Adonis Boosts Metro Results

MONTREAL — Metro here said sales and profit growth in its fiscal fourth quarter outpaced the year overall, buoyed by Metro’s investment last year in Marché Adonis, an ethnic food retailer.

Net income in the fourth quarter, which included an extra week, was up 75.9%, to $145.1 million. For the full year — also including an extra week — net income was up 27.7%, to $489.3 million.

Sales in the 13-week quarter, which ended Sept. 29, totaled about $2.94 billion (U.S.), up 11.1% over the 12-week period a year ago. Excluding the extra week, sales were up 3.4%. Same-store sales rose 1.1%.

“We had positive same-store sales growth. We’re pleased with that in a virtually nil inflation environment,” said Eric La Fleche, president and chief executive officer, Metro, in a conference call discussing the results.

The same-store sales gains were “mostly driven by basket increases,” he said, describing traffic as “about flat.”

He said promotional activity is continuing apace in Eastern Canada.

“The competitive environment in Q4 was very similar to what we saw in previous quarters,” said La Fleche. “That is rational pricing with continued aggressive promotional activity as consumers remain prudent and are searching evermore for the best value.”

For the 53-week fiscal year, sales of $12 billion were up 5.4% over the 52-week period of the preceding year, and rose 2.5% excluding the extra week.