BRAMPTON, ON, Feb. 22, 2018 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 30, 2017 and the release of its 2017 Annual Report – Financial Review ("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 30, 2017. The Company's 2017 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 delivered strong results in the fourth quarter and were pleased with our financial performance in 2017," said Galen G. Weston, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Loblaw Companies Limited. "As our Company faces exceptional external headwinds in 2018, we are excited about our future and focused on meeting the changing needs of our customers. We remain committed to our financial framework and continued value creation for shareholders." 2017 FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS The following highlights include the impacts of the consolidation of franchises and disposition of gas bar operations.

• Revenue was $11,030 million, a decrease of $100 million, or 0.9%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

• Retail segment sales were $10,718 million, a decrease of $127 million, or 1.2%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

  • The disposition of the Company's gas bar operations negatively impacted Retail sales growth by $350 million.

  • Food retail (Loblaw) same-store sales growth was 0.5%, excluding gas bar operations.

  • Drug retail (Shoppers Drug Mart) same-store sales growth was 3.6%, with pharmacy same-store sales growth of 3.9% and front store same-store sales growth of 3.5%.

• Operating income was $140 million, a decrease of $309 million, or 68.8%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

  • Operating income was negatively impacted in the fourth quarter of 2017 by charges related to the announcement of the PC Optimum Program, restructuring activities and the Loblaw Card Program.

• Net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company were $19 million, a decrease of $182 million, or 90.5%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Diluted net earnings per common share were $0.05, a decrease of $0.45, or 90.0%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

• Adjusted EBITDA² was $1,013 million, an increase of $57 million, or 6.0%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

• Adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company² were $441 million, an increase of $48 million, or 12.2%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Adjusted diluted net earnings per common share² were $1.13, an increase of $0.16, or 16.5%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

  • Normalized for the disposition of gas bar operations, adjusted diluted net earnings per common share² increased by approximately 20.0%.

• The Company repurchased 2.3 million common shares at a cost of $154 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. In 2017, the Company repurchased 16.2 million common shares at a cost of $1,139 million.

• In 2017, the Company invested $1,259 million in capital expenditures and generated $1,479 million of free cash flow².

• The disposition of the Company's gas bar operations negatively impacted Retail adjusted EBITDA² by approximately $20 million and diluted net earnings per common share growth by approximately $0.03 per common share. Gas bar operations were a low gross margin business compared to the Company's overall Retail segment.

Note: This is an excerpt from the full release. To view the complete document, please download the full Q4 and annual 2017 release(Open in a new tab).

¹This 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.

²See "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.