BRAMPTON, ON, Feb. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2016 and the release of its 2016 Annual Report ("Annual Report"), which includes the Company's audited consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. The Company's 2016 Annual Report will be available in the Investors section of the Company's website at loblaw.ca and will be filed with SEDAR and available at sedar.com.

"We continued to lower prices, delivering more value to consumers," said Galen G. Weston, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Loblaw Companies Limited.

"Our focus on our strategic framework and financial plan delivered solid financial performance in the fourth quarter and demonstrated the strength of our portfolio of businesses amidst a highly competitive food retail environnment, and pressures from healthcare reform."

2016 FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The following highlights include the impacts of the consolidation of franchises, as set out in "Other Retail Business Matter."

• Revenue was $11,130 million, an increase of $265 million, or 2.4%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

• Retail segment sales were $10,845 million, an increase of $239 million, or 2.3%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

  • Food retail (Loblaw) same-store sales growth was 1.1%, excluding gas bar.

  • Drug retail (Shoppers Drug Mart) same-store sales growth was 3.4%, with same-store pharmacy sales increasing by 2.5% and same-store front store sales increasing by 4.1%.

  • Same-store sales growth included the favourable impact of an extra selling day, due to the timing of New Year's day, of approximately 1.0% on Food retail same-store sales and 0.6% on Drug retail same-store sales.

• Operating Income was $449 million, an increase of $133 million, or 42.1%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

• Adjusted EBITDA² was $956 million, an increase of $75 million, or 8.5%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

• Net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company were $201 million, an increase of $73 million, or 57.0%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015. Diluted net earnings per common share were $0.50, an increase of $0.19, or 61.3%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

• Adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company² were $393 million, an increase of $30 million, or 8.3%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015. Adjusted diluted net earnings per common share² were $0.97, an increase of $0.10

  , or 11.5%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

• The Company repurchased 2.8 million shares for cancellation at a cost of $200 million.

• In 2016, the Company invested $1,224 million in capital expenditures and generated $1,821 million of free cash flow².

Note: This is an excerpt from the full release. To view the complete document, please download the full Q4 2016 and annual results release(Open in a new tab).

¹ This News Release contains forward-looking information. See "Forward-Looking Statements" section of this News Release for a discussion of material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forecasts and projections herein and of the material factors and assumptions that were used when making these statements. This News Release should be read in conjunction with Loblaw Companies Limited's filings with securities regulators made from time to time, all of which can be found at sedar.com and at loblaw.ca.

² See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section of this News Release, which includes the reconciliation of such non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.