EMERYVILLE, Calif., Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. BB #:154673 today announced that Eric Lindberg, current Chairman of the Board, has been appointed Interim President and CEO, effective immediately.
Lindberg replaces RJ Sheedy, who has stepped down from his position and resigned from the Company’s Board of Directors. The Board has engaged a leading global executive search firm to begin the process of identifying a permanent CEO.
With more than three decades of leadership experience at the Company, Lindberg is a Grocery Outlet veteran with a deep knowledge of its operations and strategy. He previously served as CEO or co-CEO from January 2006 through December 2022, during which time he led Grocery Outlet’s transformation from a closely-held family-owned business to a sponsor-backed private company, taking on significant outside capital from Berkshire Partners and Hellman & Friedman, and then ultimately to a publicly-traded company in 2019.
Under Lindberg’s leadership, Grocery Outlet increased its store count more than 250% and its net sales nearly 500%, expanding to markets across the country. Lindberg has served as a Director since January 2006 and as Chairman of the Board since January 2023.
“On behalf of the Board, I want to express my deep appreciation to RJ for his contributions to Grocery Outlet over the past 12 years,” said Lindberg. “RJ played a critical role in scaling and evolving our business and has set the stage for continued strong growth in the future.
“The fundamentals of our business – the significant value and treasure hunt shopping experience we bring to customers – remain strong and the runway in front of us is substantial,” continued Lindberg. “I look forward to working with our employees, independent operators and supplier partners to deliver outstanding execution on our strategy and unlock Grocery Outlet’s earnings potential.”
“Grocery Outlet is an exceptional business with an almost 80-year track record of generating outsized growth and returns through its highly differentiated business model,” said Erik Ragatz, Lead Independent Director. “We are fortunate to have a leader of Eric’s quality and experience to shepherd this transition. The Board looks forward to working with Eric to drive the business as we search for our next leader who will guide our mission of ‘Touching Lives for the Better,’ delivering Grocery Outlet’s unique offering to millions of existing and new customers and, in the process, producing outstanding returns for our shareholders.”
Financial Update
In connection with today’s announcement, the Company is also providing a third quarter financial update based on its preliminary financial results. The Company expects net sales for the third quarter to be $1.1 billion, a 10.4% increase versus the prior year period, with comparable store sales increasing 1.2%. The Company expects to meet previously discussed third quarter earnings guidance.
The Company is in the process of reassessing its full year guidance. Although the Company expects to exceed the high end of the range of its full year net sales guidance of $4.30 to $4.35 billion, the Company expects to reduce its full year adjusted EBITDA guidance to below the low end of the previously disclosed range of $252.0 to $260.0 million. As previously announced, the Company will update full year guidance, along with issuing final third quarter 2024 earnings results, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
The Company’s unaudited preliminary financial and operational results for the third quarter are based on current estimates of its results and remain subject to change based on the completion of our closing and review procedures and the execution of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. This preliminary financial and operational information should not be viewed as a substitute for full financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”).
The Company has not reconciled the non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and adjusted diluted earnings per share forward-looking guidance alluded to in this release to the most directly comparable GAAP measures because this cannot be done without unreasonable effort due to the variability and low visibility with respect to taxes and non-recurring items, which are potential adjustments to future earnings. The Company expects the variability of these items to have a potentially unpredictable, and a potentially significant, impact on the Company’s future GAAP financial results.
About Grocery Outlet
Based in Emeryville, California, Grocery Outlet is a high-growth, extreme value retailer of quality, name-brand consumables and fresh products sold primarily through a network of independently operated stores. Grocery Outlet and its subsidiaries have more than 520 stores in California, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Idaho, Nevada, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky and Virginia.
INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS:
Christine Chen
(510) 877-3192
cchen@cfgo.com
John Rouleau
(203) 682-4810
John.Rouleau@icrinc.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
Layla Kasha
(510) 379-2176
lkasha@cfgo.com
