Ingles Logs Record FY 2019 Sales

Ingles Markets Inc. reported record total sales of $4.20 billion for fiscal year 2019, versus $4.09 billion in fiscal 2018. Pretax annual income was $106.6 million for fiscal year 2019, compared with $80.3 million last year. For the fiscal years ended September 2019 and 2018, net income came to $81.6 million in 2019 and $97.4 million, respectively, with fiscal 2018 net income positively affected by the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

For Ingles’ fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, total sales were $1.08 billion, versus $1.06 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, while net income for Q4 of fiscal 2019 totaled $20.9 million, compared with $18.4 million for the year-ago period.

Q4 2019 comparable-store sales excluding gasoline grew 3.7%. Gross profit for the quarter totaled $260.3 million, versus $256.4 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 24.2% for both the 2019 and 2018 fourth quarters. Ingles also managed to reduce its total debt to $852.2 million at the end of fiscal 2019, from $865.6 million at the end of fiscal 2018.

Basic and diluted earnings per share for the company’s publicly traded Class A common stock were $1.07 and $1.03 per share, respectively, for the September 2019 quarter, compared with 94 cents and 91 cents per share, respectively, for the September 2018 quarter.

For the fiscal year ended September 2019, Ingles’ comps excluding gasoline in fiscal year 2019 climbed 3.9% from fiscal 2018. Gross profit for fiscal 2019 rose $41.8 million, or 4.3%, to $1.02 billion, or 24.3% of sales, compared with $980.2 million, or 24% of sales, for fiscal 2018.

Income tax expense for fiscal 2019 was $25 million, versus $17 million for fiscal 2018, when Ingles recognized one-time tax benefits from the Tax Act and other tax changes.

Basic and diluted earnings per share for Ingles’ publicly traded Class A common stock were $4.14 and $4.03 per share, respectively, for fiscal 2019, compared with $4.94 and $4.81 per share, respectively, for fiscal 2018.

The grocer’s capital expenditures totaled $161.8 million and $150.5 million for fiscal years 2019 and 2018, respectively.

“We are pleased with another year of record sales, and with the steps we are taking for the long-term health of our company,” noted Ingles Chairman of the Board Robert P. Ingle II. “Our associates continue to do a great job making sure our customers are happy.” Ingle declined to identify the specific steps that the company was taking, however.

Asheville, N.C.-based Ingles operates 198 supermarkets in six southeastern states. Together with its supermarkets, the company operates neighborhood shopping centers, most of which include an Ingles supermarket, and also owns a fluid-dairy facility that supplies Ingles supermarkets as well as unaffiliated customers. Ingles is No. 24 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.