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Publix sees year-end lift in sales

Q4 earnings take hit from accounting rule change

Russell Redman

March 1, 2019

2 Min Read
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Publix Super Markets Inc. finished 2018 on an upswing, reporting net and same-store sales gains for the fourth quarter and full year.

Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix said Friday that sales for the quarter ended Dec. 29 rose 3.8% to $9.3 billion from $8.9 billion a year earlier. Comparable-store sales edged up 1.1% for the period.

For all of fiscal 2018, sales totaled $36.1 billion, up 4.4% from $34.6 billion in 2017. Comp-store sales also increased, rising 2.1%.

“Our fourth-quarter results were impacted by an accounting rule change in 2018 and a onetime adjustment due to the Tax Act in 2017. Excluding these items, our net earnings were strong in the fourth quarter,” Publix CEO Todd Jones said in a statement. “Our associates continue to provide legendary service to our customers.”

At the bottom line, Publix’s net income for the fourth quarter fell to $407 million, or 57 cents per share, from $766.6 million, or $1.04 per share, a year ago. The company noted that the decrease reflects a negative impact from a new accounting standard that requires equity securities be measured at fair value with net unrealized gains and losses from changes in the fair value recognized in earnings. That was partially offset by a reduced effective income tax rate stemming from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Related:More GreenWise stores coming from Publix

Excluding the impact of the accounting change in 2018 and a onetime remeasurement of deferred income taxes in 2017, net earnings for the 2018 quarter would have been $660.3 million, or 92 cents per share, versus $542.4 million, or 74 cents per share, in the prior-year period, Publix said.

Fiscal 2018 net earnings came in at $2.4 billion, or $3.28 per share, up slightly from $2.3 billion, or $3.04 per share, in 2017. Adjusted net income — excluding the new accounting standard in 2018 and the income tax remeasurement in 2017 — was $2.5 billion in 2018, compared with $2.1 billion in 2017, with adjusted earnings per share at $3.47 and $2.74, respectively.

Publix said that, as of March 1, its share price climbed to $42.85 from $42.70 a year earlier. The employee-owned company’s stock is not publicly traded and only sold to Publix associates and board members.

Currently, Publix operates 1,213 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, up from 1,172 stores a year ago.

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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