THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200372
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Farm Fresh Inc., the Norfolk-based grocer, said Monday it posted bigger losses for the fourth-quarter and 1995, mostly due to charges related to the sale of Richmond-area stores, supermarket openings and remodeling projects.
The supermarket chain, which operates 52 Farm Fresh and Rack & Sack discount grocery stores, lost $17.5 million in the fourth-quarter ended Dec. 30. That compared with a net loss of $4.3 million in the same period a year ago.
Included in the 1995 loss were charges of $5.5 million from the sale of 10 properties to Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Bros. Co. and another $7.2 million related to accounting changes.
In addition, Farm Fresh has been remodeling stores in Hampton Roads as it prepares for a fight over market share with several newcomers, including Hannaford and Matthew, N.C.-based Harris Teeter.
``Whenever you start closing and remodeling stores, it's very disruptive,'' said Michael E. Julian, Farm Fresh chief executive officer. ``The results came in better than we had anticipated.''
Sales declined 11.6 percent to $246.3 million in the fourth quarter from $278.6 million in the year-earlier period. Cash flow declined 3.6 percent to $13.5 million.
Same-store sales - revenues at stores open at least a year - rose 4.2 percent during the fourth quarter.
For the entire year, Farm Fresh lost $25.9 million. That compared with a $19.6 million loss in 1994.
Annual sales were essentially flat. The grocer had $885.1 million in revenues for 1995, compared with $885.9 million a year earlier.
Meantime, cash flow rose 11.9 percent to $46.1 million, and same-store sales rose 3.2 percent for the year.
Farm Fresh operates 41 grocery stores and 11 discount-warehouse stores in Hampton Roads, the Richmond area and northeastern North Carolina. by CNB