A Couche Tard convenience store in Montreal.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. missed analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Tuesday, on lower fuel sales across North America and Europe as well as higher expenses.
The company, which is rebranding its stores and service stations outside of Quebec as “Circle K,” said total revenue from its fuel retail business fell 4.3 per cent to $9.6-billion.
Revenue from fuel sales in the United States, its biggest market with more than 9,000 stores, fell 3 per cent to $6.2-billion, while it fell 4.3 per cent in Europe and 10.2 per cent in Canada.
Alimentation Couche-Tard said total expenses rose 2.9 per cent to $1.34-billion in the quarter ended April 28.
Net income attributable to the company fell to $293.1-million, or 52 cents a share, in the fourth quarter ended April 28, from $391-million, or 69 cents a share, a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 52 cents a share missing analysts estimates of 54 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total revenue fell 3.7 per cent to $13.11-billion, missing estimates of $13.27-billion.