In Canada, Metro Inc. has announced that net earnings jumped 22.5 per cent during the third quarter (Q3) of the year, up to a record CA$112.6m (US$103.9m) from CA$91.9m (US$84.8m) in the same period of 2008.
Sales during the three-month period ended 4 July 2009 reached CA$3.5bn (US$3.2bn) compared with the CA$3.4bn (US$3.1bn) hit last year, an increase of 4.3 per cent, with same-store sales up 4.2 per cent.
'Building on the momentum of our first half of the year, we are very pleased with our results for the third quarter of 2009 which prove that our strategies are effective in the current economic environment,' said Metro president and CEO Eric La Fléche. 'Our Ontario supermarket conversion plan is on schedule with 128 of 159 stores converted to the Metro banner as of 24 July 2009.
'We are confident that we are well-positioned to continue to grow our business in an always challenging marketplace,' he added.
