- Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L) announced a profit available to common shareholders of $529 million earned in Q4 2022, its revenue rose nearly 10 per cent compared with a year ago
- Drugstore sales, driven by strong demand for cough and cold products, were behind much of this sales growth, along with strength in the beauty and cosmetics categories
- Prices for food purchased from grocery stores last year rose 10 per cent (the fastest pace since 1981)
- According to Statistics Canada, prices increased in nearly every food category
It’s around this time when investors are taking stock of quarterly financials to get a pulse on the health of consumerism.
In spite of high inflation, it has kept resilient.
The latest to dole out solid news is Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L), which announced a profit available to common shareholders of $529 million earned in Q4 2022, as its revenue rose nearly 10 per cent compared with a year ago.
Flu season seems to have helped. The parent company of Loblaws grocery stores and Shoppers Drug Mart added that drugstore sales, driven by strong demand for cough and cold products, were behind much of this sales growth along with strength in the beauty and cosmetics categories, while its discount grocery stores outperformed.
What also rose 10 per cent was prices for food purchased from grocery stores last year (the fastest pace since 1981). According to Statistics Canada, prices increased in nearly every food category.
In a media release, Loblaw Companies’ Chairman and President, Galen Weston, explained that the company used its assets to provide value to customers in a period of continued inflation.
“Consumers responded favourably to those efforts and continued to benefit from our extensive private label offering, leading loyalty program and targeted promotions.”
The retailer says its profit amounted to $1.62 per diluted share for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, down from $744 million or $2.20 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $14.0 billion, up from $12.8 billion in Q4 2021. The increase in revenue came as food retail same-store sales gained 8.4 per cent, while drug retail same-store sales rose 8.7 per cent. On an adjusted basis, Loblaw says it earned $1.76 per diluted share in Q4, compared with an adjusted profit of $1.52 per diluted share a year earlier. Many analysts had expected a profit of $1.71 per share on average and $13.7 billion in revenue.
Loblaw Companies is Canada’s largest food retailer, with more than 2,400 stores operating under 22 regional and market segment banners.
It is the latest retail giant in Canada and the U.S. to report robust profits this month, all the while consumers are left holding a bag that doesn’t weigh what it used to but costs more than it ever did before, thanks to the highest inflation in decades.
One Canadian MP, Alistair MacGregor, the NDP critic for food price inflation, wants to see the CEOs of the big grocers hauled in front of parliament to explain their record profits.
In a rare scene where opposing politicians actually agreed on something, a proposal to hear from the grocery store heads about food inflation received unanimous support from Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Bloc Québécois members of the committee.
Loblaw replied to the issue on social saying this isn’t the company’s problem but points to its suppliers as the ones to blame.
Chief executives and presidents of other Canadian grocery giants have already appeared before the committee. Would Loblaw’s CEO?
In a response to the Toronto Star, the company said he would attend and reinforce the testimony they “Have already provided that highlights the work we’ve done to fight inflation for customers.”
The company ended its price freeze on 1,500 No Name products found at stores such as the Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, T&T, and Shoppers Drug Mart.
How is the national economy faring on the retail side? Statistics Canada reported earlier this week that retail sales rose 0.5 per cent to $62.1 billion in December. The federal agency’s preliminary estimate for January suggests Canadian consumers continued fast spending in the new year, early figures indicate sales increased 0.7 per cent last month.
In the U.S., retail sales were below past estimates last month. Commerce Department data showed that retail sales rose 3 per cent, the largest one-month jump since March 2021.
Traders are wondering if this growing consumption would mean the Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates at what economists call “a hawkish track,” especially combined with this week’s higher-than-expected reading on consumer prices.
Could the story on Wall Street play out on Bay Street in a similar fashion?