UNFI - United Natural Foods records higher sales improved margins in FQ4

United Natural Foods ( NYSE: UNFI ) said it generated meaningful growth across its key financial metrics in FQ4 including mid-teens adjusted earnings growth.

Sales were up 8.0% during the quarter to $7.27B, including 3.7% sales growth for chains, 12.4% sales growth for independent retailers, and 13.5% sales growth for supernatural stores.

UNFI's gross margin rate for the quarter was 15.0% of sales. The increase in gross margin rate, excluding the LIFO charge, was driven by improvements in the wholesale segment margin rate, including the impact of inflation and the company's efficiency initiatives, partially offset by changes in customer mix.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter rose 3.4% year-over-year to $213M.

One the balance sheet, United Natural Foods ( UNFI ) said it was able to reduce net leverage to under 2.6X and increased liquidity to approximately $1.7B.

Looking ahead, the food distributor expects FY23 revenue of $29.8B to $30.4B vs. $30.08B consensus and adjusted Diluted EPS of $4.85 to $5.15 vs. $5.08 consensus. A new $200M buyback program was announced.

Shares of UNFI gained 1.45% in premarket trading on Tuesday following the mixed earnings report.

For further details see: