HOUSTON, TX – Sysco Corporation has posted in-line earnings for its second fiscal quarter, ending December 27, 2014. 

According to the report, the company saw Q2 sales of $12.1 billion, a 7.6% increase. Also, gross profit increased 6.1% to $2.1 billion while the company’s gross margin decreased 23 basis points to 17.25%.

“Our second quarter financial results were generally in-line with our expectations, as we made consistent progress on our business transformation initiatives and did a good job of remaining focused on the needs of our customers. As a result, we generated solid case volume growth of nearly 4% and managed acute inflationary pressures effectively,” said Bill DeLaney, Sysco’s President and CEO.

Other notable highlights from the report include:

• Adjusted operating income increased 3.1% to $396 million
• Operating income decreased 10.3% to $315 million
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 5.1% to $0.41
• Diluted EPS decreased 25.0% to $0.27

“We continue to have opportunities to improve our management of operating expenses and have multiple initiatives underway to address this area of our business,” added DeLaney.

The report also touched on Sysco’s recently announced new proposal to sell 11 distribution centers, currently run by US Foods, Inc., in order to attain approval from the FTC.

The centers would be sold to Performance Food Group, currently owned by an investment firm by the name of Blackstone Group LP, and generated $4.6 billion in revenue for the most recent fiscal year, according to Sysco. This more than doubles Sysco’s most recent offer of selling only $2 billion in annual revenue.

For now, it remains unclear as to when and if this merger would be completed. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest updates.

Sysco