Safeway Inc on Wednesday said it plans to boost results by passing higher costs for meat, produce and other staples on to shoppers at its U.S. grocery stores, sending shares up 1.4 percent.
Safeway, the second-largest mainstream U.S. supermarket operator, said first-quarter income was slightly below plan, in part because it wanted to remain competitive by holding back on price increases that would offset higher costs for produce, meat and pharmacy products. That decision cut into margin in the latest quarter.
"We expect to pass along most of the inflation we are experiencing" to shoppers in the second quarter, Robert Edwards, Safeway's president and chief executive officer said in a release. He did not specify how much prices would increase at stores such as Safeway and Vons.
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