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Show Safeway Stores, Inc. Releases Semi-Annual Report OAKLAND, CALIF. Sept. 9, (SPECIAL) Lingan A. Warren, president of Safeway Stores, in his semi-annual report released today told stockholders that "freedom from controls, plus a continuation of present business conditions, should enable Safeway Safe-way to maintain favorable profit pro-fit margins during the balance of the year. The unfair and discriminatory discrim-inatory requirement of the control con-trol regulations in 1952 had a particularly injurious effect upon your company because of the emphasis em-phasis placed by it on the sale of high quality, waste-free meats, its policy of performing pre-re-tail store functions wherever practicable and the location of its store in areas where the nation-wide cost averages used in the regulations were insufficient to meet operating expenses." Total net sales for the entire Safeway operation were reported at $787,578,737 for the first 24 weeks in 1953. This is an increase of $55,894,552 or 7.64 per cent over the total net sales for the same 24 week period in 1952. The net profit, according to the semi-annual statement, was $6, 192,932 for the 24 week period. After deducting preferred dividends, divi-dends, this is equal to $1.83 per share on 2,874,051 shares, the av erage number of share of common com-mon stock outstanding during the period. These earnings compare com-pare with $2,759,097 or $.78 per share on 2,827,701 shares, the av-prate av-prate number outstanding during the first 24 weeks in 1952. Warren also announced that on June 13, 1953 Safeway operated 1926 retail stores in the United , States and 139 retail stores in Canada, a total of 2,(X'5. Average weekly sales of the retail stores then in operation were $15,557 in the United States and $10,192 in Canada. Ten new retail stores in the United States and one in Canada Ca-nada were opened during this period in 1953. In addition major remodeling jobs were completed at another 75 retail stores in the United States and four retail stores in canada. |