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Ingles Markets adds to pandemic-driven sales gains in third quarter

Regional grocer builds on net earnings growth from a year ago

Russell Redman

August 5, 2021

3 Min Read
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Ingles is responding well to COVID-related supply chain challenges, including some disruptions to product availability and distribution, Chairman Robert Ingle said.Ingles Markets

Ingles Markets stayed on the growth track in its fiscal 2021 third quarter with sales gains on top of last year’s pandemic-fueled surge.

For the quarter ended June 26, net sales came in at $1.28 billion, up 7.4% from $1.19 billion a year earlier, Ingles said Thursday. The Asheville, N.C.-based grocer had posted a 12% year-over-year increase in its fiscal 2020 third quarter, which included a boom in consumer demand for groceries and essential items during the early weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak.

On a comparable basis, total grocery sales excluding fuel dipped 0.5% year over year in the third quarter but were up 23% on a two-year stack, Ingles reported in its 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said gasoline sales were higher in the 2021 quarter versus a year ago due to increased travel as pandemic restrictions have relaxed. Total grocery comp-store store sales, excluding fuel, decreased 0.9% year over year, with the transaction count up 8.2% and average basket size down 8%.

"We believe that easing of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions has resulted in more trips to our stores at a lower transaction size, even as dollar sales were somewhat level," Ingles said in the SEC filing.

Year-to-date, Ingles' top line climbed 7% to $3.65 billion from net sales of $3.41 billion in the nine-month period in 2020. Comp-store sales rose 5.2% for the nine months.

Related:Sales growth at Ingles Markets moderates in Q2

“We continue to respond well to ongoing challenges with labor supply, as well as some disruptions to product availability and distribution,” Ingles Markets Chairman Robert Ingle said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard work and dedication of our associates to maintain high levels of customer service in the face of these challenges.”

At the bottom line, Ingles generated third-quarter net income of $72 million, up 14.7% from $62.8 million a year ago, when net earnings more than doubled. Basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) for Class A common stock were $3.88 and $3.79, respectively, versus $3.18 and $3.10 in the prior-year period. EPS (basic and diluted) for Class B common stock were $3.52 at the quarter’s end, up from $2.89 a year earlier.

Ingles’ net earnings over the first nine months of fiscal 2021 were $178 million, a gain of 47.4% from $120.7 million in the 2020 period, when net income nearly doubled. Basic and diluted EPS for Class A Common Stock were $9.22 and $8.98, respectively, compared with $6.13 and $5.96 a year ago. For Class B common stock, EPS (basic and diluted) were $8.38 versus $5.57 a year earlier.

Related:Ingles Markets steps up COVID-19 vaccination push

Capital expenditures in the nine months totaled $108 million, up from $78.9 million a year ago, and focused on current and upcoming stores, as well as ongoing improvements, Ingles said. The company projects capital spending of $120 million to $140 million for fiscal 2021.

Ingles closed out the third quarter with 198 supermarkets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia, compared with 197 a year earlier.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Article updated with comparable sales information.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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