Unified Grocers Posts Q2 2016 Sales Gains

Unified Grocers posted net sales gains for the second quarter and second half of its 2016 fiscal year, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Compared with the same periods in 2015, net sales during the quarter, which ended April 2, rose 1 percent to reach $915 million, while they grew 0.7 percent during the half, hitting $1.9 billion.

“We increased sales primarily through the growth in sales to existing customers, the addition of sales to Haggen’s Pacific Southwest stores, and the addition of new customers, which were partially offset by lower meat sales prices due to declines in the related commodity cost that were passed along to our customers,” the company said in its SEC filing.

However, Unified incurred a net loss from continuing operations, experiencing declines of $5 million for the quarter and $6.7 million for the half. Contributing to the loss was the termination of supply to Haggen’s Pacific Southwest stores, effective Nov. 21, 2015, the company noted.

“We do not expect the sales to Haggen to continue at the levels generated during the last half of fiscal 2015 or during the first quarter of fiscal 2016,” Unified said in the filing. “Sales to Haggen’s Pacific Southwest stores were approximately $9.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2016.”

Additionally, Unified said it filed its Form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter ended Jan. 2, as well as its annual report on Form 10-K for the period ended Oct. 3, 2015. The 10-K covers the fiscal year ended Sept. 27, 2014, and all quarters for which the company had not filed a 10-Q. By these actions, Unified has normalized its reporting activities and will continue to report in the normal course going forward.

“I’m extremely pleased that we’re able to move forward with normalized financial reporting activities,” said Bob Ling, Unified’s president and CEO. “I thank our stakeholders for their patience through this process.”

Los Angeles-based Unified Grocers supplies independent retailers throughout the western United States.