RETAILING

Albertson’s Inc. Profits Up in First Quarter: The nation’s fourth-largest food retailer said that its earnings jumped 46%, mostly because of an accounting change recognized in the same quarter a year ago. The Boise, Ida.-based company earned $99.3 million, or 39 cents a share, for the quarter ended May 4, compared to net income of $68.2 million, or 27 cents a share, for that quarter of 1994. The accounting change reduced last year’s earnings by $17 million, or 7 cents a share. Excluding that charge, earnings for the first quarter of 1995 would have jumped 17% from last year. Albertson’s shares slipped 12.5 cents to $29.125 on the New York Stock Exchange.