- Sobeys supermarket owner Empire Co. Ltd. has reported a 12.5 per cent rise in quarterly net income to $65.7-million, as revenue grew 7 per cent from a year earlier to $3.73-billion.
Empire said Thursday the $243.1-million top-line increase came as sales at Sobeys stores open a year or more rose 5.4 per cent.
Earnings before capital gains and other one-time items improved 5.5 per cent to $63.2-million, 96 cents per share.
The Sobey family-controlled company's net income of $65.7-million in the second quarter ended Nov. 1 amounted to $1.00 per share, compared with a year-ago bottom line of $58.4-million, 89 cents per share.
"Empire's second-quarter growth is largely the result of continued strong performance of Sobeys," said Empire CEO Paul Sobey. "The positive growth trend in same-store sales and earnings reflects a steadfast focus on day-to-day execution, the impact of merchandising innovations and disciplined implementation of cost and productivity initiatives."
While the supermarket chain's revenue grew 7.4 per cent to $3.66-billion, Empire's real estate division saw its quarterly revenue decrease 39 per cent to $17.2-million, largely because of the April divestment of 61 properties to Crombie REIT and a slowdown in residential lot sales in Western Canada. Investments and other operations had flat revenue of $50.6-million.