Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. Announces Increased Sales and Customer Count Increases in the Third Quarter of 2011

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Jack H. Brown, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stater Bros. Holdings Inc., announced financial results for the thirteen week and thirty-nine week periods ended June 26, 2011.

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The Company's consolidated sales in the thirteen weeks ended June 26, 2011 were $939.0 million up $39.0 million or 4.33% from the thirteen weeks ended June 27, 2010 consolidated sales of $900.0 million.  

At $2.751 billion, the Company's supermarket sales for the thirty-nine weeks ended June 26, 2011 were up $45.6 million over the same period of fiscal 2010.

Sales for the thirty-nine weeks were affected by increased customer count of approximately 1.4 million customers.

Like store sales increased 4.33% or $39.0 million for the thirteen weeks ended June 26, 2011 compared to the thirteen weeks ended June 27, 2010.  Like store sales increased 1.68% or $45.6 million for the thirty-nine weeks of fiscal 2011 compared to the same period of the prior year.  

The Company reported net income for the thirteen week third quarter ended June 26, 2011 of $7.1 million compared to net income of $6.0 million for the thirteen week third quarter ended June 27, 2010.  Net income for the thirty-nine week period of fiscal 2011 was $17.1 million compared to $18.7 million for the thirty-nine week period of fiscal 2010.  Fiscal 2010 year-to-date net income included an after-tax gain of $5.6 million from the sale of the Company's dairy assets.

Brown said, "We are pleased with our like-store-sales increase for the quarter and for the year.  Our customer count has increased approximately 1.4 million in fiscal 2011 compared to fiscal 2010 and is due to the loyalty of our customers, many of whose families we have served for over three generations.  

"Our sales and customer count increases indicate that our valued customers appreciate our strategy of 'sharing their pain' by holding our prices as low as we can to help them through these tough economic times.  

"Our debt refinancing in the first part of fiscal 2011, which reduced our overall debt load and reduced the interest rate on our remaining debt, has been very helpful in allowing us to sacrifice margin in the short-term in order to retain our valued customers in the long-term."

Stater Bros. is the largest privately owned Supermarket Chain in Southern California and the largest private employer in both San Bernardino County and Riverside County, with annual sales in 2010 of $3.6 billion.  The Company currently operates 167 Supermarkets, and there are over 18,000 members of the Stater Bros. Supermarket Family.  

STATER BROS ... PROUDLY SERVING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FAMILIES FOR 75 YEARS

Contact: Phillip J. Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, +1-909-733-5287

SOURCE Stater Bros. Holdings Inc.