Ingles Markets on Thursday said its net income for the fiscal third quarter fell 34.4% to $31.7 million, compared with year-ago results.
Sales in the three-month period, which ended June 29, were down 2.8% to $1.39 billion.
Although gross profit was basically flat as a percent of sales for the third quarter, operating and administrative expenses totaled 20.5% of sales, vs. 18.9% of sales in the year-ago period.
“We continue to stay focused on our goal of providing excellent customer service and products at affordable prices,” Robert P. Ingle II, chairman, said in announcing the results.
A spokesperson for the Asheville, N.C.-based retailer was not immediately available to comment further, and the company did not provide an explanation for the sales and profit declines in its earnings press release.
In a May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission following its second-quarter earnings report, in which sales and profits also declined year over year, Ingles said its operating and administrative expenses increased due to higher salaries and wages, increased insurance costs, and higher repair and maintenance expenses.
Ingles also reported a 0.2% decrease in comparable-store sales in its fiscal second quarter. The company has not yet reported comparable-store sales results for the fiscal third quarter. In the third quarter of a year ago, comp-store sales were up 3.8%, excluding fuel.
Through the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, Ingles said its net income was down 32.4%, to $107 million, on a sales decline of 1.6%, compared with the year-ago nine-month span. Operating and administrative expenses totaled 20.3% of sales in the current year-to-date period, compared with 18.9% through the first three quarters of last year.
Capital expenditures through the first nine months of the current fiscal year totaled $140 million, vs. $137.1 million in the first three quarters of fiscal 2023. Capital expenditures for the full fiscal year 2024 are expected to total between $170 million and $190 million.
At the end of its most recent quarter, Ingles operated 198 stores in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama, the same number of locations as last year.
