Sales at the Albertsons stores formerly operated by Supervalu continued to show strong improvements during the chain’s third quarter ended Dec. 5, with identical-store sales up 9.9%, following jumps of 9.7% in the second quarter and 9.5% in the first.
ID sales for the quarter also improved at three other Albertsons segments: up 5.6% at Safeway, up 3.6% at New Albertsons Inc. (Jewel-Osco, Acme and Shaw’s) — after adjusting for the labor dispute a year ago at Tweksbury Mass.-based Demoulas Market Basket, which inflated comparisons the company noted — and up 0.9% at legacy Albertsons locations in the West and Southwest.
Albertsons disclosed the figures to the Securities and Exchange Commission in an amended prospectus for a planned initial public offering of stock. The company maintained it was seeking to raise around $1.5 billion through the sale of 65.3 million shares at a proposed price of $24.50 per share.
The original Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons was split in 2006 when Supervalu, the Minneapolis-based wholesaler, acquired the chain’s so-called premier locations in the West and Intermountain areas. Albertsons reacquired those stores in 2013, and it acquired Safeway last January.
Albertsons said sales for the 40 weeks ended Dec. 5 — including Safeway on a pro forma basis —increased 2.4% to $44.5 billion, while the company had a net loss of $246 million and adjusted EBITDA for the 40 weeks, on a pro forma basis, rose 18.2% to $1.9 billion.
For the 12-month period ended Dec. 5 — encompassing the company's fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 and the first three quarters of fiscal 2015 — pro forma sales rose 1.8% to $58.5 billion, while the loss was $378 million and adjusted EBITDA on a pro forma basis was up 12.8% to $2.7 billion.