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Weis Markets sees sales dip in second quarter
Timing of Easter, Fourth of July impact year-over-year results
Russell Redman
August 6, 2018
2 Min Read
Second-quarter sales at Weis Markets Inc. took a hit from a pair of holiday calendar shifts.
The Sunbury, Pa.-based regional grocer said revenue for the quarter ended June 30 dipped 0.6% to $871.1 million from $876.6 million a year earlier. Adjusted same-store sales were down 0.3% year over year.
Weis noted that second-quarter sales were negatively impacted by the timing of the 2018 Easter and Independence Day holidays. This year, the Easter sales week came on the last week of the first quarter, while the slow-selling post-holiday week fell in the second quarter this year, the company said. In 2017, both Easter and the post-holiday week were in the second quarter. And this summer, the Fourth of July came later in the week, after the second quarter closed.
Management estimated the impact of the holiday shifts at about $12.5 million, reflected in the adjusted same-store sales for the second quarter.
On the earnings side, net income came in at $19.1 million, or 71 cents per diluted share, up from nearly $18.5 million, or 69 cents per diluted share, a year ago.
Fiscal 2018 first half revenue totaled $1.75 billion, up 1.1% from $1.73 billion a year earlier. Net earnings for the 26-week period rose to $35.3 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, from $30.3 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, in the fiscal 2017 period.
Weis Markets currently operates 206 supermarkets in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia and Virginia.
During the second quarter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Weis unveiled a $101 capital expenditure plan that includes new stores, remodels, supply chain improvements and IT upgrades. The quarter also saw the opening of two new stores — in Nottingham, Md., and Randolph, N.J. — plus two remodels and the addition of beer and wine cafés at two stores.
So far in the third quarter, Weis Markets has reopened a remodeled store in Newport, Pa., and opened a beer and wine café at its Mt. Pocono, Pa., store.
