Natural and organic food retailer Whole Foods Market has announced net income growth of 31 per cent for the fourth quarter of the year, up to US$75.5m, despite the upscale nature of the group and the uncertain economic environment.
The group, which operates in the US and the UK, saw sales grow by 12 per cent through the quarter, up to US$2.4bn, while comparable store sales increased 8.7 per cent (or 17.4 per cent on a two-year stacked basis).
'We are pleased to end the fiscal year on a high note, crossing US$10bn in sales and reporting our eighth consecutive quarter of accelerating to-year identical store sales growth,' said John Mackey, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market.
'Our outlook for fiscal year 2012 reflects consistent identical store sales growth, a record number of new store openings, EBITDA of close to US$1bn, and significant operating margin improvement,' Mackey added, 'We are continuing to produce quality results and expect the lessons we learned during the recession will drive even higher levels of operating performance and returns on invested capital over time.'
For the full-year period ended 25 September, Whole Foods said that sales increased 12 per cent on the previous year to US$10.1bn, while EBITDA rose 17 per cent to US$834.7m.
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