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Ingles Markets reported declines in sales and net income for its fiscal second quarter, compared with a year ago, but the results showed some improvement from the first quarter as the company seeks to recover from the impact of Hurricane Helene.
Net income fell about 52.7% in the second quarter, which ended March 29, to $15.1 million, compared with the year-ago second quarter. Sales were down 2.7%, to $1.33 billion.
The Asheville, N.C.-based company said three of the four stores that were shuttered due to damage from the storm last September remain closed. All three are expected to reopen “at various times” in 2025 and 2026, Ingles said in its Q2 earnings report.
Ingles had previously said it expected the three closed stores to reopen this year. A company spokesperson could not be reached for comment on the delay in the timing of the openings.
Some local residents have struggled to obtain groceries in markets where Ingles stores have closed, according to reports. In Swannanoa, N.C., a local non-profit food pantry, Bounty & Soul has seen a 280% increase in food distribution, and now serves 34,000 people per month, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. The newspaper reported that the nearest grocery stores are now eight to 10 miles away.
The other two Ingles that remain closed are in Morganton and Spruce Pine, N.C.
Ingles sees Q2 improvement over Q1
In the first quarter, which ended Dec. 28, 2024, Ingles had reported that net income fell 62% on a 13% decline in net sales, compared with the prior-year first quarter. First-quarter comparable-store sales were down 9.4% in Q1, excluding fuel. Comparable-store sales were not yet available for Q2.
Through the first half of fiscal 2025, Ingles said its net income was down 57.9%, to $31.7 million, on an 8% decline in net sales, to $2.62 billion, compared with the first half of a year ago.
Ingles previously said it lost between $55 million and $65 million in sales in the three weeks following Hurricane Helene due to widespread flooding, which caused power, communications, and water outages and major road closures.
More details: Ingles expenses up in Q2
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Ingles said its operating and administrative expenses for the second quarter totaled $289.1 million, up about 1.5% from a year ago. Through the first two quarters, operating and administrative expenses were down about 0.8%, to $569.9 million, vs. the first half of last year
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Gross profit as a percent of sales was down slightly for the second quarter and year-to-date periods, at 23.4% for both Q2 and the first half, compared with 23.5% in both of the year-ago periods
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Capital expenditures for the first half of fiscal 2025 totaled $62 million, compared with $98.4 million for the first half of fiscal 2024
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Ingles operated 197 stores at the end of the of the fiscal second quarter, including the three shuttered locations, down from 198 at the end of Q1