Montréal, April 15, 2008 – METRO INC. realized net earnings of $58.1 million in the second quarter of 2008 compared to $61.8 million in the same quarter last year, and fully diluted net earnings per share of $0.51 compared to $0.53 last year.
2008 SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
�� Sales of $2,372.4 million, up 0.7%
�� Net earnings of $58.1 million, down 6%
�� Fully diluted net earnings per share of $0.51, down 3.8%
�� Declared dividend of $0.125 per share, up 8.7%
�� Eric R. La Flèche is appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of METRO INC.
The Company’s 2008 second quarter sales of $2,372.4 million were up 0.7% over the $2,356.2 million for the corresponding quarter of last year. Excluding decreased sales of tobacco products, sales were up 1.2% over last year’s.
Although lower than last year due to the competitive environment that still prevails in Ontario, these results are an improvement over those of the first quarter of the current fiscal year, since second quarter EBITDA(1) as a percentage of sales increased 30 basis points from the first quarter, to 5.7% versus 5.4%. Second quarter EBITDA(1), excluding equity earnings from our investment in Alimentation Couche-Tard, was 5.5% of sales versus 5.2% for the first quarter of 2008.
The learning curve associated with our new information systems at A&P Canada in Ontario progressed significantly in the second quarter of 2008, enabling us to increase our gross margins. In Québec, all Food Services operations were brought together in the new warehouse, which should result in greater efficiency.
“The progress realized in working with our new Ontario information systems and the integration of our Québec Food Services operations will enable us to focus, over the next months, on improving our results,” emphasized Eric R. La Flèche, President and Chief Executive Officer.
As announced earlier, Mr. Eric R. La Flèche is appointed today President and Chief Executive Officer and joins the Board of Directors. Mr. Pierre H. Lessard becomes Executive Chairman of the Board.