Harris Teeter Supermarkets on Thursday reported sales increases for the fourth quarter and fiscal year, but said costs associated with its pending merger with Kroger led to a decline in earnings.
Sales for the quarter, which ended Oct. 1, totalled $1.2 billion, an increase of 4.5% driven by a new stores and a comparable-store sales increase of 1.5%. Quarterly earnings of $21.1 million were down 7.5% from the same period last year, but included $5.9 million in merger-related costs.
Harris Teeter’s board of directors and shareholders have approved the sale to Kroger but the deal still awaits regulatory approval. Harris Teeter recently closed on the purchase of six Piggly Wiggly stores and one store development site in the Charleston area; five of those stores have reopened as Harris Teeter locations.
For the fiscal year, Harris Teeter reported net earnings of $107.9 million — a 30.8% increase from 2012 — on sales of $4.7 billion. Sales improved by 4.4% for the year and comparable store sales increased by 2.2%.
