DAYVILLE, Conn., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Natural Foods,
Inc. (Nasdaq: UNFI) (the "Company") today announced that it will recognize a
special charge against income from operations of $1.9 million pre-tax due to
discontinued products, inventory writedown and severance at its Hershey Import
subsidiary ("Hershey") in the fourth quarter ended July 31, 2003. The Company
plans to consolidate management, sales and support functions of Hershey from
its Edison, New Jersey facility with its corporate headquarters in Dayville,
Connecticut. The Company has begun the consolidation of support functions,
which are scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2003. The Company
plans to continue manufacturing and distribution from its Edison, New Jersey
facility. Additionally, the Company announced that it will recognize a non-
cash charge against fourth quarter income from operations of $1.4 million due
to goodwill impairment at Hershey.
Hershey imports, processes, packages and distributes nuts, dried fruit,
seeds, trail mixes, natural and organic products and confections to
supermarkets and natural foods retailers. Products are sold in bulk and in
packages under the Company's Woodstock Farms and EXPRESSnacks trademarks.
"While we plan to incur the inventory writedown and other expenses related
to the consolidation of approximately $1.9 million pre-tax in the fourth
quarter of fiscal year 2003, we believe the consolidation will have a direct
and positive impact on our organization and are confident that we will begin
to realize efficiencies and savings by the end of the first quarter of our
fiscal year 2004," said Steven Townsend, the Company's Chief Executive
Officer. Mr. Townsend continued, "Accordingly we are not changing our outlook
for our fiscal year 2004."
Mr. Townsend added, "Commencing with our decision in June to place Dan
Atwood, Senior Vice President at United Natural Foods, in direct charge of the
subsidiary, today's actions represent our commitment to regaining
profitability at Hershey. Our ongoing priority is to generate strong,
consistent results and we intend to leverage the expertise of our wholesale
distribution business to turn Hershey back into a profit contributor, by
reducing inventory and overhead, improving productivity and fill rates, and
driving sales growth. We believe our actions will provide a competitive edge
to Hershey by streamlining its current purchasing, production and back office
processes."
Mr. Townsend concluded, "Our guidance for earnings per diluted share for
fiscal year 2003 remains in the range $1.18 to $1.20, excluding special items,
as previously stated."
The Company intends to report its financial results for the fourth quarter
and year ended July 31, 2003 before the market opens on Tuesday, September 2,
2003. Management will conduct a conference call and audio webcast at 11:00
a.m. ET on September 2, 2003 to review the Company's quarterly results, market
trends and future outlook.
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes over 30,500 products to
more than 11,000 customers nationwide. The Company serves a wide variety of
retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product
superstores and independent retail operators.
For more information on United Natural Foods, Inc., visit the Company's
web site at www.unfi.com .
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding United Natural Foods,
Inc.'s business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking
statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to
general business conditions, the impact of competition and our dependence on
principal customers, see "Risk Factors" in the United Natural Foods, Inc.'s
quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on June 16, 2003, and its other filings under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any forward-looking statements are made
pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such,
speak only as of the date made. United Natural Foods, Inc. is not undertaking
to update any information in the foregoing reports until the effective date of
its future reports required by applicable laws.
SOURCE United Natural Foods, Inc.
-0- 08/05/2003
/CONTACT: Rick D. Puckett, Chief Financial Officer of United Natural
Foods, +1-860-779-2800; or General Information, Joseph Calabrese,
+1-212-445-8434, or Analyst Information, Vanessa Schwartz, +1-212-445-8433,
both of FRB Weber Shandwick/
/Web site: http://www.unfi.com /
(UNFI)
CO: United Natural Foods, Inc.; Hershey Import