Publix Posts Higher Q1 Sales

Based on unaudited reports to be filed next week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Publix reported sales for the first quarter of 2012 of $7.1 billion, a 4.2 percent increase from $6.8 billion last year. The Southeast regional grocer’s comparable-store sales for the first quarter of 2012 rose 3.3 percent.

Net earnings for the first quarter of 2012 were $409.4 million, versus $398.2 million in 2011, an increase of 2.8 percent. Earnings per share for the first quarter rose to 52 cents for 2012, from 51 cents per share last year.

Publix’s quarterly report to the SEC, Form 10-Q, will be available May 10 on its website.

Effective May 1, the company’s stock price has increased from $22.40 per share to $22.70 per share. As Publix is privately owned and operated by its 151,500 employees, its stock isn’t publicly traded and is made available for sale only to current associates and members of the company’s board of directors.

“I’m pleased we had another increase in our stock price during a time of economic challenges,” said Ed Crenshaw, CEO of Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix, which has 1,051 stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. “Our associates deserve the credit for continuing to make us a leader in our industry.”