GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A strengthening Michigan economy and productivity improvements helped Spartan Stores post a 140% increase in fourth quarter earnings, the company said Wednesday.
On an adjusted EBITDA basis, Spartan improved by 12.3% in the quarter which ended March 26. The company was adversely affected by a warehouse consolidation in the fourth quarter last year.
Sales during the period increased 2.3% to $571.5 million, primarily due to higher fuel prices and an additional store. Comparable-store sales decreased by 0.9%, representing an improvement from the third quarter.
Spartan said retail sales accounted for $322.6 million, an increase of 2.6% vs. last year, while distribution sales improved 1.9% to $248.9 million.
For the fiscal year, sales were essentially flat at $2.5 billion while net earnings improved 26.4% to $32.3 million.
"The Michigan economy is slowly improving and we believe that our sales trends will similarly continue to improve," Dennis Eidson, president and chief executive officer of Spartan, said in a statement.
