Empire Co. Ltd. EMP-A-T -8.98%decrease says it earned $159-million in its latest quarter, down from $173-million in the same quarter last year.
The company behind Sobeys says its profit amounted to 69 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Nov. 1 compared with a profit of 73 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Sales for what was the company’s second quarter totalled $8-billion, up from $7.8-billion in the same quarter last year.
Same-store sales were up two per cent, while food same-store sales rose 2.5 per cent.
RBC analyst Irene Nattel said operating results were in line with forecast, “underpinned by solid merchandising strategies in place to address ongoing value-seeking consumer spending behaviour.”
She said Empire continued to execute on its strategy to maximize revenues in full-service stores despite the broader consumer shift to discount banners, while growing its discount presence.
Newly named chief executive Pierre St-Laurent said the company is looking to set up more storefronts “because we believe we have room to grow.”
“We are underdeveloped in discount, so we will grow discount,” he told analysts during a conference call on Thursday.
“We have a lot of white space in discount, but we won’t just focus on discount because there (are) other markets where it’s not a discount market and there’s more opportunity to grow our Farm Boy, our Longo’s, our Food Land.”
Sobeys parent Empire names Pierre St-Laurent as CEO as Medline set to retire
Empire also announced the appointment of Jo Mark Zurel to the company’s board of directors.
Zurel is chair of the board at Fortis Inc. and also serves on the boards of Major Drilling Group International Inc. and Highland Copper Co. Inc.
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