Mar 5, 2007 10:12 AM

Publix’s sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 were $5.6 billion, a 3.2 percent decrease from the 2005 fourth quarter’s $5.7 billion. Comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 increased 2.4 percent. Net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2006 totaled $291.9 million, compared with $294.9 million in 2005, a decline of 1 percent.

The supermarket chain’s sales for the fiscal year ended Dec 30, 2006, were $21.7 billion, a 5.2 percent gain from $20.6 billion the year before. Comparable-store sales for 2006 rose 5.2 percent. Net earnings for 2006 totaled $1.1 billion, versus $989.2 million for 2005, an increase of 10.9 percent.

“This is our ninth consecutive quarter with an increase in our stock price,” said Charlie Jenkins Jr, chief executive officer of Publix. Price of the stock, which is not publicly traded, recently gained $0.30 from $19.60 per share to $19.90 per share.

Publix has 142,000 employees and 898 stores throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee.