Whole Foods outlines steps to improve returns
What is in this article?:
- Whole Foods outlines steps to improve returns
- Mixed 4Q
Whole Foods Market said Wednesday it recognizes “the need to move faster and go deeper to rebuild traffic and sales” and to create a solid foundation for long-term profitable growth.
Though promotions and price investments are an integral part of its plans, “we are not participating in a race to the bottom,” John Mackey, founder and co-CEO, told investors.
The company also announced plans for a $1 billion share repurchase.
According to Mackey, Whole Foods recognizes “that we have our work cut out for us, [but] we believe we are taking the necessary steps to regain our sales momentum, fundamentally evolve our business model and produce returns that the investment community expects and that we expect from ourselves.”
Those steps include the following, Mackey said:
• Restructuring the cost side of the business, with plans to reduce expenses by $300 million by the end of fiscal 2017 by eliminating costs that do not produce value for customers.
• Focusing more on exclusive brands, which account for $5 billion, or one-third of sales, and on prepared foods, including partnerships with suppliers. Whole Foods also plans to create a new position — global vice president of culinary and hospitality — which it plans to fill in the coming months, Mackey noted.
• Investing in digital strategies, including plans to expand its affinity program to additional markets prior to a national rollout.
• Investing in technology to improve the shopping experience, including replacing disparate core legacy platforms with a unified, scalable system.
• Introducing the 365 format — with three stores set to open in fiscal 2016 and seven more the following year — “[that] will allow us to address the value-quality proposition in a new way while maintaining the integrity the Whole Foods brand represents in the marketplace,” Mackey explained.
• Increasing square footage at a more moderate place to lessen the negative impact of cannibalization on comps, with 30 new openings planned for fiscal 2016, compared with 38 in 2015.
Mixed 4Q
For the fourth quarter ended Sept. 27, net income fell 56.3% to $56 million — including a $46 million non-cash asset impairment charge and a $34 million restructuring charge — while sales for the 12-week period increased 6% to a record $3.4 billion and comparable store sales fell 0.2%.
Mackey said comps appeared to stabilize early in the fourth quarter but moderated over the last nine weeks, driven by changes in traffic and basket size.
Net income for the fiscal year fell 7.4% to $536 million, while sales rose 8.4% to $15.4 billion and comps increased 2.5%.
The company said it is “hopeful” comps will improve over the course of fiscal 2016 — from an anticipated decline of 2% in the first quarter to relatively flat in the second and third quarters to a positive 3% by the fourth quarter.
It also said it expects sales growth of 3% to 5% in fiscal 2016, with the lower end of the sales outlook reflecting “the possibility comps could get marginally worse before they get better,” it noted.
Whole Foods also said its efforts to improve consumer value perceptions could result in a gross margin decline of more than last year’s 45-basis-point margin decline.
Discussing the stock buyback program, Whole Foods said it will incur long-term debt to finance the repurchases, with plans to spend most of the buyback authorization during the first half of the fiscal year.
The company said it has entered into a $500 million five-year revolving credit facility and intends to incur additional long-term debt of up to $1 billion by the end of the first quarter. It also said it expects to incur additional short-term debt of $350 million, which would be repaid with proceeds from the long-term debt, with proceeds from debt to be used for general corporate purposes, including the stock repurchase.
It said it expects the combined effects of additional indebtedness and future share repurchases to be accretive to earnings in fiscal 2016.
According to Glenda Flanagan, EVP and CFO, “We believe this capital allocation strategy positions us to take advantage of attractive conditions in the debt markets and lowers our overall cost of capital while preserving ample financial flexibility for future growth initiatives.
“We are confident in our long-term growth strategy and continued ability to generate strong cash flow,” she said.
The company said average weekly sales in fiscal 2015 were $715,000, translating to sales per gross square foot of approximately $970.
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