Weis Markets Boosts Sales in Q3

Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets enjoyed a 3.4 percent bump in sales for the third quarter of its current fiscal year, along with a rise in same-store sales of 2.6 percent.

Q3 overall sales hit $683.9 million over the year-ago period, while net income increased 17.2 percent to $13.7 million, compared to $11.7 million for the same period in 2013. During the same period, its earnings per share increased to 51cents, compared to 43 cents in 2013.

Lower Pricing, Disciplined Sales

"Our company continues to make progress in a market impacted by a stagnant economy. We attribute our increased sales to our continued investments in lower pricing and disciplined sales building programs. Our results also benefited from increased operational efficiencies and improved in-stock conditions at store level," said Jonathan Weis, Weis Markets' president and CEO. "As a result, we are generating an increased customer count and higher sales per customer. It is also important to note that we continue to achieve these sales increases despite a significant amount of self-imposed grocery deflation. We hope to build on our sales momentum in the fourth quarter, particularly during the key holiday sales period."

The grocer's Q3 net income benefited from a favorable comparison to the same period in 2013 when its net income was impacted by $8.2 million in one-time charges related to an executive severance agreement and the impairment loss for four properties.

Year-to-date sales at Weis increased 2.8 percent to $2.1 billion while comparable-store sales are up 1.4 percent for the year compared to the year-ago period. YTD net income totaled $41.3 million, down 26.3 percent. During the same period, the company's earnings per share totaled $1.53, compared to $2.08 per share in 2013.

Founded in 1912, Weis Markets Inc. operates 163 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.