New tariffs could lead to jacked food prices, Sobeys CEO says
Canadian government targeting yogurt, coffee, cucumbers and other U.S. food items
Upcoming tariffs on some American food products could eventually mean higher prices for Canadian consumers, says the chief executive of Empire Co. Ltd. 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 sugar, cucumbers, salad dressing and other food items.
“Our position at the outset is we’d rather not see our consumers and our customers pay more,” said Michael Medline, who is also the CEO of Empire subsidiary Sobeys Inc., during a conference call with analysts.
“So our first response as manufacturers attempt to push their tariff cost increases to us would be to resist them and not accept them.”
He said in an interview afterwards that the company has heard from a small number of supply partners already who have tried to pass on those cost increases. Empire has said no, he said, adding it seems a little early to be passing that on.
If, for some reason, the company is unable to reject the price increase and must continue carrying the food item in question due to customer demand, that cost increase would be reflected in the retail price, Medline said.
But, that’s not going to happen without some pushback, he said.
“Our view is we need to find alternatives and we’re not going to easily pass the tariff price in- creases on to our customers.” His comments came as Empire raised its dividend as it re- ported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.
The company will now pay a quarterly dividend of 11 cents per share, up from 10.5 cents.
Empire said it earned $71.0 million or 26 cents per share for the 13 weeks ended May 5 compared with a profit of $29.5 million or 11 cents per share a year earlier.
Sales in the quarter totalled $5.89 billion, up from nearly $5.80 billion in the same quarter last year. On an adjusted basis, Empire says it earned $93.0 million or 35 cents per share for the quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $50.2 million or 18 cents per share a year ago.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 29 cents per share for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.