Houston-based SYSCO Corp, the largest foodservice marketing and distribution organisation in the US, has announced diluted earnings per share of US$0.23 for the Q3 ended 30 March 2002, a 9.5% increase year on year.
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Meanwhile, Q3 sales rose 5.2%, to reach US$5.6bn versus US$5.3bn in the same period last year. Net earnings for the same period were up 8.6%, or US$151.4m compared to US$139.4m last year.
Diluted earnings per share for the 39 weeks of fiscal 2002 increased 12.9% to US$0.70, compared to US$0.62 for the same period last year. Net earnings for the nine months of fiscal 2002 increased 12.1% to US$473.9m compared with US$422.7m a year earlier. Sales for the first three quarters of fiscal 2002 were US$17.0bn, a gain of 6.5% in comparison to US$16bn for the comparable period the previous year. Broadline sales were US$4.6bn for the Q3 and US$14bn for the 39-week period, while SYGMA sales were US$648.9m and US$2bn, respectively, for the Q3 and nine months.
Marketing associate-served sales as a percentage of broadline sales increased by two percentage points for the Q3, or 54.9% compared to 52.9% for the same period last year. Sales of SYSCO Brand items represented 55.9% of broadline marketing associate-served sales in the Q3 compared to the 53.5% posted last year.
Marketing associate-served sales in the broadline companies increased approximately 7.6% for the quarter compared to 6.7% in the Q2 of fiscal 2002. Real sales growth for the Q3, after accounting for inflation of 1% and acquisitions of 1.5%, was 2.7%. This represents a two-percentage point increase compared to the 0.7% registered in the Q2 of fiscal 2002.
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By GlobalDataChairman and CEO Charles H. Cotros said: “I am pleased with the performance of our businesses. The strength of our Q3 performance was our ability to assist marketing associate-served foodservice operators. Despite the softness our industry has experienced, we continued to grow in this area. While these customers are more expensive to service, the long-term benefits of our customer service commitment will bode well for us in the future.”
Richard J. Schnieders, SYSCO’s president and COO, added: “Last year’s fiscal Q3 was one of the strongest quarters in our history, producing a 40% earnings per share increase over the prior year period. Despite the comparison to exceptional results last year, earnings per share for the Q3 this year were strong and represented the 104th consecutive quarter of such increases, the result of tenaciously following sound strategies, including higher sales of SYSCO Brand items.”
Schnieders also remarked that SYSCO’s fold-out and acquisition activity during the recently completed quarter provide him with a heightened level of optimism for the future: “Our presence in Canada was strengthened by the addition of SERCA, and one of the many opportunities that acquisition provides is the ability to bring the quality and performance of SYSCO Brand products to thousands more Canadian foodservice operators.
“In addition, our Columbia, SC, fold-out began operations during the Q3 and a Las Vegas facility is on schedule to begin shipping products in the Q1 of fiscal 2003. Industry sources project that foodservice sales in both of those regions should be above the national average. While fold-outs are very beneficial to the long-term growth of SYSCO, these operations do increase operating expenses in the short-term.”
In concluding his remarks, Schnieders commented, “We believe that our strategies are well-developed, that our systems contribute to improving efficiencies and that we are firmly positioned to take advantage of opportunities in all the various markets we serve.”
