President and CEO
"There's a lot of moving pieces, a lot of work," he said on a conference call with analysts.
"We're confident that it's going to go well, but ... it's going to cost money to do that, especially in the first year."
The company said it's ramping up a new distribution centre north of
Though Metro said these investments position the company well for long-term profitable growth, it's facing "significant headwinds" in the coming financial year due to "temporary duplication of costs and learning curve inefficiencies, as well as higher depreciation and lower capitalized interest."
Because of these headwinds, Metro forecasts adjusted net earnings per share next year to be flat to down
The grocery business has thin margins, said
“If these investments can ... make some kind of savings, it’s definitely worth the investment.”
The grocer's outlook for its 2024 financial year was "cautious and unusually specific," RBC analyst
Metro's stock price closed down 6.81 per cent on Wednesday, at
The company reported a fourth-quarter profit of
The grocer said the profit amounted to
The five-week strike at 27 stores in the
Workers went on strike at the end of July after rejecting their first tentative deal with Metro. The strike grew to to include secondary picketing at distribution centres before a deal was reached at the end of August.
Sales in the quarter totalled
Sales for the full year exceeded
On an adjusted basis, Metro said it earned
La Fleche said trends from the past year and a half continued during the latest quarter, with shoppers continuing to shift to discount stores. That shift helped boost food same-store sales, he said.
However, the discount grocery segment has also become more competitive as other grocery companies add or convert more stores, La Fleche said.
"As more discount square footage is being added to the market, it's having an impact for sure. But we're well positioned to continue to grow in that market," he said.
During the past fiscal year, Metro opened three Super Cs in
Similar to previous quarters, private-label sales continued to outpace national brands, said La Fleche.
Hutcheson noted private-label products tend to have slightly higher margins for grocers.
"It helps the margin while also helping the consumer because the prices are lower," she said.
Metro and the other major grocers in
On the conference call, La Fleche said Metro is still receiving price increase requests from big suppliers, which it will "negotiate as much as possible." He said the grocer's food basket inflation measurement during the quarter was around 5.5 per cent, lower than food inflation across the country and lower than its third quarter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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