date:May 23, 2013
Spartan Stores here Wednesday said the early Easter holiday and new wholesale accounts helped the company post sales gains and better-than-expected earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter.
For the 12-week period that ended March 30, Spartan reported net earnings of $7.7 million, down 26.6% from a 13-week fourth quarter in fiscal 2012. EBITDA adjusted for the extra week improved 16% as gross margins as a percent of sales improved 20 basis points to 22.4%.
Sales of $592.8 million improved 4.9%, an