CINCINNATI, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today reported fourth quarter and fiscal 2018 results and provided a Restock Kroger progress update after its first full year executing the company's three-year transformation plan.

Comments from Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen

"Kroger solidly delivered on what we set out to do in 2018, which was an investment year that laid the groundwork for us to achieve our 2020 Restock Kroger targets including financials. We reached our FIFO operating profit goal and finished the year with sales and business momentum. We have a clear path to achieve $400 million in incremental FIFO operating profit growth and $6.5 billion in cumulative Restock cash flow by the end of 2020.

"As America's grocer, Kroger has the winning combination of local presence plus a digital ecosystem enhanced by strategic partnerships enabling us to offer our customers anything, anytime, anywhere. We are transforming from grocer to growth company by deploying our assets to serve even more customers and create margin-rich alternative profit streams. We are well positioned to deliver on our Restock Kroger vision to serve America through food inspiration and uplift."

Key 2018 Restock Kroger Results

• Identical sales without fuel at 1.8%, improved over last year
• EPS of $3.76; Adjusted EPS of $2.11 near the high end of 2018 guidance
• Achieved FIFO operating profit and free cash flow goals
• Achieved over $1 billion in cost savings through process improvements
• Grew digital sales 58%, expanded Pickup or Delivery to reach 91% of Kroger households
• Our Brands achieved its best year ever, reaching record 30.5% unit share in Q4
• Announced Partnerships to Create Customer Value including Home Chef, Microsoft, Nuro, Ocado, and Walgreens
• Alternative profit streams Media and Kroger Personal Finance beat ambitious operating profit goals
• Raised dividend for 12^th consecutive year, increased by 12%
• Invested in wages and launched Feed Your Future education program for associates

Details of Fourth Quarter 2018 Results

• Q4 EPS of $0.32
• Adjusted Q4 EPS of $0.48
• Q4 ID Sales Without Fuel 1.9%

GAAP net earnings for the fourth quarter totaled $259 million, or $0.32 per diluted share. GAAP net earnings in the same period last year were $854 million, or $0.96 per diluted share. 

Adjusted net earnings totaled $390 million, or $0.48 per diluted share (see Table 6, the 2018 Fourth Quarter Adjustment Items). Adjusted net earnings in the same period last year were $483 million, or $0.54 per diluted share (see Table 6, the 2017 Fourth Quarter Adjustment Items).

Total sales decreased 9.5% to $28.1 billion in the fourth quarter compared to $31.0 billion for the same period last year. Excluding fuel, the 53^rd week in fiscal 2017, the convenience store business unit divestiture, and the merger with Home Chef total sales increased 1.6% in the fourth quarter over the same period last year.

Gross margin was 22.0% of sales for the fourth quarter. Excluding fuel, the 53^rd week, and the LIFO credit, gross margin decreased 93 basis points from the same period last year due mostly to changes in mix and investments in supply chain, as well as investments in price.

Kroger recorded a LIFO credit of $10 million in the fourth quarter, compared to a $54 million LIFO credit in the same quarter last year.

Operating, General & Administrative costs as a rate of sales, excluding fuel, the 53^rd week and the 2018 and 2017 Fourth Quarter Adjustment items, increased 39 basis points due entirely to incentive pay and continuing to staff digital initiatives. Rent and depreciation on the same basis was flat.

Kroger did not adjust the rates as a percent of sales described above for the divestiture of the convenience store business and the merger with Home Chef because the effect was insignificant.

Kroger's fourth quarter 2018 ended on February 2, 2019.

Fiscal 2018 Results

• 2018 EPS of $3.76
• Adjusted 2018 EPS of $2.11
• 2018 ID Sales Without Fuel 1.8%

GAAP net earnings for 2018 totaled $3.1 billion, or $3.76 per diluted share. GAAP net earnings in 2017 were $1.9 billion, or $2.09 per diluted share. 

Adjusted net earnings totaled $1.7 billion, or $2.11 per diluted share (see Table 6, the 2018 Adjustment Items). Adjusted net earnings in 2017 were $1.8 billion, or $1.95 per diluted share (see Table 6, the 2017 Adjustment Items).

For fiscal 2018, Kroger's adjusted net earnings per diluted share result was slightly ahead of the company's internal expectations due to results from the solid early execution of Restock Kroger, including process changes that led to sustainable cost controls and higher-margin alternative profit streams. This performance allowed Kroger to continue making incremental Restock Kroger investments while delivering on its guidance range for the year.

Total sales decreased 1.2% to $121.2 billion in 2018 compared to $122.7 billion in 2017.  Excluding fuel, the 53^rd week, the convenience store business unit divestiture, and the merger with Home Chef total sales increased 2.0% in 2018 compared to 2017.

Gross margin was 21.7% of sales in 2018.  Excluding fuel, the 53^rd week, and the LIFO charge and credit, gross margin decreased 55 basis points compared to 2017.

Kroger's LIFO charge for 2018 was $29 million, compared to an $8 million LIFO credit in 2017.

Operating, General & Administrative costs as a percent of sales – excluding fuel, the 53^rd week, the 2018 and 2017 Adjustment Items, and a $111 million contribution to the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan in 2017, increased 14 basis points; rent and depreciation on the same basis declined 1 basis point compared to 2017.

FIFO operating margin for 2018 decreased 68 basis points compared to the prior year, with the following exclusions: fuel, the 53^rd week, the 2018 and 2017 Adjustment Items, a $111 million contribution to the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan in 2017.

Restock cash flow was $1.9 billion for 2018 (see table 7).

Kroger did not adjust the rates as a percent of sales described above for the divestiture of the convenience store business and the merger with Home Chef because the effect was insignificant.

Financial Strategy

Kroger's financial strategy is to use its free cash flow to drive growth while also maintaining its current investment grade debt rating and returning capital to shareholders. The company actively balances the use of its cash flow to achieve these goals.

Over the last four quarters, Kroger has used cash to:

• Invest a combined $589 million in Ocado securities and Home Chef,
• Contribute an incremental $185 million pre-tax to company-sponsored pension plans,
• Repurchase 79 million common shares for $2.0 billion, which includes $1.2 billion repurchased under an accelerated stock repurchase plan with after-tax proceeds from the sale of Kroger's convenience store business unit,
• Pay $437 million in dividends, and
• Invest $3.0 billion in capital, excluding mergers, acquisitions, and purchases of leased facilities.

Kroger's net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio, on a 52-week basis, is 2.83 (see table 5). The company's net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio target range is 2.30 to 2.50. Kroger intends to use its free cash flow to bring the leverage ratio back into the target range.

2019 Guidance

Kroger is targeting identical sales growth, excluding fuel, to range from 2.0% to 2.25% in 2019.

The company expects net earnings to range from $2.15 to $2.25 per diluted share and FIFO operating profit to range from $2.9 to $3.0 billion for 2019.

The company expects capital investments, excluding mergers, acquisitions, and purchases of leased facilities, to range between $3.0 and $3.2 billion in 2019.

Kroger expects its 2019 tax rate to be approximately 22%.

Fourth Quarter 2018 Restock Kroger Highlights

Redefine the Grocery Customer Experience

• Introduced Kroger Pay and the Kroger REWARDS debit card
• Expanded nationwide retail rollout of Home Chef meal kits
• Welcomed half a million new households to the Simple Truth® brand in one period
• Shared five predictions for the future of retail at NRF 2019: Retail's Big Show
• Launched the Rx Savings Club to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for customers
• Hosted 'First Pitch' event at Natural Products Expo West to partner with more natural and organic suppliers

Partner for Customer Value

• Announced a collaboration with Microsoft to introduce connected store experience pilot and Retail as a Service commercial product
• Announced two additional Ocado shed locations in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic
• Activated the world's first-ever unmanned grocery delivery service in partnership with Nuro
  

Develop Talent

• Consistent with the company's history of thoughtful and measured succession planning, Kroger announced transition plans in 2019 for two key roles that support Kroger's future:
• Announced promotion of Gary Millerchip to senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective April 4, 2019, and retirement of Mike Schlotman, executive vice president and chief financial officer at the end of 2019. Mr. Schlotman will continue as chief financial officer until April 3, 2019. He will then remain as executive vice president and continue to sit on the senior leadership team to support the company during this transition period until December 28, 2019.
• Announced promotion of Yael Cosset to senior vice president and chief information officer effective May 1, 2019 and retirement of Chris Hjelm, executive vice president and chief information officer. Mr. Hjelm will remain as executive vice president and continue to sit on the senior leadership team to support the company during this transition period until his retirement on August 1, 2019.
• The company also announced a key promotion in support of Restock Kroger and beyond with the appointment of Stuart Aitken to the newly-created role of senior vice president, alternative business. In this role, Mr. Aitken assumes oversight for Kroger's successful existing alternative profit businesses, including 84.51° and Kroger Personal Finance. Mr. Aitken will also lead the development of a full portfolio of alternative businesses to support the transformation of Kroger's growth model.
  

Live Kroger's Purpose

• Launched the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Innovation Fund
• Named a finalist for the 2019 Engage for Good Halo Awards for Zero Hunger | Zero Waste
• Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Food Rescue program in stores rescued 15% more food and resulted in $2.3 million waste expense savings compared to the previous year.

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit^TM. We are nearly half a million associates who serve over nine million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,764 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

Note: Fuel sales have historically had a low gross margin rate and operating expense rate as compared to corresponding rates on non-fuel sales. As a result, Kroger discusses the changes in these rates excluding the effect of fuel.

Note: Kroger discusses the changes in certain operating results, as a percentage of sales, excluding recent mergers due to them affecting comparability to last year.

Please refer to the supplemental information presented in the tables for reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to the most comparable GAAP financial measure and related disclosure.

This press release contains certain statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" about the future performance of the company. These statements are based on management's assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. These statements are indicated by words such as "achieve," "committed," "continue," "effect," "expects," "future," "goal," "growth," "guidance," "intends," "pilot," "plan,"  "range," "result," "strategy," "target," "vision," and "will." Various uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include the specific risk factors identified in "Risk Factors" and "Outlook" in Kroger's annual report on Form 10-K for the last fiscal year and any subsequent filings, as well as the following:

• Kroger's ability to achieve sales, earnings, incremental FIFO operating profit, and free cash flow goals may be affected by: labor negotiations or disputes; changes in the types and numbers of businesses that compete with Kroger; pricing and promotional activities of existing and new competitors, including non-traditional competitors, and the aggressiveness of that competition; Kroger's response to these actions; the state of the economy, including interest rates, the inflationary and deflationary trends in certain commodities, changes in tariffs, and the unemployment rate; the effect that fuel costs have on consumer spending; volatility of fuel margins; changes in government-funded benefit programs; manufacturing commodity costs; diesel fuel costs related to Kroger's logistics operations; trends in consumer spending; the extent to which Kroger's customers exercise caution in their purchasing in response to economic conditions; the uncertain pace of economic growth; changes in inflation or deflation in product and operating costs; stock repurchases; Kroger's ability to retain pharmacy sales from third party payors; consolidation in the healthcare industry, including pharmacy benefit managers; Kroger's ability to negotiate modifications to multi-employer pension plans; natural disasters or adverse weather conditions; the potential costs and risks associated with potential cyber-attacks or data security breaches; the success of Kroger's future growth plans; the ability to execute on Restock Kroger; and the successful integration of merged companies and new partnerships.
• Kroger's ability to achieve these goals may also be affected by Kroger's ability to manage the factors identified above. Kroger's ability to execute its financial strategy may be affected by its ability to generate cash flow.
• Kroger's effective tax rate may differ from the expected rate due to changes in laws, the status of pending items with various taxing authorities, and the deductibility of certain expenses.

Kroger assumes no obligation to update the information contained herein. Please refer to Kroger's reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties.

Note: Kroger's quarterly conference call with investors will be broadcast live online at 10 a.m. (ET) on March 7, 2019 at ir.kroger.com. An on-demand replay of the webcast will be available at approximately 1 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, March 7, 2019.

4^th Quarter and Fiscal Year 2018 Tables Include:

1. Consolidated Statements of Operations
2. Consolidated Balance Sheets
3. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
4. Supplemental Sales Information
5. Reconciliation of Net Total Debt and Net Earnings Attributable to The Kroger Co. to Adjusted EBITDA
6. Net Earnings Per Diluted Share Excluding the Adjustment Items
7. Restock Cash Flow