Grocery stores operator Kroger Co. (KR) reported fourth-quarter net income attributable to the company of $461.5 million, or $0.88 per share, versus a loss of $306.9 million, or $0.54 per share in the year-ago quarter.
LIFO was $0.09 per share lower than estimated and a discrete tax item added $0.02 per share to the results for the quarter. Excluding these benefits, Kroger exceeded fourth-quarter earnings per share expectations by $0.07, the company noted. On an adjusted basis, quarterly net earnings per share climbed by 22%. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.70 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Kroger added that both the quarterly and fiscal 2012 earnings per share results include an $0.11 per share benefit of a 53rd week (extra week).
The firm clocked total sales of $24.2 billion in the quarter, up 12.8% from last year's $21.41 billion. Analysts estimated revenues of $24 billion for the quarter. After adjusting for the extra week in the fourth quarter, total sales rose by 3.7% over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.
For fiscal 2013, net earnings are expected to range from $2.71 to $2.79 per share, which equates to the company's long term growth rate of 8 - 11% from the adjusted fiscal 2012 earnings per share of $2.52. Analysts project annual earnings of $2.64 per share. Kroger anticipates identical supermarket sales growth, excluding fuel, of some 2.5% to 3.5% for the year.
During fiscal 2013, Kroger plans to use cash flow from operations to fund capital investments, pay dividends to shareholders, maintain its current debt rating and repurchase shares.
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