Investing.com -- Shares in Whole Foods Market Inc (O:WFM) slumped more than 6% in after-hours trading after the natural foods grocer ended its fiscal year on a sour note, amid declining earnings and same-store sales.
For Whole Foods' fourth quarter of 2015, which ended in late-September, the Austin-based company, said comparable store sales fell by 0.2% as it continued to reel from several highly publicized complaints of overcharging from its customer base.
For the year as a whole, Whole Foods reported same-store sales growth of 2.5%, its slowest increase since the height of the Financial Crisis. During the 13-week period, Whole Foods reported fourth-quarter earnings of $56 million or 0.16 per share, down substantially from profits of $128 million or 0.35 per share over the same quarter a year earlier.
Whole Foods Market co-founder and co-chief executive officer John Mackey, however, did not appear disillusioned by the downbeat sales.
“In the face of increasing competition, we are not standing still. We have made measurable progress on many of our strategic initiatives over the past year, while producing industry-leading sales per gross square foot of $970, a record $1.1 billion in cash flow from operations, and healthy returns on invested capital,” Mackey said in a statement.
Separately, the company's Board of Directors authorized a new $1 billion share repurchase program and declared a 4% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.135 per share. Whole Foods also notified shareholders that it could incur additional short-term debt of $350 million in the coming months, which it said would be repaid with proceeds from its long-term debt.
While Whole Foods said on Wednesday that it anticipates increasing comparable store sales by 3 to 5% in Fiscal Year 2016, it added that stores which have been open for 57 weeks will now meet its standard used for same-store proceeds. Previously, Whole Foods only included stores that had been opened for 53 weeks.
“Through our strong balance sheet and robust cash flow, we self- funded our new store development and strategic investments while returning close to $700 million to our shareholders (this year) through dividends and share repurchases," Mackey added.
Shares in Whole Foods plunged 1.86 or 6.05% to 28.90 in after-hours.