Albertsons Cos. highlighted growth in digital sales alongside an increase in loyalty members in reports for its fourth-quarter fiscal year 2023 and full-year fiscal 2023, which ended Feb. 24, 2024.
The Boise, Idaho-based retailer expressed satisfaction with the fiscal 2023 financial performance, emphasizing the success of the Customers for Life strategy, particularly in omnichannel initiatives.
"We delivered another solid quarter amidst a difficult industry backdrop," Albertsons Cos. CEO Vivek Sankaran said in a news release. "Again this quarter, we focused on our strategy to create Customers for Life, which drove strong growth in digital and pharmacy, deepened our omnichannel relationships with our customers and improved our in-store experience."
Sankaran said the company is pleased with its fiscal 2023 financial results, particularly in omnichannel where it has increased our investments in technology, digital and in-store customer experience and supply chain operations.
"As we look forward to fiscal 2024, we will continue investing in our Customers for Life strategy and developing the digital and omnichannel capabilities necessary to support it," Sankaran added. "Our Customers for Life strategy is placing the customer at the center of everything we do, with the ultimate goal of supporting them every day, every week, and for a lifetime."
The CEO said the company will continue to build on in fiscal 2024 as it invests in capabilities to digitally connect and further engage customers through an omnichannel experience, enhance what the company offers, modernize its operational capabilities and transform its ways of working.
"At the same time, we expect to face ongoing headwinds posed by investments in associate wages and benefits, cycling significant prior year food inflation, lower government assistance for our customers, declining COVID-related income, and the increasing mix of our pharmacy and digital businesses, which carry lower margins," Sankaran said. "We expect these headwinds to be much stronger in the first half of fiscal 2024. These headwinds are expected, however, to be partially offset by ongoing productivity initiatives."
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Fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 highlights:
• Identical sales increased 1%.
• Digital sales increased 24%.
• Loyalty members increased 16% to 39.8 million.
• Net income of $251 million, or 43 cents per share.
• Adjusted net income of $318 million, or 54 cents per share.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $916 million.
Fiscal 2023 highlights:
• Identical sales increased 3%.
• Digital sales increased 22%.
• Net income of $1,296 million, or $2.23 per share.
• Adjusted net income of $1,694 million, or $2.88 per share.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $4,318 million.
Related: View the entire Albertsons report