Stater Bros. Income Jumps 300% in Quarter

The Stater Bros. grocery store chain reported that net income for the quarter ended March 30 jumped 300% to $1.7 million from $422,000 in the same quarter last year.

Sales for the Colton company’s second quarter were $219.3 million, up 13.3% from the $193.5 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Stater Chairman Bernard Garrett attributed the improvement to higher sales, better gross profit margins and the elimination of preferred dividends because of a public offering late last year.

Second quarter income was lower than the previous quarter because of about $1 million in costs from litigation and the company’s recent proxy contest.

In the quarter ended Dec. 29, 1985, Stater had net income of $1.8 million on sales of $224.6 million.

Stater Bros. is the object of a fight between two large shareholder groups, one led by Garrett and the other by ousted President Jack H. Brown. The result of last month’s annual meeting, at which three Brown-backed directors were elected, is being challenged in court.

For the six months, Stater had net income of $3.9 million on sales of $443.9 million, compared to net income of $780,000 on sales of $384.5 million in the same period last year.