ALBERTSONS AND KROGER POST OPPOSING 4TH QUARTER RESULTS

Albertsons Inc. took a dive in the fourth quarter with total sales dipping from $11.1 billion last year to $10.2 billion for the quarter ending February 2. Total sales for the year went up to $40.4 billion as compared to $39.8 billion in 2004, and same store sales decreased 0.4% for the quarter. In the fourth quarter, 13 new stores were opened, 18 were closed and 37 remodels were finished. For the full year, 56 new stores were opened, 88 were closed, and 138 remodels were completed. A total of 2,471 stores were open by the end of the year according to Progressive Grocer. The company “continues to suck wind,” said Wall Street columnist Andy Serwer. “I think Albertson is going to be tough to fix and will be a drag on Supervalu.”


Kroger, however, is doing much better and posted a great fourth quarter with decent sales boosts and healthy comps. For the quarter ending January 28, Kroger made $282 million in profit with a sales increase of 7.5% to $14.7 billion. This is their tenth consecutive quarter of positive same store supermarket sales which rose 5.3% with fuel and 3.5% without fuel. In the future, Kroger plans to grow identical sales through merchandising and operating programs that help improve the shopping experience and create customer loyalty. The company hopes to achieve 3.5% same store growth in fiscal 2006, excluding fuel costs.