A&P Profit Climbs, Helped by Metro Sale

Montvale, N.J. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., parent company of A&P supermarkets, said Tuesday its third-quarter profit climbed 41% helped by the sale of its Metro Inc. supermarket chain.

For the period ended Dec. 1, net income rose to $57.3 million, compared with $40.7 million in the prior year.

Quarterly revenue grew 3% to $1.25 billion from $1.21 billion a year ago. Same-store sales grew 3.1% in the quarter.

The company reported a $106.1 million gain from the Metro sale. A&P sold all of its 11.7 million shares of Canadian-based Metro in November for $347 million as part of its financing to buy Pathmark Stores Inc. A&P said in March that it would buy Pathmark for about $679 million. The deal closed shortly after the third-quarter ended.