
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090541 
SECTION: BUSINESS                     PAGE: I3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: Medium

RICHFOOD PROFITS STAY STRONG \

{LEAD} Richfood Holdings Inc. posted a fifth year of record earnings in its fiscal year ended April 30, despite taking a big charge to close three supermarkets, the company announced Wednesday.

The Richmond-based wholesale food distributor made $17.2 million, or 81 cents per share, in the year, up from $15.8 million, or 75 cents per share, the year before.

{REST} This year's earnings would have been even better if the company hadn't taken a $4.6 million, or 21 cents per share, charge to close three stores in Raleigh. Richfood acquired the troubled stores from a former customer in November and had hoped to turn them around.

Without the charge-off, Richfood would have made $21.7 million, or $1.02 per share, a 37.2 percent increase over last year.

Despite the charge-off, Richfood increased its earnings 8.4 percent thanks to a big boost in sales resulting from its January 1993 purchase of Baltimore-based B. Green & Co. Inc. Richfood's biggest customer, Norfolk-based Farm Fresh Inc., helped too when it purchased the Richmond-area Safeway stores in December.

Richfood, the nation's 11th-largest wholesale food distributor, supplies 450 customers operating 750 stores throughout the mid-Atlantic.

The company's sales rose 16.8 percent to $1.28 billion in the recent fiscal year from $1.09 billion in the previous year.

Former B. Green customers contributed $140.7 million in sales last year, while the stores Farm Fresh bought added $19.6 million to Richfood's coffers.

``We will continue to explore opportunities that will contribute to our wholesale business and lead to increased profitability of Richfood,'' said Donald D. Bennett, Richfood president and chief executive.

The company also succeeded in keeping a lid on overhead costs during the year. As a percent of sales, operating and administrative costs were 5.6 percent last year, compared with 6 percent the year before.

In the fourth quarter ended April 30, Richfood made $3.3 million, or 15 cents per share, down 32.8 percent from the $4.9 million, 23 cents per share, it made in the same period a year earlier.

Richfood took $4.2 million of the store-closing charge during the quarter, which accounts for the slip. Without the charge it would have made $7.5 million, or 35 cents per share, in the quarter - an earnings increase of 52.4 percent.

by CNB