BRAMPTON, ON, May 2, 2018 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 24, 2018. The Company's 2018 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. "In the face of external headwinds, we delivered solid results, increased dividends, continued share buybacks, and invested in our digital future," said Galen G. Weston, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Loblaw Companies Limited. "As the retail landscape changes, we are now rapidly scaling our e-commerce pick-up and home delivery services to blanket Canada this year." In 2018, the Company plans a national roll-out of its on-line grocery business, including the rapid expansion of PC Express pick-up sites and the complementary option of home delivery. PC Express will be introduced to 500 new pick-up sites, bringing the total to more than 700, including more grocery stores, GO Train commuter stations, and the first of many Shoppers Drug Mart stores. Home delivery is currently offered in 11 major markets (including Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary) through Instacart, with five to follow this year (including Montreal, Halifax and Regina). Nationally, almost half of Canadians already have access to PC Express or home delivery. By year end, 70 percent of Canadians, from coast-to-coast, will have both options. In major urban markets, the Company aims for over 90 percent coverage, providing customers the option to grocery shop in-person, in their car, or from the comfort of their home. 2018 FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS The following highlights include the impacts of the consolidation of franchises and disposition of gas bar operations.

• Revenue was $10,367 million, a decrease of $37 million, or 0.4%, compared to the first quarter of 2017.

• Retail segment sales were $10,105 million, a decrease of $61 million, or 0.6%, compared to the first quarter of 2017.

  • Retail sales growth, excluding the disposition of gas bar operations, was 2.9%.

  • Food retail (Loblaw) same-store sales growth was 1.9%, excluding gas bar operations.

  • Drug retail (Shoppers Drug Mart) same-store sales growth was 3.7%, with pharmacy same-store sales growth of 3.5% and front store same-store sales growth of 3.8%.

• Operating income was $480 million, a decrease of $15 million, or 3.0%, compared to the first quarter of 2017.

• Net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company were $377 million, an increase of $145 million, or 62.5%, compared to the first quarter of 2017. Diluted net earnings per common share were $0.98, an increase of $0.40, or 69.0%, compared to the first quarter of 2017.

• Adjusted EBITDA² was $876 million, an increase of $8 million, or 0.9%, compared to the first quarter of 2017.

• Adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company² were $361 million, a decrease of $5 million compared to the first quarter of 2017. Adjusted diluted net earnings per common share² were $0.94, an increase of $0.03, or 3.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2017.

• The disposition of the Company's gas bar operations negatively impacted Retail sales growth by $344 million, Retail adjusted EBITDA² by approximately $20 million, net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company growth by approximately $10 million and diluted net earnings per common share growth by approximately $0.03 per common share. Normalized for the disposition of gas bar operations, adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company² increased by approximately $5 million and adjusted diluted net earnings per common share² increased by approximately 6.7% or $0.06 per common share.

• The Company repurchased 8.1 million common shares at a cost of $544 million. Quarterly common share dividend to be increased by 9.3% from $0.27 per common share to $0.295 per common share.

As previously announced, the Company's year-over-year financial performance will be negatively impacted by minimum wage increases and incremental healthcare reform. In addition, the disposition of the Company's gas bar operations, in the third quarter of 2017, had a negative year-over-year impact on financial performance.

Note: This is an excerpt from the full release. To view the complete document, please download the full Q1 2018 news release.

Note: This is an excerpt from the full release. To view the complete document, please download the full Q1 2018 news 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(Open in a new tab) 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.