Sales climb in second quarter at Publix

Publix Super Markets Inc. saw revenue edge up in the second quarter, though a calendar shift from this year’s Easter holiday impacted same-store results.

Meanwhile, the Lakeland, Fla.-based supermarket chain reported a surge in net earnings, which were lifted in part by federal tax cuts and a new accounting standard for assessing the value of equity securities.

Publix said Wednesday that for the quarter ended June 30, sales totaled $8.8 billion, marking a 4% gain from $8.4 billion a year earlier.

Comparable-store sales rose 1.7% and reflect a negative impact of 1.2% from the Easter holiday being in the first quarter in 2018 versus in the second quarter last year, according to Publix.

Second-quarter net income grew 24.5% to $616.2 million, or 84 cents per share, from $495.1 million, or  65 cents per share, a year ago.

Publix noted that net earnings got a boost from a decrease in the federal statutory income tax rate, from 35% to 21%, when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 went into effect this year.  

Earnings also reflect a positive impact from a new accounting standard that requires equity securities be measured at fair value, with net unrealized gains and losses from changes in the fair value recognized in earnings, Publix said. Excluding the impact of the new standard, second-quarter net income would have been $571 million, up 15.3% year over year, and earnings per share (EPS) would have been 78 cents, the retailer reported.

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Publix said its share price rose 80 cents to $42.55 as of Aug. 1 from $41.75 on May 1, when the grocer reported first-quarter results. Since Publix is an employee-owned company, its stock isn’t publicly traded and can be purchased only by Publix associates and board members.

“Since the beginning of the year, our stock price has increased from $36.85 to $42.55, over 15 percent,” Todd Jones, president and CEO of Publix, said in a statement. “Our associates deserve the credit for continuing to make us a leader in customer service.”

For the first half of 2018, Publix turned in sales of $18 billion, up 5.4% from $17.1 billion in the prior-year period. Comp-store sales for the six months ended June 30 advanced 3.4%.

Net earnings for the half climbed 23.4% to $1.3 billion from $1.05 billion a year earlier, while EPS increased to $1.77 from $1.37 during that time span. The results include positive impacts from the federal tax cut and the accounting change for securities. Excluding the effect of the accounting standard, Publix said, net income would have been $1.28 billion, up 21.4%, and EPS would have been $1.74 for the six months.

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Currently, Publix operates 1,190 stores — up from 1,182 stores as of May 1 — in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.