Weis Markets on Tuesday reported that its fourth quarter sales increased 4.0 percent to $713.8 million while its comparable store sales increased 3.5 percent.
During the 13-week period ending Dec. 27, the Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based company’s earnings per share totaled $0.51 compared to $0.59 for the same period in 2013. The company’s fourth quarter net income declined 11.6 percent to $13.9 million.
The company attributed its sales increases to the continuing success of its pricing programs, which were fully implemented in the first quarter. The company says its results also benefited from strong sales increases in pharmacy, HBC and its fresh departments.
“One year ago, we spoke of our plans to recalibrate our go-to-market strategies and focus on increasing sales and market share,” said Weis Markets President and CEO Jonathan Weis. “Over the past year, we steadily invested in our pricing programs and successfully executed our strategy, which has produced consistent sales increases in key center store and fresh departments. These investments helped us increase our market share and our customer count. We also improved our in-store customer experience and increased our customer service focus. As a result of our investments and customer service programs, we are well-positioned to build on our success in 2015.”
For the 52-week period ending Dec. 27, the company’s sales increased 3.1 percent to $2.8 billion while comparable store sales increased 2.0 percent.
The company’s year-to-date earnings per share totaled $2.05 compared to $2.67 in 2013. Net income totaled $55.2 million, down 23.1 percent compared to 2013.
Weis Markets operates 163 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.
