Increased grocery sales led to an $8.8 million profit for Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. in the quarter ending March 27, the grocery chain said late Tuesday.
The second fiscal quarter profit was a 46.7 percent rise from the same quarter last year. Store sales grew 3.15 percent to $913.4 million, reversing the decline in sales seen in the first quarter.
High unemployment and rising food prices led Chief Financial Officer Phillip J. Smith to predict earlier this year that the San Bernardino-based chain would see a decline in sales in fiscal year 2011.
