Sobeys parent Empire reports spike in sales, profit

Empire Company STELLARTON, N.S. Ltd. reported a first-quarter profit of $95.6 million, up from $54.0 million a year ago.

The parent company of Sobeys says the profit amounted to 35 cents per share for the quarter ended Aug. 4 compared with a profit of 30 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Sales totalled $6.46 billion, up from $6.27 billion.

Same-store sales excluding fuel sales were up 1.3 per cent compared with a 0.5-per-cent increase in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Empire says it earned $100.2 million, or 37 cents per share for the quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $87.5 million, or 32 cents per share, a year ago.

Empire CEO Michael Medline said the company was “a little slow on the trigger” to pass on the higher cost of food to consumers, but it will inevitably happen in the future.

“It’s clear with what’s going on in terms of transportation cost and tariff-related cost that our expectation — although we’re not economists — is that there will be some inflation,” he said during a conference call with analysts after the company released its firstquarter earnings results.

Multiple suppliers send the company letters each week wanting to pass on price hikes due to recently implemented tariffs, said Medline.

The Canadian government announced it would impose retaliatory tariffs on July 1 on a wide range of American products in response to U.S. tariffs on some Canadian steel and aluminum products. The Canadian government targeted yogurt, coffee, maple syrup, cucumbers, salad dressing and other food items.

Rising freight charges and increases in minimum wage in certain provinces are creating additional pressure, Medline said.