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Non-Tech : Natural/Health Food Industry Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GRANOLA who wrote (304)	5/7/1999 9:57:00 AM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Respond to of 337

Whole Foods Market Announces 2Q99 Sales and Earnings May 6, 1999 04:38 PM AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1999--Whole Foods Market (WFMI) (The Company) will host a conference call today to discuss this announcement at 4:30 p.m. CDT. To participate, call 212/896-6116. Investors will have the opportunity to listen to the conference call live or in replay over the Internet. To listen to the live call, go to vcall.com at least fifteen minutes early to register, download, and install any necessary audio software. For those who do not have Internet access, a replay of the call will be available for 24 hours following the call at 800/633-8284, reservation No. 12262269. Whole Foods Market today announced sales and earnings for the fiscal quarter ended April 11, 1999. Sales during this 12-week period were $359 million, an increase of 10% over sales of $325 million for the same period of the prior fiscal year. This brings year-to-date sales for the 28-week period to $815 million, an increase of 11% over sales of $733 million in the prior year. Comparable store sales increased 8.2% for the quarter and 7.0% year-to-date. Sales in identical stores increased 7.1% for the quarter and 5.9% year-to-date. Net income for the quarter increased to $11.6 million from $11.1 million in the prior year, and diluted earnings per share increased to $0.43, compared to $0.40 in the prior year. Year-to-date earnings for the 28-week period were $24.6 million, or $0.90, compared to $24.2 million, or $0.88, in the prior year, excluding merger expenses. Store contribution for the quarter was a record 9.8%, compared to 9.1% in the prior year. This 70 basis point improvement is the result of both a decrease in direct store expenses and an increase in gross margins. "Our core business showed strong results during the quarter," said John Mackey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Whole Foods Market. "We saw record average weekly store sales and record store level profitability. We think this performance can be duplicated in the long list of 32 A-plus sites we currently have in development." In April, the Company completed the acquisition of Nature's Heartland Inc., a chain of four natural foods supermarkets in the greater Boston metropolitan area, for $25 million. The transaction is expected to be neutral to slightly dilutive to fiscal 1999 earnings, becoming slightly accretive in fiscal 2000. Since the end of the first quarter, the Company has opened new stores in Dallas, TX; Atlanta, GA; Pasadena, CA; and relocated a store in Aventura, FL. The Company is pleased to announce the signing of leases for four new sites in Manhattan, NY; Dallas, TX; Fresno, CA; and Boca Raton, FL. The Company now has 32 stores in development. The following is a chart of historical and projected store growth: 1997 1998 1999E 2000E ------------------------------- Beginning of year 68 75 87 100 New & acquired stores 8 15 14 15-20 Anticipated relocations (1) (3) (1) (3) ------------------------------- End of year 75 87 100 112-117