United Natural Foods plunges on weak annual forecast, Q4 loss

United Natural Foods

26/09/2023 18:02

(Updates)
     ** Shares of United Natural Foods  UNFI.N  slump as much as
25.4% to $14.11, lowest since May 12, 2020
    ** The organic food retailer sees FY24 sales between $30.9
bln and $31.5 bln, compared with LSEG estimates of $31 bln
        ** Expects annual adj. per share earnings between loss
of 88 cents and profit of 38 cents vs estimates of a profit
$2.56/shr, per LSEG data
    ** Expecting ongoing near-term volume headwinds as consumers
continue to adapt to higher costs across their household budgets
- CFO John Howard 
    ** UNFI's disappointing FY24 guidance will get more focus,
says Roth MKM analyst Bill Kirk
        ** Co posts Q4 adj. loss of 25 cents/shr, compared with
year-ago profit of $1.27/shr
    ** Including session losses, UNFI down about 63% YTD

 (Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru)
 ((Purvi.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))