LOS ANGELES — Unified Grocers here said Friday that net earnings and sales fell for the third quarter and 39 weeks that ended July 3, which the company attributed to ongoing weakness in consumer spending.
For the quarter, net income dropped 66.7% to $1.3 million, which the company said was largely attributable to a decline of $2.8 million resulting from "volatile equity markets that negatively impacted certain life insurance contracts maintained by the company." Sales fell 1.2% to $980.1 million. For the year to date, net income fell 21.1% to $8 million, while sales dropped 1.7% to $2.9 billion.
According to Al Plamann, president and chief executive officer, "Sales volumes are down because consumers are still cautious about what they are spending and are continuing to trade down in many product categories. Though earnings are in line with our budget, we continue to focus on expense controls to keep our distribution network as efficient and effective as possible."