Kroger Grows Sales, Earnings In Q4

For the fourth quarter, The Kroger Co. posted company net earnings of $559 million, or 57 cents per diluted share, versus $518 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, in the year-prior period. Identical supermarket sales, without fuel revenue effects, gained 3.9% in the period year over year, Kroger reported.

Including six weeks of results from newly acquired Roundy's supermarkets, identical supermarket sales growth without fuel revenue was 3.7%, the company stated.

Kroger earning per diluted share beat an analyst average estimate or 54 cents published by Reuters.

Net sales were $26.17 billion, the company maintained, compared with $25.21 billion in last year's quarter

For the full fiscal year, Kroger posted company net earnings of $2.04 billion, or $2.06 per diluted share, versus $1.73 billion, or $1.72 per diluted share, in the year prior.

Net sales were $109.83 billion versus $108.47 billion in the 2014 fiscal year, the company noted.

Kroger operates 2,778 retail food stores under a variety of local banners in 35 of the United States and the District of Columbia as well as 784 convenience and 323 fine jewelry stores.