Oakland-based Safeway Stores Inc. reported earnings of...

Oakland-based Safeway Stores Inc. reported earnings of $89.1 million for the 12 weeks ended Sept. 7, including a $34.9-million after-tax extraordinary gain. A year earlier, the supermarket chain reported profits of $38.7 million. The gain resulted from firm’s previously reported sale of its Australian operating subsidiaries to Woolworths Ltd. of Australia (not connected with the U.S. firm, F. W. Woolworth Co.) in exchange for a 20% equity interest in Woolworths. Excluding the one-time gain, net earnings for the 12 weeks were up 40% higher from the year before. The improvement in earnings over 1984 has occurred primarily in the United States and Canada, where there has been an increased emphasis on closing unprofitable operations.

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