Like-for-like sales at Whole Foods 'less than expected'

Whole Foods Market, the upmarket US grocer with a flagship London store on High Street Kensington, today said its like-for-like sales rose less than analysts had expected, and its shares fell almost 5 percent on Wall Street.

Financial results from the company, which caters to health-conscious and generally upscale shoppers, have defied the volatile economy for many months.

Fiscal fourth-quarter earnings made a gain that many of the company's rivals would envy - but just matched analysts' expectations.

The biggest U.S. grocery chain focused on selling organic and natural food products said yesterday that net income rose 31 percent to $75.5 million, or 42 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 25.

Sales rose more than 12 percent to $2.4 billion. Closely watched like-for-like sales, which exclude relocations and expansions, increased 8.4 percent, short of the 9.1 percent gain analysts, on average, had expected.

Whole Foods was harder hit than its more mainstream rivals when the U.S. economy slid into recession, but its focus on value has helped lure customers back to the chain, which carries many healthy and gourmet products not easily found elsewhere.