NEW YORK (AP) — Kroger's fourth-quarter profit handily beat Wall Street expectations, as the country's largest traditional supermarket chain benefited from an extra week in the period.
The Cincinnati-based company, which also owns Ralphs and Food 4 Less, said revenue at stores open at least a year rose 3 percent for the quarter, excluding fuel.
For the quarter, the company earned $461.5 million, or 88 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $306.9 million, or 54 cents per share, a year ago, when results were weighed down by pension costs.
Not including one-time items, adjusted earnings for the latest period were 77 cents per share.
Revenue rose 13 percent to $24.2 billion.
Analysts on average expected an adjusted profit of 70 cents per share on revenue of $24 billion.
