, totaled $1.6 billion, an increase of 12.2% year over year.
- Retail sales totaled $598 million, a decrease of 0.7% year over year.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report
