BRAMPTON, ON, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 25, 2017. The Company's 2017 First Quarter Report to Shareholders 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(Open in a new tab).

"We continued to invest to deliver value to consumers," said Galen G. Weston, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Loblaw Companies Limited.

"We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter, against a highly competitive food retail environment and despite the pressures of deflation and healthcare reform."

2017 FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

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

• Revenue was $10,401 million, an increase of $20 million, or 0.2%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

• Retail segment sales were $10,166 million, an increase of $12 million, or 0.1%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

  • Same-store sales were negatively impacted by the timing of New Year's Day and Easter.

  • Food retail (Loblaw) same-store sales decline was 2.1%, excluding gas bar. Excluding the unfavourable impacts of the timing of New Year's Day and Easter, Food retail same-store sales were relatively flat.

  • Drug retail (Shoppers Drug Mart) same-store sales growth was 0.9%, with pharmacy same-store sales growth of 1.3% and front store same-store sales growth of 0.6%. Excluding the unfavourable impacts of the timing of New Year's Day and Easter, Drug retail same-store sales growth was approximately 2.5%, with pharmacy same-store sales growth of approximately 1.4% and front store same-store sales growth of approximately 3.6%.

• Operating Income was $492 million, an increase of $56 million, or 12.8%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

• Adjusted EBITDA² was $865 million, an increase of $36 million, or 4.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

• Net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company were $230 million, an increase of $37 million, or 19.2%, compared to the first quarter of 2016. Diluted net earnings per common share were $0.57, an increase of $0.10, or 21.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

• Adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company² were $364 million, an increase of $26 million, or 7.7%, compared to the first quarter of 2016. Adjusted diluted net earnings per common share² were $0.90, an increase of $0.08, or 9.8%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

• The Company repurchased 3.4 million common shares at a cost of $240 million

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• Quarterly common share dividend to be increased by 3.8% from $0.26 per common share to $0.27 per common share.

Note: This is an excerpt from the full release. To view the complete document, please download the full Q1 2017 news 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.