MONTREAL — Canadian retailer Metro here said yesterday it has formed a joint venture with Dunnhumby, the United Kingdom-based marketing organization, to improve consumer loyalty through development and implementation of more customer-centric strategies.

Eric R. La Fleche, president and chief executive officer of Metro, said the joint venture will provide the retailer with opportunities "to be even more relevant to customers, to be more targeted in our efforts and to be more efficient in our marketing."

Dunnhumby, a marketing partner with Tesco in the United Kingdom, operates in the U.S. through a joint venture with Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., and is credited with guiding that company's loyalty and marketing efforts.

For the fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 26, Metro said net income hit record levels, rising 16.4% to $80.4 million (U.S.), while sales jumped 2.3% to $2.4 billion and same-store sales rose 2%. For the full year net income increased 21.3% to $337.5 million, while sales rose 4.4% to $20.7 billion.

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