US grocery retailer Safeway has posted its third consecutive quarterly earnings decline, partly due to increased staff costs and competition from US retail giant Wal-Mart.

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Safeway reported earnings of US$203.3m, or 46 cents a share, for the second quarter to 6 September, compared to $280.9m, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting, on average, profit of 48 cents a share, while Safeway’s own guidance was for earnings of between 47 and 50 cents a share, reported Reuters.

Total sales increased to $7.8bn from $7.5bnm while identical-store sales crept up 0.2%. Excluding fuel sales, identical-store sales slid 1.5%.

Comparable-store sales increased 8%, but declined 9% when excluding fuel sales.

Safeway said it expects fourth-quarter earnings to be between 66 cents and 69 cents per share, compared with analysts’ average forecast of 71 cents a share.

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