BRAMPTON, ON, Nov. 16, 2016 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L) ("Loblaw" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended October 8, 2016. The Company's 2016 Third 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 lowered prices and consumers responded," said Galen G. Weston, Executive Chairman and President, Loblaw Companies Limited. "In the third quarter we continued to gain momentum, improving our sales performance, while remaining focused on executing our financial plan." 2016 THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Revenue was $14,143 million, an increase of $197 million, or 1.4%, compared to the third quarter of 2015.

Retail segment sales were $13,891 million, an increase of $176 million, or 1.3%, compared to the third quarter of 2015.

• Food retail (Loblaw) same-store sales growth was 1.4%, excluding gas bar;

• Drug retail (Shoppers Drug Mart) same-store sales growth was 2.8%, with same-store pharmacy sales increasing by 1.6% and same-store front store sales increasing by 3.9%.

• Adjusted EBITDA(2) was $1,143 million, an increase of $121 million, or 11.8%, compared to the third quarter of 2015.

• Adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company(2) were $512 million, an increase of $104 million, or 25.5%, compared to the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted diluted net earnings per common share(2) were $1.26, an increase of $0.28, or 28.6%, compared to the third quarter of 2015.

• Net earnings available to common shareholders of the Company were $419 million, an increase of $253 million, or 152.4%, compared to the third quarter of 2015. Diluted net earnings per common share were $1.03, an increase of $0.63, or 157.5%, compared to the third quarter of 2015. Net earnings growth is significantly higher than adjusted net earnings(2) growth due to the impact of restructuring charges included in prior year net earnings and the impact of the fair value adjustment to the Trust Unit Liability when compared to the third quarter of 2015.

• The Company repurchased 2.1 million shares for cancellation at a cost of $145 million.

Note: This is an excerpt from the full release. To view the complete document, please download the full Q3 2016 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.