Winn-Dixie Q3 profit tops Street

(Reuters) - Supermarket chain Winn-Dixie Stores Inc's (WINN.O) third-quarter profit trumped analysts' estimates, as it benefited from product mix changes and lower transportation costs.

The company expects fiscal 2009 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $145 million to $152 million.

For the third quarter ended April 1, the retail grocer earned $16.6 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with $15 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the grocer rose slightly to $1.7 billion.

Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 12 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $1.72 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company said it was on track to remodel roughly half of its stores by the end of fiscal 2010 and substantially all of its stores by the end of fiscal 2013.

It sees no borrowings under credit facility in fiscal 2010.

Shares of the Jacksonville, Florida-based company rose 12 percent to $12.90 in trading after the bell. They closed at $11.47 Monday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)