Loblaw Companies Ltd.’s fourth-quarter results beat analysts’ expectations on Thursday as the Canadian retailer was boosted by its pharmacy business and a continued demand for groceries.
The company says it earned a profit available to common shareholders of $529 million. Its fourth-quarter revenue rose about 10 per cent to $14.01 billion from the same period last year, topping estimates of $13.75 billion.
On an adjusted basis, Loblaw earned $1.76 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.71 per share.
Chief financial officer Richard Dufresne said during a Thursday morning earnings call that the company’s gross margins in food retail had peaked in mid-2021, before Canada’s current inflation episode began, but hadn’t returned to those levels since.
He then said that the earnings results “are further evidence that [food] retail prices are not growing faster than costs, and the company is not taking advantage of inflation to drive profits.”
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