Labor Disputes Lower Fred Meyer Earnings

Fred Meyer Inc. said Tuesday that profits for the quarter ending January 28 were reduced by $2.10 per share because of strikes during the last half of 1994.

Profits during the company’s fourth quarter were diminished by an 88-day food industry strike in the Portland area. Strikes broke out at Fred Meyer’s Portland distribution center, trucking operations, bakery, dairy and main office.

All labor disputes were settled early in the fourth quarter.

“While our sales are recovering, we now believe recovery will not be completed until at earliest the end of the first quarter of 1995,” said Robert G. Miller, chief executive officer of Fred Meyer.

The company’s fourth-quarter 1994 net income was $8.6 million, down from $30.0 million a year ago.

Excluding the stores affected by the strikes, total comparable store sales increased 1.5 percent.