PROVIDENCE – United Natural Foods Inc. stock surged on Wednesday after the company reported a 16 percent increase in its fiscal third-quarter profit and said it was raising its earnings forecast for the rest of the year.
United Natural Foods posted a profit of $19.49 million, or 45 cents a share, in the three months ended May 1, compared with a profit of $16.78 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 11 percent to $985.7 million.
The results beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who had expected the company to earn 42 cents a share on sales of $944.1 million. The company’s stock rose 5.5 percent, or $1.70, to close at $32.75 a share in Nasdaq trading Wednesday.
“Our fiscal 2010 third quarter reflected the continuing rebound of the natural and organic industry as our growth accelerated during most of the quarter, resulting in both record revenues and net income,” President and CEO Steven Spinner said in a statement.
The company said it has signed a deal to extend its partnership with organic grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. by seven years, through 2020.
United Natural Foods also raised the low end of its full-year earnings forecast, from between $1.48 and $1.58 a share to between $1.55 and $1.58 a share. The company raised its revenue forecast from between $3.54 billion and $3.63 billion to between $3.68 billion and $3.72 billion.
United Natural Foods moved its corporate headquarters from Dayville, Conn., to the American Locomotive Co. redevelopment on Valley Street last year. The company was founded in Coventry in 1978 and now distributes more than 60,000 products to roughly 17,000 stores.
Additional information is available at unfi.com.
