Ingles Markets Q4 Profit Rises - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Ingles Markets Inc. (IMKTA), Monday reported a slight increase in its fourth-quarter profit in spite of decrease in revenues, reflecting lower interest expense.

For the three-month period, net income was $15.6 million, compared with $13.3 million last year. Earnings per share for the company's publicly traded Class A common stock was $0.68, up from $0.55 a year before.

Interest expense stood at $11.9 million, lower than $15.2 million a year earlier.

Net sales dropped to $948.9 million, from prior year's $993.9 million. Excluding gasoline, grocery segment comparable-store sales, increased 1.3 percent, driven by increase in average weekly customer visits and in the average purchase. Adjusting for the difference in weeks, gallons of gasoline sold increased while the average price per gallon dropped slightly.