Supervalu swings to Q3 profit

Minneapolis Supervalu reported Tuesday that it has returned to a fiscal third-quarter profit on tightened cost controls and improved margins.

The company has been negatively impacted as consumers have traded down and bought fewer items. To draw them back in, the grocer said it would cut prices, reorganize operations and add more Save-A-Lot stores.

Supervalu, which also runs Albertsons and Jewel-Osco stores, earned $109 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of $2.94 billion last year.

Sales fell 9% to $9.22 billion from $10.1 billion.