- Empire Company Ltd (TSX:EMP.A) has announced a 69.7 per cent increase in net earnings for Q3 year on year
- Earnings in the quarter ended February 2020 totalled C$123.7 million, up from $72.9 million in 2019
- The company has also announced a share buyback of 1,519,829 for a total of $48 million
- The company can boast per share earnings of $0.46 compared to the $0.27 of Q3 2019
- Empire Company Ltd (EMP.A) is down 15 per cent, with shares currently trading at $24.62 and a market cap of $6.6 billion
Nova Scotia based Empire (TSX:EMP.A) have announced a big boost in Q3 earnings, with net earnings increasing 69.7 per cent year on year.
Empire have boosted earnings while maintaining their C$500 million austerity drive within the business, the aptly named Project Sunrise.
President and CEO of Empire Michael Medline said he was pleased with the progress the company has made.
“Our execution has markedly improved and we continue to grow our bottomline much faster than our major competitors.
“Project Sunrise is on track and the momentum continues with our expansions of FreshCo in the West and Farm Boy in Ontario, as well as the upcoming launch Voila in the Greater Toronto Area,” he said.
Empire has reached the final year of its multiyear cost cutting initiative, and the company believes the program will exceed the original expectations management set for it.
Empire reorganised company design, reduced sourcing costs and improved in-store operations in 2018, which delivered it a $100 million balance sheet boost.
This has been followed up with a $200 million cost reduction in 2019, with further costs cut through the reseting of categories and other sectors within the business.
For 2020, Empire expect to cut another $250 million for operations, bringing the restructure to $550 million in savings over 3 years.
This is $50 million more than management’s original expectation in 2017, when the program was implemented.
The news comes amid turmoil in the markets, as another trading holt was announced at the TSX this morning.
The TSX has dropped a staggering 10.52 per cent today, following a 10.3 per cent drop on Monday.
Empire Company Ltd (EMP.A) is down 15 per cent, with shares currently trading for $24.62 at 2:02 pm EST.
