======Kroger (KR) reported earnings Fri 9 Sept 2016 (b/o)

Kroger beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; lowers FY17 EPS, ID sales below consensus; reaffirms long term growth  :

Kroger—which acquired Chicago-area grocery chain Mariano's late last year—is hitting the reset button.The high-flying grocery chain, whose shares have risen 184 percent in the past five years, cut its full-year earnings outlook on Friday after second-quarter results missed forecasts. To preserve cash, it said it would also pull back on capital spending by $500 million.

• Reports Q2 (Jul) adj. earnings of $0.47 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.45; revenues rose 4.0% year/year to $26.57 bln vs the $26.72 bln Capital IQ Consensus. 
• ID Sales Up 1.7% Without Fuel
• Total sales, excluding fuel and Roundy's, increased 2.9% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.
• Gross margin was 22.1% of sales for the second quarter. Excluding fuel, Roundy's and the LIFO charge, gross margin decreased 13 basis points from the same period last year.
• Co issues downside guidance for FY17, sees EPS of $2.10-2.20, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $2.20 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. 
• For identical supermarket sales growth, excluding fuel, the company expects the remainder of 2016 to be in the 0.5% to 1.5% range, which is 1.4% to 1.8% for the full year (down from +2.5-3.5%). The company lowered expected capital investments -- excluding mergers, acquisitions and purchases of leased facilities -- to $3.6 to $3.9 billion for the year. The previous expectation was $4.1 to $4.4 billion.
• Over the long term, the co expects to achieve its net earnings per diluted share growth rate guidance of 8 -- 11%, plus a growing dividend.

Note grocery peers SFM and SVU also cut guidance this week... WFM.