By Senad Karaahmetovic
Albertsons (NYSE:ACI) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter to send its shares nearly 1% higher in pre-market trading Tuesday. The Q3 earnings report comes after the company accepted a $24.6 billion merger offer from Kroger (NYSE:KR) in October.
ACI reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.87 on revenue of $18.2B, beating the average analyst estimate of $0.67 on sales of $17.59B. Identical sales were up 7.9% year-over-year, easily exceeding the +4.87% consensus. Overall, revenue increased by 8.5% YoY.
"Our investments in digital transformation, differentiation in Own Brands and Fresh offerings, and the modernization of our operational capabilities contributed to these results," said Vivek Sankaran, CEO.
The adjusted EBITDA rose 10% YoY, coming in $160M ahead of the consensus. Gross profit margin contracted by 70 basis points to 28.2%. Albertsons said it operated 2,270 stores at the end of the quarter.
Moreover, Albertsons declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, or $0.48 annualized, payable on February 10, 2023. The annual yield on the dividend is 2.3%.
"Our ongoing productivity engine is expected to continue to support our investments and partially offset anticipated inflationary cost increases, declines in COVID-19 vaccination and at-home test kit revenue, and macro-consumer headwinds," the statement further stated.