Food service company US Foods Holding Corp. USFD said Thursday it had net income of $83 million, or 37 cents a share, for its fiscal fourth quarter to Dec. 31, up from $59 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 55 cents, ahead of the 53 cent FactSet consensus. Revenue rose to $8.515 billion from $7.639 billion a year ago, a squeak below the $8.519 billion FactSet consensus. Total case volume rose 2.6% and independent restaurant case volume rose 5.8%. Chief Executive Dave Flitman said the company grew case volume across nearly all customer types and doubled growth in independent restaurants over the prior quarter. The company reduced its debt by using cash on hand to make a voluntary repayment of $100 million of its 2021 term loan and $200 million of its 2019 term loan. It now expects fiscal 2023 adjusted EPS of $2.45 to $2.65, while FactSet is expecting $2.65. The stock was slightly higher premarket, but is down 6% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has fallen 7%.
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