Von’s owner beats earnings estimates

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 11:40 a.m.

Safeway Inc., the second-largest U.S. supermarket chain, said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 20 percent as acquisitions helped boost sales and helped make operations more efficient.

Based in Pleasanton, Calif., Safeway owns the Von's chain of grocery stores in Las Vegas.

Safeway's profit rose to $305.3 million or 59 cents a share from $255 million or 50 cents in the year-ago period. Sales for the quarter ended Jan. 1 rose 25 percent to $9.9 billion from $7.92 billion.

Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial estimated Safeway would earn 57 cents, the mean average estimate.

Sales in stores open at least a year rose 3.7 percent for Safeway, operator of 1,659 stores in the United States and Canada.

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