Kroger

Kroger Co.'s quarterly profit tumbled 16% and its sales rose a slim 2% as it battled rising costs and tougher grocery competition. The fiscal fourth-quarter results Tuesday still beat Wall Street estimates, but the 2008 forecast from the nation's largest traditional grocery store chain fell short of analysts' expectations. Cincinnati-based Kroger, operator of Ralphs and Food 4 Less, said it earned $322.9 million, or 48 cents a share, for the quarter ended Feb. 2, down from $384.

Kroger Co., the nation's largest supermarket chain, won Federal Trade Commission approval to buy rival Fred Meyer Inc. after agreeing to sell eight stores in Wyoming, Arizona and Utah. The $8-billion acquisition, announced in October, will give Kroger 2,200 stores spanning 31 states from the East Coast to Alaska, with combined 1998 sales of $43 billion. Kroger, whose roots date back to 1883, now adds the Smith's Food & Drug Stores banner to its Kroger and Ralphs chains.

Unionized employees of Kroger Co. have approved two new contracts covering about 6,500 workers in Tennessee and Mississippi. The four-year contracts with the United Food and Commercial Workers eventually raise the top hourly rate for full-time clerks to $12.16 an hour. A second contract that covers meat, seafood and deli employees provides annual wage increases of up to $17.77.

Kroger Co.'s fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 19%, but the departure of two top executives and worries about fourth-quarter results sent shares of the largest U.S. supermarket company down 26% to a two-year low on Monday. Robert Miller, 55, Kroger's chief operating officer, left to take the top post at drugstore retailer Rite Aid Corp. Miller had been chief executive of Fred Meyer Inc. before it was acquired by Kroger.

Kroger Co., the largest U.S. supermarket operator, said fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 16% to $234.5 million, or 28 cents a share, meeting expectations, on increased sales of private-label products and lower costs resulting from its acquisition of Fred Meyer Inc. Sales rose 7% to $11.02 billion. The acquisition of Fred Meyer in May 1999 boosted Kroger's number of stores by a third and helped it negotiate lower prices from suppliers.

When supermarket giant Kroger Co. bought Ralphs Grocery and its parent Fred Meyer Inc. this spring, Wall Street hailed the deal and predicted even greater heights for the company. So why do investors keep punishing Kroger's stock? After climbing to $34 a share in mid-March, Kroger's stock has since tumbled 28% even though the company and industry analysts keep saying the Cincinnati-based chain's earnings are set to grow even faster with Fred Meyer in the fold.

Kroger Co. said annual earnings would fall short of its forecast as the largest U.S. supermarket chain lowers prices to compete with discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Earnings per share this year will increase 5% to 7%, less than a previous estimate of as much as 12%, the owner of Kroger, Fred Meyer and Ralphs stores said. Second-quarter net income was $264 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with $255.7 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 3.8% to $11.9 billion.

Kroger Co., the nation's largest traditional grocery company and operator of the Ralphs chain in Southern California, is marketing a new milk brand for its cholesterol-reducing potential. The product, under Kroger's Active Lifestyle brand, is billed as the first national launch of a cholesterol-cutting milk. It adds to Kroger's expanding lines for consumers of health-conscious and natural or organic foods and the in-house brands that the company sees as an important part of its profit strategy.

Hurricane Ike battered Kroger Co.'s fiscal third-quarter profit, and the grocery chain offered a cautious forecast Tuesday amid the U.S. recession. The nation's largest traditional grocer said profit fell 6% in the quarter, mainly because of far-reaching damage from Hurricane Ike, even as its sales rose 9%. But Kroger expects lower holiday spending to hurt fourth-quarter results, and projects slower same-store sales growth for next year.

Kroger Co. reported Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 18% on strong sales, but margins at the nation's largest traditional grocery chain were hurt by what it sells outside stores -- gasoline. Shares slid more than 5% after Cincinnati-based Kroger, operator of Ralphs and Food4Less, reported a drop in fuel margins for the quarter ended Nov. 10, and only slightly raised its earnings outlook for the full year. Kroger posted earnings of $253.