Safeway Inc. finished selling 16 Genuardi’s stores for $80.4 million, and the $49 million of that left after taxes kept the company’s third quarter profit above that of the same quarter a year ago, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway earned $157 million on sales of $10.049 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 8. A year earlier the company earned $130.2 million on sales of $10.064 billion.
Per share earnings were 66 cents in the most recent quarter, up from 38 cents a year earlier. But the company had just 237 million shares outstanding in the most recent period, down from 343 million a year earlier.
Comparing income from continuing operations, Safeway earned $108 million in the most recent quarter, down from $130.3 million a year earlier.
Safeway spent $159.6 million in capital expenditures during the quarter. All in all, it closed 23 stores, including those 16 Genuardi’s that it sold.
The company still expects to earn $1.90 to $2.10 per share for the full year.
Steve Burd is CEO of Safeway.
