Albertsons’ Q4 comp declines accelerate

Comparable-store sales declines at Albertsons Cos. deepened in the fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a filing with federal securities regulators Thursday.

The Boise, Idaho-based retailer filed the figures as an update to a stock registration statement for an Initial Public Offering, and cover the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending Feb. 25.

For the fiscal year, Albertsons reported pro-forma sales of $59.7 billion, a 1.6% increase from the previous year, and a net loss of $131 million. Comparable-store sales for the year declined by 0.4%. Adjusted EBITDA was down slightly from fiscal 2015, at $363 million.

During the fourth quarter, identical-store sales decreased by 3.3% companywide and by 3.7% at Safeway stores, the filing said. That represented a sequential decline from the third quarter when ID sales declined by 2.1% overall as deflation first hit retail shelves. Quarterly comps were by 4.7% (5.8% at Safeway) in the fourth quarter last year.

Sales of perishable products accounted for approximately 40.9% of total sales in fiscal 2016 up from 40.3% in fiscal 2015.

Albertsons said it expects approximately $1.4 billion in capital expenditures this year, or about 2.3% of sales — about the same as last year. The company anticipates it will complete approximately 150 upgrade and remodel projects and open 15 new stores this year.