Albertsons Companies Q4 Highlights: 5% Sales Growth, Earnings Beat, Difficult Consumer Environment & More - Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies Inc ACI reported fourth-quarter FY22 sales growth of 5.1% year-on-year, to $18.27 billion, beating the consensus of $18.22 billion. Identical sales increased 5.6%, and digital sales rose 16%.
Gross margin rate contracted 90 basis points to 27.8%, with the pharmacy business driving approximately half of the rate decrease, reflecting fewer COVID-19 vaccinations.
The company administered 0.4 million COVID-19 vaccinations during the fourth quarter, compared to 2.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Operating margin was 2.4%, and operating income for the quarter fell 34.7% to $433.6 million.
The company held $463.8 million in cash and equivalents as of Feb. 25, 2023.
Adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion fell 2.2% Y/Y. Adjusted EPS of $0.79 beat the analyst consensus of $0.67.
The number of stores at the end of the quarter was 2,271. Inventories at the end of the quarter totaled $4.8 billion.
The company's Board has declared a cash dividend for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 of $0.12 per share, payable on May 10, 2023, to stockholders of record on Apr. 26, 2023.
"We expect further declines in Covid-19 vaccination and at-home test kit revenue," said CEO Vivek Sankaran.
The company expects significant labor investments and inflationary cost increases going ahead.
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Price Action: ACI shares are trading lower by 1.34% at $20.92 on the last check Tuesday.