Canadian grocery and pharmacy chain Loblaw's quarterly profit topped analysts' estimates on Wednesday, driven by higher food and drug same-store sales.
The company, which sells everything from groceries to wireless mobile connections, said that food retail same-store sales grew by 0.8%, while drug retail same-store sales rose by 1.7%.
E-commerce Revamp
The Brampton, Canada-based company, like other retail stores, has been refurbishing and expanding its online presence to carve out more market share in the face of stiff competition from companies such as Amazon.com, Inc.
The company's net income fell to C$50 million ($38.07 million), or 13 Canadian cents per share, in the second quarter ended 30 June, from C$359 million, or 90 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.
The drop in quarterly profit was due to charges related to its acquisition of Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust and the sale of its gas-pump operations.
Revenue fell by 1.4%, C$10.92 billion. Excluding items, the company earned C$1.11 per share.
Analysts, on average, had expected the company to report a profit of C$1.09 per share on revenue of C$10.94 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
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