Whole Foods Market Results Miss Street, Lowers FY View

(RTTNews) - Organic food retailer Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) on Wednesday reported a first-quarter profit that plunged from a year ago and also fell short of Wall Street expectations, as operating costs offset a mediocre revenue growth of about 2 percent, reflecting increased competition in the healthy food industry.

Shares of the company slipped in extended trading after the company lowered its full year expectations.

Earnings for the quarter dropped to of $95 million or $0.30 per share from $157 million or $0.47 per share last year. Revenues rose 1.9 percent to at $4.92 billion from $4.83 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.39 per share on revenues of $4.98 billion for the quarter.

Same store sales for the quarter declined 2.4 percent.

"In this increasingly competitive marketplace, we are committed to taking every step necessary to improve comps and deliver higher returns for our shareholders," said John Mackey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market.

Looking forward to the full year, the company now expects sales growth of 1.5 percent or greater and earnings of $1.33 per share or greater. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $1.44 per share and revenues growth of 3.4 percent.

Earlier, the company expected sales growth of 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent and earnings of $1.42 or greater.

WFM closed Wednesday's trading at $29.30, up $0.32 or 1.10%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, dropped $0.95 or 3.24% in the after-hours trade.