The company blamed competitive pressures in certain markets and reduced promotional spending for the weakness in the unit that includes its Save-A-Lot stores, lower-price superstores and traditional supermarkets.
The company, which recently sold nearly 900 supermarkets in a $3.3 billion deal, said its fourth-quarter loss from continuing operations widened to $179 million, or 85 cents a share, from $42 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding charges related to noncash asset impairment and employee severance, the company posted a loss of 14 cents a share. Analysts, on average, looked for a profit of 18 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales fell 2.3 percent to $3.89 billion.
Supervalu sold its Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's and Star Market stores as well as Osco and Sav-on in-store pharmacies to an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management LP CBS.UL on March 21. The deal for 877 stores included $100 million in cash and $3.2 billion in debt.
Supervalu's top rivals include Kroger Co (KR.N), Safeway Inc (SWY.N) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N).
