Stater Bros. profit up, sales down in Q1

San Bernardino, Calif. Stater Bros. reported Wednesday that supermarket sales for the quarter ended Dec. 27 dropped 1.1%, compared with the year-ago period. Comp-store sales fell 2.2%.

Consolidated sales of $959.3 million declined by 3.6% from the same period a year ago, with the sale of a milk plant to Dean Foods, which took place during the quarter, accounting for the majority of the sales decline. The sale produced an after-tax gain of $4.7 million as quarterly net income increased 91.4% to $6.7 million.

Stater Bros. operates 167 supermarkets in Southern California.