Firm’s profit continues to slip

Thursday, May 1, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway Inc., the No. 3 U.S. supermarket chain and owner of Vons markets in Las Vegas, today reported a first-quarter profit of $162.6 million. Earnings this quarter will decline more than forecast.

Net income was 36 cents a share compared with a net loss of $367.9 million, or 74 cents, a year earlier when it wrote down the value of assets by $700 million because of an accounting change. Sales rose 2.4 percent to $7.54 billion, mostly because of the addition of nine stores, Safeway said in a statement.

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