US supermarket group Publix has reported an 18.9% drop in third quarter earnings, despite a marginal sales gain.

Net earnings for the three month period to the end September totalled US$201.8m, down from $249m for the comparable period of last year. EPS fell from $0.30 in 2007 to $0.25 this year.

Net earnings for the nine-month period $840.7m, compared to $873m posted for the first nine-months of 2007.

However, Publix sales for the third-quarter and nine-month periods rose 3.7% and 4.4% respectively. Third quarter sales totalled $5.8bn while sales for the first nine-months rose to $17.9bn.

“In these tough times, our costs are continuing to rise while many customers are struggling to make ends meet. So our results and stock price were significantly affected by this difficult operating environment,” said Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw. “In spite of this, I’m proud of the effort Publix associates are putting forth to serve our customers.”

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