Lakewood, CO—Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc., today announced results for its second quarter FY 2020, ended March 31, 2020, and revised its outlook for fiscal 2020, according to a press release.

Highlights for the second quarter FY 2020 as compared to second quarter FY 2019:
  • Net sales increased 20.4% to $277.5 million;
  • Daily average comparable store sales increased 17.0%;
  • Operating income increased 116.6% to $13.3 million;
  • Net income increased 151.8% to $9.7 million with diluted earnings per share of $0.43;
  • EBITDA increased 57.7% to $21.1 million;
  • Opened two new stores, resulting in a 3.3% new store growth rate for the twelve-month period ended March 31, 2020; and
  • The Board of Directors has extended the Company's share repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per common share.
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The sales were driven, according to Co-President Kemper Isely, by sales resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. “We are deeply grateful to our amazing good4u Crew members, who worked tirelessly during the quarter to quickly adapt to new circumstances on an almost daily basis. Due to their efforts, our company was able to continue delivering to customers in all our markets the highest quality natural and organic produce, groceries, and household essentials during a period of unparalleled challenges. We wish to thank each and every one of our crew members, who are heroes in masks and aprons, for their courageous work and selfless contribution; they are the personification of the same principles and integrity that have distinguished the Natural Grocers name for the past 65 years.

“The safety of our heroes in masks and aprons and customers has been the driving factor behind every decision we have made over the past several months, and will continue to be throughout this global pandemic,” Isely continued. “We are proud of the numerous steps we took proactively to protect the safety of our Crew members and customers. Those steps include establishing social distancing measures throughout our stores; sourcing and repacking bulk hand sanitizer for our Crew members when supplies were limited; relying on family, Crew and community to produce more than 6,000 face masks for all our Crew members and requiring those masks to be worn; establishing customer capacity limits in our stores; adjusting store hours to allow for cleaning and restocking; installing plexiglass protective shields at our checkouts; creating store hours reserved for seniors and other at-risk members of the community;  expanding medical leave; and instituting our Hero Pay program, which includes raising wages and paying bonuses to our Crew members in recognition of their extraordinary efforts and to ease the financial burdens on their families."