Grocery Outlet Holding Corp

Results of Operations

The following tables summarize key components of our results of operations both in dollars and as a percentage of net sales (amounts in thousands, except for percentages):

(1)Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Operating Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Number of New Stores

The number of new stores reflects the number of stores opened during a particular reporting period. New stores require an initial capital investment from us for store build-outs, fixtures and equipment that we amortize over time as well as cash required for inventory and pre-opening expenses and typically the issuance of IO notes to support IO startup costs.

We expect new store growth to be a very significant and critical driver of our net sales growth over the long term. We lease substantially all of our store locations. Our initial lease terms on stores are typically ten years with options to renew for two or three successive five-year periods.

Comparable Store Sales

We use comparable store sales as an operating metric to measure performance of a store during the current reporting period against the performance of the same store in the corresponding period of the previous year. Comparable store sales are impacted by the same factors that impact net sales.

Comparable store sales consists of net sales from our stores beginning on the first day of the fourteenth full fiscal month following the store's opening, which is when we believe comparability is achieved. Included in our comparable store definition are those stores that have been remodeled, expanded, or relocated in their existing location or respective trade areas. Excluded from our comparable store definition are those stores that have been temporarily closed for an extended period, those that have had their business materially disrupted for both planned projects as well as due to unforeseen circumstances, permanent store closures and dispositions. When applicable, as was the case with fiscal 2020 and will be the case with fiscal 2025, we exclude the net sales in the non-comparable week of a 53-week year from the same store sales calculation after comparing the current and prior year weekly periods that are most closely aligned.

Opening new stores is a primary component of our growth strategy and, as we continue to execute on our growth strategy, we expect that a significant portion of our net sales growth will be attributable to non-comparable store net sales. Accordingly, comparable store sales is only one of many measures we use to assess the success of our growth strategy.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share

EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures that are supplemental key metrics used by management and our Board of Directors to assess our financial performance. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share are also frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate us and other companies in our industry. Management believes it is useful to investors and analysts to evaluate these non-GAAP measures on the same basis as management uses to evaluate our operating results. We use these non-GAAP measures to supplement GAAP measures of performance to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. In addition, we use adjusted EBITDA to supplement GAAP measures of performance to evaluate our performance in connection with compensation decisions. We believe that excluding items from operating income, net income (loss) and net income (loss) per diluted share that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to, our core operating results, and that may vary in frequency or magnitude, enhances the comparability of our results and provides additional information for analyzing trends in our business.

We define EBITDA as net income (loss) before net interest expense, income taxes and depreciation and amortization expenses. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted to exclude share-based compensation expense, loss on debt extinguishment and modification, asset impairment and gain or loss on disposition, acquisition costs and certain other expenses that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to, our core operating results, and that may vary in frequency or magnitude. Adjusted net income represents net income (loss) adjusted for the previously mentioned adjusted EBITDA adjustments, further adjusted for costs related to amortization of purchase accounting assets and deferred financing costs, tax adjustment to normalize the effective tax rate, and tax effect of total adjustments. Basic adjusted earnings per share is calculated using adjusted net income, as defined above, and basic weighted average shares outstanding. Diluted adjusted earnings per share is calculated using adjusted net income, as defined above, and diluted weighted average shares outstanding. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies and have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. We address the limitations of the non-GAAP measures through the use of various GAAP measures. In the future, we will incur expenses or charges such as those added back to calculate adjusted EBITDA or adjusted net income. Our presentation of these non-GAAP measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by the adjustments we have used to derive such non-GAAP measures.

The following table summarizes key operating metrics and non-GAAP financial measures for the periods presented (amounts in thousands, except for percentages and store counts):

(1)Comparable store sales consist of net sales from our stores beginning on the first day of the fourteenth full fiscal month following the store's opening, which is when we believe comparability is achieved.

(2)See "GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations" section below for the applicable reconciliations.

GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations

The following tables provide a reconciliation from our GAAP net income (loss) to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, GAAP net income (loss) to adjusted net income, and our GAAP earnings (net loss) per share to adjusted earnings per share for the periods presented (amounts in thousands, except per share data):

(1)Includes non-cash share-based compensation expense and cash dividends paid on vested share-based awards as a result of dividends declared in connection with a recapitalization that occurred in fiscal 2018.

(2)Represents the write-off of debt issuance costs and debt discounts as well as debt modification costs related to refinancing and/or repayment of our credit facilities. See Note 3 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

(3)Represents asset impairment charges and gains or losses on dispositions of assets.

(4)Represents costs related to the acquisition of United Grocery Outlet, including due diligence, legal, and other consulting expenses.

(5)Represents other non-recurring, non-cash or non-operational items, such as technology upgrade implementation costs, certain personnel-related costs, costs related to employer payroll taxes associated with equity awards, store closing costs, legal settlements and other legal expenses, strategic project costs and miscellaneous costs.

(6)Represents the amortization of debt issuance costs as well as the incremental amortization of an asset step-up resulting from purchase price accounting related to our acquisition in 2014 by an investment fund affiliated with Hellman & Friedman LLC, which included trademarks, customer lists, and below-market leases.

(7)Represents adjustments to normalize the effective tax rate for the impact of unusual or infrequent tax items that we do not consider in our evaluation of ongoing performance, including excess tax expenses or benefits related to stock option exercises and vesting of restricted stock units ("RSUs") and performance-based restricted stock units ("PSUs") that are recorded in earnings as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur.

(8)Represents the tax effect of the total adjustments. We calculate the tax effect of the total adjustments on a discrete basis excluding any non-recurring and unusual tax items.

(9)To calculate diluted adjusted earnings per share, we adjusted the weighted-average shares outstanding for the dilutive effect of all potential shares of common stock.

Comparison of the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 and April 1, 2023 (amounts in thousands, except percentages)

Net Sales

The increase in net sales for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was primarily attributable to an increase in comparable store sales as well as non-comparable store net sales growth primarily from the 30 net new stores opened over the last 12 months, partially offset by disruptions related to our aforementioned system upgrades.

Comparable store sales increased 3.9% for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023. The increase in comparable store sales for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 was driven by a 7.0% increase in the number of transactions, partially offset by a 2.9% decrease in average transaction size.

Cost of Sales

The increase in cost of sales for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was primarily the result of an increase in comparable store sales combined with non-comparable net sales from 30 net new stores opened over the last 12 months as well as by impacts related to our system upgrades.

Cost as a percentage of net sales increased for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 primarily due to inventory management impacts related to our system upgrades, as certain tools we used to manage the business on our legacy system are taking longer to rebuild, which have impacted data visibility.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

The increase in gross profit for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was primarily the result of an increase in comparable store sales combined with non-comparable sales from 30 net new stores opened over the last 12 months, partially offset by impacts related to our system upgrades.

Gross margin decreased for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 primarily due to inventory management impacts related to our system upgrades, as certain tools we used to manage the business on our legacy system are taking longer to rebuild, which have impacted data visibility.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

The increase in SG&A for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was driven by $22.7 million in higher store-related expenses and $12.9 million in higher corporate-related expenses. Store-related expenses primarily increased as a result of higher commission payments to IOs, reflecting gross profit growth together with$12.4 million ofincremental support we elected to provide to our IOs in connection with our system upgrades, as well as higher store occupancy costs due to 30 net new stores opened over the last 12 months. Corporate-related expenses increased largely due to increased personnel and professional service costs to support our system upgrades and support the continued growth of the business, including the acquisition of United Grocery Outlet, higher marketing expenses largely due to a change in the timing of our spring wine sale and increased corporate-related depreciation and amortization expense driven by investments in general and administrative infrastructure.

As a percentage of net sales, SG&A increased for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 primarily due to the aforementioned factors.

Interest Expense, Net

The decrease in net interest expense for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was primarily driven by a decrease in principal debt outstanding over the last 12 months combined with increased interest income from higher interest rates on our cash and cash equivalents and IO notes. See Note 3 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Loss on Debt Extinguishment and Modification

During the 13 weeks ended April 1, 2023, we recorded a $5.3 million loss on debt extinguishment related to the payoff of $385.0 million of principal on the senior term loan outstanding under our prior credit facilities.

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

During the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024, we recorded a net income tax benefit of $1.6 million compared to a net income tax expense of $7.8 million for the 13 weeks ended April 1, 2023. This change was primarily the result of a pretax book loss combined with excess tax benefits related to the exercise of stock options, partially offset by non-deductible executive compensation under Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m), during the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 and excess tax expense related to the vesting of RSUs and PSUs incurred during the 13 weeks ended April 1, 2023.

Net Income (Loss)

As a result of the foregoing factors, net income decreased from $13.7 million for the 13 weeks ended April 1, 2023 to a net loss of $1.0 million for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA

The decrease in adjusted EBITDA for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was primarily due to the reduction in gross margin and increase in SG&A related expenses, as discussed above.

Adjusted Net Income

The decrease in adjusted net income for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2023 was primarily due to the reduction in gross margin and increase in SG&A related expenses, as discussed above.