Albertsons Reaches $774 Million Opioid Accord, Records Loss

Albertsons Cos. announced a $774 million settlement to resolve all opioid-related claims, making the grocery chain one of the last major retailers to reach such a deal.

Due to the settlement, the company recorded a charge of about $600 million last quarter, net of tax, that left it reporting a loss of roughly $480 million. The payout will take place over nine years.

Shares of Albertsons fell as much as 4.8%. The stock declined by about 2% this year through Monday’s close, compared with the S&P 500 Index being little changed.

Albertsons is the latest big retailer to reach a settlement in the wake of the opioid crisis. Retailers with pharmacies were sued in thousands of complaints over multiple years for not properly monitoring opioid prescriptions.

CVS Health Corp., Walmart Inc. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. started payouts amounting to more than $13 billion after proposing settlements in late 2022. Kroger Co. agreed to pay as much as $1.2 billion to states and subdivisions and $36 million to Native American tribes as part of a nationwide settlement in 2023.

Albertsons forecast same-store sales for the fiscal year that began in March to be in a range of little changed to a gain of 1%. Analysts on average expected an increase of 1.2%. Adjusted earnings per share for this year will be between $2.22 to $2.32, in-line with the average estimate.

The chain said on a call with analysts that its outlook for food industry inflation is 2%, but the company hasn’t been passing that to customers in an effort to bolster its price position. The company also said it’s seeing “increasing pressure on the lower-income cohorts.”

Photo: An Albertsons grocery store in Texas. Photographer: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg