UNFI reaches record sales in fiscal 2015 1Q

SALES AND PROFIT INCREASED IN the 2015 first quarter for United Natural Foods Inc. / COURTESY UNITED NATURAL FOODS INC.
SALES AND PROFIT INCREASED IN the 2015 first quarter for United Natural Foods Inc. / COURTESY UNITED NATURAL FOODS INC.

PROVIDENCE – United Natural Foods Inc., a national distributor of natural, organic and specialty food products, reached record sales of nearly $2 billion during its first quarter of 2015, according to company President and CEO Steven Spinner.
In its earnings report released Thursday, United Natural Foods saw its net sales jump 24.4 percent to $1.99 billion for the quarter from $1.6 million during the prior year period. First quarter net income, or profit, grew 19 percent, to $33 million, or 66 cents per diluted share, from $27.8 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, a year ago.
“UNFI achieved record sales of almost $2 billion during our first quarter of fiscal 2015 and comparable sales growth recovered nicely after experiencing a modest slowdown during the first few weeks of the quarter,” Spinner said in a statement.
The first quarter included “incremental” net sales of approximately $227.7 million, resulting from the company’s acquisitions of Trudeau Foods in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 and Tony’s Fine Foods in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.
Total operating expenses for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 included non-recurring costs of approximately $1 million related to the startup of the company’s Hudson Valley, N.Y., facility, and approximately $300,000 in remaining costs related to the Tony’s acquisition.
“Tony’s Fine Foods performed extremely well during their first quarter as part of UNFI, and we look forward to rolling this perishable platform out across the U.S. as we look to both existing and new customers,” Spinner said. “As we discussed at our analyst day in October, our newest distribution facilities, located in Racine, Wis. and Hudson Valley, N.Y., were designed to handle the unique storage requirements of these exciting products.”
Looking ahead, the company expects net sales in fiscal 2015 to range from $8.13 billion to $8.38 billion, an increase of approximately 19.7 percent to 23.7 percent, over fiscal 2014.
United Natural Foods carries and distributes more than 80,000 products to more than 40,000 customer locations throughout the United States and Canada.
In June, Fortune magazine named UNFI the 427th largest U.S. company in its annual Fortune 500 ranking, moving it up 47 places compared with its ranking the previous year.

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