Loblaw reports $621M Q3 profit, up from $556M a year ago, revenue up 5%

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. reported its third-quarter profit and revenue rose compared with a year ago, as it said its discount stores saw higher traffic during the quarter.

The parent company of Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart reported Wednesday a profit available to common shareholders of $621 million or $1.95 per diluted share for the 16-week period ended Oct. 7.

The result compared with a profit of $556 million or $1.69 per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $18.27 billion, up from $17.39 billion in the same quarter last year.

The increase came as food retail same-stores sales rose 4.5% and drug retail same-store sales gained 4.6%, helped by front store same-store sales growth of 1.8% and pharmacy same-store sales growth of 7.4%.

On an adjusted basis, Loblaw said it earned $2.26 per diluted share, up from an adjusted profit of $2.01 per diluted share a year earlier.

The company said its retail gross margin declined as a result of promotions and increased shrink, noting that its internal food inflation metric was lower than Canada's food inflation number.