United Natural Foods Posts Record Sales

United Natural Foods Posts Record Sales

DAYVILLE, Conn.--United Natural Foods Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI) reported financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2005 ended Oct. 31, 2004 (1Q05).

For 1Q05, net sales were $477.5 million, an increase of 25.2 percent over net sales of $381.4 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 (1Q04). The company attributed the increase to strong growth in all sales channels.

Net income for 1Q05 was $9.9 million ($0.24 per diluted share), a 45.8 percent increase over net income of $6.8 million ($0.17 per diluted share), including the effect of special items, for 1Q04.

"Continuing our momentum from fiscal 2004, we are pleased to start off fiscal 2005 with another strong quarter of financial results," said Steven Townsend, chairman and chief executive officer. "Reflecting the efforts of a well-focused team and the successful execution of our sales and operating strategies which have been designed to meet the growing demand for natural and organic products, we realized solid gains in sales, net income, and earnings per share which are indicators that our plans are on target. These gains came despite the negative impact of the hurricanes that we experienced in Florida, rising fuel prices and the impact of our decision to close our Mounds View, Minn. facility due to its small size. We are pleased with our continued progress to improve operating margins. Our first quarter operating margin was 3.7 percent, up 26 basis points from the same period last year in spite of the impact of the hurricane, Mounds View closure and the rising fuel costs."