Empire Reports Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Results

• Earnings per share ("EPS") and adjusted EPS⁽¹⁾ of $0.73
• Prior year EPS and adjusted EPS of $0.72 and $0.71, respectively
• Same-store sales, excluding fuel, increased by 1.8%

STELLARTON, NS, Dec. 12, 2024 /CNW/ - Empire Company Limited ("Empire" or the "Company") (TSX: EMP.A) today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended November 2, 2024. For the quarter, the Company recorded net earnings of $173.4 million ($0.73 per share) compared to $181.1 million ($0.72 per share) last year. For the quarter, the Company recorded adjusted net earnings of $173.4 million ($0.73 per share) compared to $178.3 million ($0.71 per share) last year.

"We delivered another solid quarter, driven by focused execution in all areas of our business and a gradually improving economic and consumer environment," said Michael Medline, President & CEO, Empire. 

Company Priorities

The Company is continuing to enhance data capabilities and deepen the understanding of customers, allowing the Company to effectively capture emerging trends. The Company aims to grow total adjusted EPS over the long-term through net earnings growth and share repurchases. The Company intends to continue improving sales, gross margin (excluding fuel) and adjusted EBITDA margin by focusing on priorities such as:

Continued Focus on Stores:

Over recent years, the Company has accelerated investments in renovations, conversions, and new stores along with store processes, communications, training, technology and tools. Investing in the store network will remain a priority, demonstrated by a sustained emphasis on renovations and continued new store expansion. The Own Brands program enhancement will remain a priority through increased distribution, shelf placement and product innovation.

The Company intends to invest capital in its store network and is on track with its plan to renovate approximately 20% to 25% of the network between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026. This capital investment includes important sustainability initiatives such as refrigeration system upgrades and other energy efficiency initiatives.

Enhanced Focus on Digital and Data:

The focus on digital and data will include continued e-commerce expansion, personalization and loyalty through Scene+ (see "Business Updates – E-Commerce" and "Business Updates – Scene+" for more information), improved space productivity and the continued improvement of promotional optimization. Space productivity will further enhance the customer experience by improving store layouts, optimizing category and product adjacencies and tailoring product assortment for each store. The advanced analytics tools built for promotional optimization will continue to be refined through the partnership between the advanced analytics team and category merchants. Enhancing digital and data capabilities will allow the Company to deliver the best personalized experiences to elevate its in-store and e-commerce experience for its customers.

Efficiency and Cost Control:

The Company has significantly improved its efficiency and cost effectiveness through sourcing efficiencies, optimizing supply chain productivity and improving systems and processes. The Company will continue to focus on driving efficiency and cost effectiveness through initiatives related to sourcing of goods not for resale, supply chain productivity and the organizational structure. The Company has implemented several cost savings initiatives in the Voilà business, including pausing the opening of its fourth Customer Fulfilment Centre ("CFC") and ending its mutual exclusivity with Ocado Group plc ("Ocado") and continues to pursue other cost saving initiatives.

SUMMARY RESULTS – SECOND QUARTER

Sales

Sales for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 increased by 0.3%, primarily driven by positive growth across the business. This increase was offset by lower fuel sales driven by both lower fuel prices and lower volume compared to the prior year.

Gross Profit 

Gross profit for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 increased by 3.0%, primarily driven by higher sales, strong performance and operational discipline and business expansion (Farm Boy, FreshCo and Voilà).

Gross margin for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 increased to 26.5% from 25.8% in the prior year primarily as a result of disciplined execution and targeted efficiencies in our stores and the mix impact of lower fuel sales.

Excluding the mix impact of fuel sales, gross margin for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 was 48 basis points higher than in the prior year.

Operating Income

For the quarter ended November 2, 2024, operating income from the Food retailing segment decreased slightly mainly due to higher selling and administrative expenses in the current year, partially offset by higher sales and gross profit. Selling and administrative expenses increased mainly due to investments in the store network, tools, technology and projects to support our strategic initiatives, including depreciation and amortization, higher retail labour costs driven by wage rate increases and continued investment in business expansion (Farm Boy, FreshCo and Voilà).

Operating income from the Investments and other operations segment for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 increased primarily as a result of higher equity earnings from Crombie REIT driven by a remeasurement gain on a property in the current year.

EBITDA

For the quarter ended November 2, 2024, EBITDA increased to $600.7 million from $580.4 million in the prior year mainly as a result of the same factors affecting operating income (excluding the increase in depreciation and amortization of $13.6 million). Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 7.7% from 7.4% in the prior year.

Income Taxes

The effective income tax rate for the quarter ended November 2, 2024, was 25.8% compared to 22.3% in the same quarter last year. The effective tax rate was slightly lower than the statutory rate primarily due to non-taxable capital items. The effective tax rate in the same quarter last year was lower than the statutory rate primarily due to non-taxable capital items and the benefits of investment tax credits. 

Net Earnings

Adjusted Impacts on Net Earnings

The Company has taken actions in its e-commerce business to decrease costs and increase its flexibility to serve customers, including ending its mutual exclusivity agreement with Ocado, slightly before it was originally estimated to end. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company incurred a non-cash charge related to ending the exclusivity, with an impact to net earnings of ($8.8) million.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Empire began to pursue strategies to optimize its organization, improve efficiencies and reduce costs including changes to its leadership team and organizational structure and the voluntary buyout of certain unionized employees (the "Restructuring"). The impact to net earnings for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 was $ nil (November 4, 2023 - ($12.4) million).

On November 4, 2022, Empire experienced IT system issues related to a Cybersecurity Event. The Company included in its Adjusted Metrics an adjustment for direct costs such as inventory shrink, hardware and software restoration costs, legal and professional fees, and labour costs, net of insurance recoveries. The impact to net earnings for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 was $ nil (November 4, 2023 - $15.2 million).

Capital Expenditures

The Company invested $149.2 million in capital expenditures⁽¹⁾ for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 (November 4, 2023 – $134.6 million) including renovations and construction of new stores, investments in advanced analytics technology and other technology systems and FreshCo stores in Western Canada.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow for the quarter ended November 2, 2024 increased versus prior year primarily as a result of an increase in cash flows from operating activities.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE BY SEGMENT

Food Retailing

Investments and Other Operations

For the quarter ended November 2, 2024, income from Investments and other operations increased primarily as a result of higher equity earnings from Crombie REIT driven by a remeasurement gain on a property in the current year.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL CONDITION

Sobeys' credit rating remained unchanged from the prior quarter. The following table shows Sobeys' credit ratings as at December 11, 2024:

Normal Course Issuer Bid ("NCIB")

Under the NCIB with the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") from July 2, 2023 to July 1, 2024, the Company purchased 10,004,868 (July 1, 2023 – 10,500,000) Class A shares at a weighted average price of $35.31 (July 1, 2023 – $36.18) for a total consideration of $353.2 million (July 1, 2023 - $379.9 million).

On June 19, 2024, the Company renewed its NCIB by filing a notice of intention with the TSX to purchase for cancellation up to 12,800,000 Class A shares representing approximately 9.9% of the public float of 129,904,937 Class A shares outstanding as of June 18, 2024. The Company intends to repurchase approximately $400.0 million of Class A shares in fiscal 2025. The purchases will be made through the facilities of the TSX and/or any alternative Canadian trading systems to the extent they are eligible. The price that the Company will pay for any such shares will be the market price at the time of acquisition. The Company believes that repurchasing shares at the prevailing market prices from time to time is a worthwhile use of funds and in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. Purchases were eligible to commence on July 2, 2024 and will terminate not later than July 1, 2025. As of November 2, 2024, the Company purchased 4,228,000 Class A shares (November 4, 2023 - 3,305,547) under this filing at a weighted average price of $37.90 (November 4, 2023 - $37.04) for a total consideration of $160.2 million (November 4, 2023 - $122.5 million).

Shares purchased are shown in the table below:

The Company engages in an automatic share purchase plan with its designated broker allowing the purchases of Class A shares for cancellation under its NCIB program during the black-out periods.

On June 20, 2024, the Canadian government enacted new legislation, implementing a 2.0% tax on repurchases of equity. The tax, effective January 1, 2024, applies to the net value of shares repurchased by any Canadian corporation whose shares are listed on a designated stock exchange. As a result, the Company has recognized $6.4 million as a charge to retained earnings on the Interim Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets for the repurchase of shares.

Including purchases made subsequent to the end of the quarter, as at December 6, 2024 the Company has purchased 5,689,375 Class A shares in fiscal 2025 (December 12, 2023 – 6,666,571) at a weighted average price of $37.38 (December 12, 2023 - $36.45) for a total consideration of $212.7 million (December 12, 2023 - $243.0 million).

Business Updates

E-Commerce

Voilà, the Company's online delivery business, has three active CFCs located in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company decided to pause the opening of its fourth CFC in Vancouver, British Columbia to focus efforts on driving volume and performance in its three active CFCs. Construction of the external building for the fourth CFC has been substantially completed with the internal work related to the grid build and robot commissioning not yet started. Once e-commerce penetration rates in Canada increase, the Company will be in a position to make a decision quickly on when it will proceed with the opening of its fourth CFC.

The Company has also taken actions to decrease costs and increase its flexibility to serve customers, including ending its mutual exclusivity agreement with Ocado before it was originally estimated to end. This resulted in a non-cash pre-tax charge related to ending the exclusivity of $11.9 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2025. On October 24, 2024, the Company announced partnerships with Instacart and Uber Eats, providing customers with new ways to shop its stores online. These new partnerships complement Voilà by providing a full suite of delivery options across the Company's banners in Ontario (Sobeys, Farm Boy, Longo's and FreshCo). Subsequently, on December 5, 2024, the Company expanded these partnerships to Western Canada across various banners (Sobeys, FreshCo, IGA West, Thrifty Foods, and Safeway) and to Foodland in Ontario, with additional rollouts across the rest of Canada to follow.

The actions that the Company is taking as outlined above are expected to have a significant, positive impact on Voilà's profitability in fiscal 2025 and 2026. Voilà's future earnings will primarily be impacted by sales volume, with strong margins, operational efficiencies and cost discipline serving as important drivers to manage financial performance. While the market penetration of Voilà continues to be strong, the size and growth of the Canadian grocery e-commerce market is smaller than anticipated, resulting in higher net earnings dilution than originally estimated.

In the quarter ended November 2, 2024, the Company's e-commerce platforms Voilà (including curbside pickup), IGA.net, ThriftyFoods.com and the new partnerships with Instacart and Uber Eats generated a combined sales increase of 12.2% compared to the same quarter in the prior year. The increase is primarily driven by the continued sales momentum of Voilà.

Scene+

Along with Scotiabank and Cineplex, Empire is a co-owner of Scene+, one of Canada's leading loyalty programs. Scene+ has been rewarding customers in almost all of the Company's banners since launching in fiscal 2023. In that time, Scene+ has grown from 10 million to over 15 million members, while offering a breadth of rewards categories to its members, providing a strategic marketing and promotional tool for the Company.

The Company's key priority with Scene+ is to accelerate program engagement by focusing on personalization. By using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, personalization recommendations will be improved, delivering the right message to the right customer at the right time, through the right channels.

FreshCo

Since fiscal 2018, the Company has been expanding its FreshCo discount format to Western Canada and its significant growth has been driven by store conversions and regional expansion. The value proposition and strong multicultural assortment, along with the addition of the Scene+ loyalty program, has supported the growth and expansion of the discount format. As at December 11, 2024, FreshCo has 48 stores operating in Western Canada and the Company expects to achieve its original targeted growth of converting up to 25% of 255 Safeway and Sobeys Full-Service format stores in Western Canada over the next several years.

OUTLOOK

Management aims to grow total adjusted EPS over the long-term through net earnings and share purchases. The Company intends to continue improving sales, gross margin (excluding fuel) and adjusted EBITDA margin by focusing on priorities such as; a continued focus on stores (investing in renovations, new store expansion, and Own Brands program enhancement), an expanded focus on digital and data (through key strategic initiatives including Voilà, Scene+, personalization, space productivity and promotional optimization), and driving efficiency and cost effectiveness through initiatives related to sourcing of goods not for resale, supply chain productivity and the organizational structure.

For fiscal 2025, capital spend is expected to be approximately $700 million, with approximately half of this investment allocated to renovations and new store expansion, 25% allocated to IT and business development projects and the remainder allocated to central kitchens, logistics, sustainability and e-commerce. The Company is on track with its plan to renovate approximately 20% to 25% of the network between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026.

During fiscal 2025, the Company expects aggregate pre-tax earnings from Other income plus Share of earnings from investments, at equity (both found in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Earnings), to be in the range of $135 million and $155 million (2024 - $140.1 million, excluding the gain of $90.8 million on the Western Canada Fuel Sale).

In the quarter ended November 2, 2024, the Company's internal food inflation is below the Consumer Price Index for food purchased from stores. The Company is focused on supplier relationships and negotiations to ensure competitive pricing for customers. The Company continues to be well positioned to pursue long-term growth despite the impacts of global economic uncertainties.

DIVIDEND DECLARATION

The Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on both the Class A shares and the Class B common shares that will be payable on January 31, 2025 to shareholders of record on January 15, 2025. These dividends are eligible dividends as defined for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and applicable provincial legislation.

Forward-Looking Information

This document contains forward-looking statements which are presented for the purpose of assisting the reader to contextualize the Company's financial position and understand management's expectations regarding the Company's strategic priorities, objectives and plans. These forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are identified by words or phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "believes", "estimates", "intends", "could", "may", "plans", "predicts", "projects", "will", "would", "foresees" and other similar expressions or the negative of these terms.

These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following items:

• The Company's aim to increase total adjusted EPS through net earnings growth and share repurchases, as well as its intention to continue improving sales, gross margin (excluding fuel) and adjusted EBITDA margin, all of which could be impacted by several factors including a prolonged unfavourable macro-economic environment and unforeseen business challenges, as well as the factors identified in the "Risk Management" section of the fiscal 2024 annual MD&A;
• The Company's plan to invest $700 million capital in its network in fiscal 2025, including new store expansions and renovations and renovate approximately 20% to 25% of the network between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026 which could be impacted by cost of materials, availability of contractors, operating results, and other macro-economic impacts;
• The Company's plans to further grow and enhance the Own Brands portfolio, which may be impacted by future operating costs and customer response;
• The Company's plans to purchase for cancellation Class A shares under the normal course issuer bid, which may be impacted by market and macro-economic conditions, availability of sellers, changes in laws and regulations, and operating results.
• The Company's expectation that it will continue to focus on driving efficiency and cost effectiveness initiatives including the ability to successfully pursue other e-commerce cost saving initiatives which could be impacted by supplier relationships, labour relations, successfully implementing operational efficiencies and other macro-economic impacts;
• The Company's expectation that the Scene+ program will accelerate engagement by focusing on scaling personalization, which may be impacted by customer response, Scene+ app usage and the pace at which personalized offers are rolled out;
• The Company's expectation that it will meet targeted growth of FreshCo, which may be impacted by customer response, availability of contractors, operating results, and other macro-economic impacts;
• The Company's expectations regarding the amount and timing of costs relating to the completion of the future CFC, which may be impacted by supply of materials and equipment, construction schedules and capacity of construction contractors;
• The Company's expectation that Other income plus Share of earnings from investments, at equity will in aggregate, be in a range of $135 million to $155 million in fiscal 2025, which assumes completion of pending real estate transactions by the Company and Share of earnings from investments, at equity being consistent with historical values adjusted for significant transactions and may be impacted by the timing and terms of completion of real estate-related transactions and actual results from Crombie REIT and Real estate partnerships; and
• The Company's expectation of the impacts of cost inflationary pressures, which may be impacted by supplier relationships and negotiations and the macro-economic environment.

By its nature, forward-looking information requires the Company to make assumptions and is subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made. For more information on risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may impact the Company's forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the "Risk Management" section of the fiscal 2024 annual MD&A.

Although the Company believes the predictions, forecasts, expectations or conclusions reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such matters will prove correct. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this document reflects the Company's current expectations and is subject to change. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made by or on behalf of the Company other than as required by applicable securities laws.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES & FINANCIAL METRICS

There are measures and metrics included in this News Release that do not have a standardized meaning under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. Management believes that certain of these measures and metrics, including gross profit and EBITDA, are important indicators of the Company's ability to generate liquidity through operating cash flow to fund future working capital requirements, service outstanding debt and fund future capital expenditures and uses these metrics for these purposes.

In addition, management presents adjusted measures and metrics, including operating income, EBITDA and net earnings in an effort to provide investors and analysts with a more comparable year-over-year performance metric than the basic measure by excluding certain items. These items may impact the analysis of trends in performance and affect the comparability of the Company's core financial results. By excluding these items, management is not implying they are non-recurring.

The Company includes these measures and metrics because it believes certain investors use these measures and metrics as a means of assessing financial performance. Empire's definition of the non-GAAP terms included in this News Release are as follows:

• The E-commerce Exclusivity adjustment includes the impact of the early termination of the mutual exclusivity agreement with Ocado, resulting in a non-cash charge related to the impairment of an intangible asset.
• The Restructuring adjustment includes costs incurred to plan and implement strategies to optimize the organization and improve efficiencies, including severance, professional fees and voluntary labour buyouts.
• The Cybersecurity Event adjustment includes the impact of incremental direct costs such as inventory shrink, hardware and software restoration costs, legal and professional fees, labour costs and insurance recoveries. Management believes that the Cybersecurity Event adjustment results in a useful economic representation of the underlying business on a comparative basis. The adjustment does not include management's estimate of the full financial impact of the Cybersecurity Event, as it excludes the net earnings impacts related to the estimated decline in sales and operational effectiveness from impacts such as the temporary loss of advanced planning, promotion and fresh item management tools, the temporary closure of pharmacies, and customers' temporary inability to redeem gift cards and loyalty points.
• Same-store sales are sales from stores in the same location in both reporting periods.
• Same-store sales, excluding fuel are sales from stores in the same location in both reporting periods excluding the fuel sales from stores in the same location in both reporting periods.
• Gross profit is calculated as sales less cost of sales.
• Gross margin is gross profit divided by sales.
• Adjusted operating income is operating income excluding certain items to better analyze trends in performance. These items are excluded to allow for better period over period comparison of ongoing operating results. Adjusted operating income is reconciled to operating income in its respective subsection of the "Summary Results – Second Quarter" section.
• EBITDA is calculated as net earnings before finance costs (net of finance income), income tax expense, depreciation and amortization of intangibles.
• EBITDA margin is EBITDA divided by sales.

The following table reconciles net earnings to EBITDA on a consolidated basis and for the Food retailing segment:

• Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA excluding certain items to better analyze trends in performance. These items are excluded to allow for better period over period comparison of ongoing operating results.  Adjusted EBITDA is reconciled to EBITDA in its respective subsection of the "Summary Results – Second Quarter" section.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin is adjusted EBITDA divided by sales.
• Management calculates interest expense as interest expense on financial liabilities measured at amortized cost and interest expense on lease liabilities.

The following table reconciles finance costs, net to interest expense:

• Adjusted net earnings is net earnings, net of non-controlling interest, excluding certain items to better analyze trends in performance. These items are excluded to allow for better period over period comparison of ongoing operating results. Adjusted net earnings is reconciled in its respective subsection of the "Summary Results – Second Quarter" section.
• Adjusted EPS (fully diluted) is calculated as adjusted net earnings divided by diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding.
• Free cash flow is calculated as cash flows from operating activities, plus proceeds on disposal of property, equipment and investment property and lease modifications and terminations, less acquisitions of property, equipment, investment property and intangibles, interest paid and payments of lease liabilities, net of payments received from finance subleases.
• Book value per common share is shareholders' equity, net of non-controlling interest, divided by total common shares outstanding.

The following table shows the calculation of Empire's book value per common share:

• Funded debt is all interest-bearing debt, which includes bank loans, bankers' acceptances, long-term debt and long-term lease liabilities.
• Total capital is calculated as funded debt plus shareholders' equity, net of non-controlling interest.

The following table reconciles the Company's funded debt and total capital to GAAP measures:

• Funded debt to total capital ratio is funded debt divided by total capital.
• Funded debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio is funded debt divided by trailing four-quarter adjusted EBITDA.
• Adjusted EBITDA to interest expense ratio is trailing four-quarter adjusted EBITDA divided by trailing four-quarter interest expense.

CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The Company will hold an analyst call on Thursday, December 12, 2024 beginning at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) during which senior management will discuss the Company's financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025. To instantly join the conference call by phone, please use the following URL to easily register yourself and be connected into the conference call automatically: https://emportal.ink/4fQrpyP. You can also be entered to the call by an Operator by dialing (888) 699-1199 outside the Toronto area or (416) 945-7677 from within the Toronto area.

To secure a line, please call 10 minutes prior to the conference call; you will be placed on hold until the conference call begins. The media and investing public may access this conference call via a listen mode only. You may also listen to a live audiocast of the conference call by visiting the "Quick Links" section of the Company's website located at www.empireco.ca, and then navigating to the "Empire Company Limited Quarterly Results Call" link.

The replay will be available by dialing (888) 660-6345 and entering access code 82321 until midnight December 26, 2024, or on the Company's website for 90 days following the conference call.

ABOUT EMPIRE

Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire's key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc., and related real estate. With approximately $30.8 billion in annual sales and $16.9 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 128,000 people.

Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company's Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company's website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca.

SOURCE Empire Company Limited