Grocery retailer Metro reports Q2 profits up 10% from year ago, as sales rise

By The Canadian Press on April 19, 2023.

MONTREAL – Metro Inc. says it earned $218.8 million in its latest quarter, up from $198.1 million in the same quarter last year, as its sales rose 6.6 per cent.

The grocery and drugstore retailer says the profit amounted to 93 cents per diluted share for the 12-week period ended March 11, up from 82 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Sales in what was the company’s second quarter totalled $4.55 billion, up from $4.27 billion in the same quarter last year.

The increase in sales came as food same-store sales rose 5.8 per cent compared with a year earlier, while pharmacy same-store sales gained 7.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Metro says it earned 96 cents per diluted share, up from 84 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 94 cents per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.