While wine and spirits maker Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) said Wednesday that its fiscal third-quarter earnings tumbled 30% on restructuring costs and weaker sales, grocery store chain Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) reported a third-quarter loss because of hefty one-time charges.
For the quarter ended Nov. 30, Constellation Brands posted a profit of $83.5 million, or 38 cents a share, down 30.9% from a year earlier. Excluding one-time restructuring and acquisition-related charges and other special items, the world's biggest winemaker by volume earned $132 million, or 60 cents a share.
Sales were hurt by the stronger dollar, slipping 7.1% to $1.31 billion, with net sales excluding excise taxes falling 6% to $1.03 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 59 cents a share on sales of $1.13 billion.
Citing the impact of the economic downturn on its key markets, the company lowered the upper end its 2009 adjusted profit outlook to between $1.68 per share and $1.72 per share.
Shares fell on Wednesday by $1.39, or 8.2%, to close at $15.48, but regained much of that in afterhours trading. In the past three months, the share price has fallen 10.7%.
For the quarter ended Nov. 29, Minnesota-based Supervalu reported a loss of $2.94 billion, or $13.95 per share, compared with a profit of $141 million, or 66 cents per share, in the same quarter of last year. With $3.3 billion in charges stemming from required write-downs of some intangible assets excluded, the profit was 62 cents per share, two cents better than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected.
Sales fell 0.4% to $10.17 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $10.18 billion. Same-store sales fell 0.5%, excluding fuel.
For the 2009 fiscal year, Supervalu forecast a loss between $12.14 and $12.39 per share, including the charges, and a profit of $2.80 to $2.90 per share excluding them. The company also forecast sales of about $45 billion for the year.
Supervalu declined to offer profit or sales guidance for 2010, but it did outline a plan for keeping its costs down in the coming year that includes closing underperforming stores, remodeling fewer stores, and reducing spending on technology improvements.
Shares rose $1.24, or 8.2%, to close at $16.33, but lost much of that gain in afterhours trading. In the past three months, the share price has fallen 20.9%.
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