Albertsons reports Q1 results
A 1.4% increase in identical sales, with strong growth in pharmacy sales driving the identical sales increase contributed to Albertsons’ net sales and other revenue increasing to $24.3 billion during the first quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to $24.1 billion during the prior year period.
"In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we continued to invest in our Customers for Life strategy and the digital and omnichannel capabilities necessary to support it," said Vivek Sankaran, CEO of Albertsons. "Our Customers for Life strategy is placing the customer at the center of everything we do, and we continued to drive strong year-over-year growth in loyalty members as we launched our new simplified 'for U' loyalty program. Amidst an evolving economic and industry backdrop, we continued to deliver outsized growth in our digital and pharmacy businesses."
"We want to thank our teams for their ongoing commitment to serving our customers and supporting our communities." Sankaran concluded, "As we look ahead to the balance of fiscal 2024, we expect to see continuing headwinds related to investments in associate wages and benefits, an increasing mix of our pharmacy and digital businesses which carry lower margins, and the cycling of prior year food inflation. We expect these headwinds to be partially offset by ongoing productivity initiatives."
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The Boise, Idaho-based retailer reported that it continued to grow its digital sales with a 23% increase during the first quarter of fiscal 2024. Albertsons said the increase in net sales and other revenue was partially offset by lower fuel sales.
Albertsons also shared that loyalty members increased by 15% to 41.4 million.
The retailer’s net income was $240.7 million, or 41 cents per share, during the first quarter of fiscal 2024. Net income was $417.2 million, or 72 cents per share, during the first quarter of fiscal 2023, which included the $49.7 million or 9 cents per share benefit related to the reduction in the reserve for an uncertain tax position.
The retailer’s adjusted net income was $391.6 million, or 66 cents per share, during the first quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to $545.7 million, or 93 cents per share (which includes the tax benefit discussed above), during the first quarter of fiscal 2023.
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The company’s adjusted EBITDA was $1.18 billion, or 4.9% of net sales and other revenue, during the first quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to $1.32 billion, or 5.5% of net sales and other revenue, during the first quarter of fiscal 2023.