(Reuters) -Kroger Co said on Friday it expected a smaller decline in annual same-store sales as nerves around this summer’s surge in coronavirus infections kept Americans stocking up on groceries.
The more infectious Delta variant has driven a resurgence in U.S. COVID-19 cases, delaying a return to normal and aiding businesses of big traditional grocers such as Kroger and Walmart Inc as people consolidate their shopping trips.
Kroger forecast a 1% to 1.5% fall in adjusted same-store sales for the full year, compared with a previous forecast of a decline between 2.5% and 4%. Analysts on average expect same-store sales to decline 2.9%, according to Refinitiv data.
Same-store sales, excluding fuel, fell 0.6% in the second quarter ended Aug. 14 from a year earlier, when people stockpiled groceries and cleaning products at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns. Analysts on average expected a 2.8% decline.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
