Overview

* Empire fiscal Q1 sales rise 1.5% to C$8.258 bln

* Adjusted EPS of C$0.91 beats analyst estimates, per LSEG data

* Food sales increase 2.6%, driven by Full-Service and Discount banners

Outlook

* Empire expects fiscal 2026 capital spend of C$850 mln

* Company plans to renovate 20%-25% of store network by fiscal 2026

* Empire anticipates C$120 mln-C$140 mln earnings from other income in fiscal 2026

* Company sees continued economic uncertainty impacting costs and supply chains

Result Drivers

* FOOD SALES - Increased by 2.6%, driven by growth in Full-Service and Discount banners

* GROSS MARGIN - Improved by 63 basis points, excluding fuel, due to strong performance and operational efficiencies

* FUEL SALES - Declined due to lower prices after removal of government carbon tax

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q1 Sales Miss C$8.26 C$8.30

bln bln (6

Analysts

)

Q1 Beat C$0.91 C$0.88

Adjusted (7

EPS Analysts

)

Q1 EPS C$0.91

Q1 C$671

EBITDA mln

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is 4 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the food retail & distribution peer group is "buy."

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Empire Company Ltd ( EMLAF ) is C$59.00, about 12.6% above its September 10 closing price of C$51.54

* The stock recently traded at 15 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 16 three months ago

Press Release:

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)