Metro Inc. Reports Earnings Results for the First Quarter Ended December 17, 2011; Declares Quarterly Dividend, Payable on March 9, 2012
January 31, 2012 at 12:06 pm
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Metro Inc. reported earnings results for the first quarter ended December 17, 2011. For the period, sales reached $2,711.7 million versus $2,622.5 million last year, an increase of 3.4%. EBITDA was $192.6 million, up 5.9% from $181.9 million for the same quarter last year. First-quarter EBITDA represented 7.1% of sales versus 6.9% last year. Gross margin as percentage of sales in the first quarter of 2012 was 18.1%, the same as in the corresponding quarter last year. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2012 were $103.7 million, an increase of 8.6% over net earnings of $95.5 million for the same quarter of 2011. Fully diluted net earnings per share rose 11.0% to $1.01 from $0.91 last year. Sales of the Adonis stores and distributor Phoenicia were included for eight weeks in the first quarter and contributed $33.0 million to the Corporation's sales. Same store sales were up 1.7%. The company experienced moderate inflation in its food basket in the first quarter which was, however, lower than in the previous quarter and lower than levels reported by Statistics Canada.
On January 30, 2012, the Corporation's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.215 per Class A Subordinate Share and Class B Share payable March 9, 2012, an increase of 11.7% over the dividend declared for the same quarter last year. On an annualized basis, this dividend represents approximately 22% of 2011 net earnings.
Metro Inc. is a food and pharmacy retailers and distributors company. The Company, through its activities as a retailer, franchisor or distributor, and manufacturer operates or supplies a network of supermarkets, discount stores and drugstores. It operates 975 food stores under several banners, including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as 645 drugstores primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners. The Metro banner, with its 328 stores including 120 Metro Plus stores in Quebec is a supermarket chain. The Super C banner operates 102 discount stores in Quebec and offers a range of grocery products. Food Basics is a discount store providing quality products to customers in 143 locations across Ontario. The Food Basics Pharmacy banner is located in 30 Food Basics grocery stores. Its Food Basics Pharmacy is a full-service pharmacy and offers professional services, such as health reminders and medical profiles, among others.