Storms Hit Albertson’s Profit

Boise, Idaho, Albertson’s Inc., which put itself up for sale in September, said quarterly profit fell 30%, missing Wall Street’s expectations, as higher costs from hurricanes and continuing pressure from Wal-Mart and other discounters weighed on results.

Earnings in the third quarter that ended on Nov. 3 fell to $77 million, or 21? per share, from $107 million, or 29? a share, a year earlier. Sales fell slightly to $9.95 billion from $9.974 billion. Same-store sales were down 0.5%.

The company said it was still on track to meet its goal of cutting costs by $1.25 billion by the end of the next fiscal year.