07:20 AM EDT, 09/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Empire Company (EMP-A.TO) on Thursday reported higher first quarter adjusted profit and sales that topped expectations.

Adjusted for one-time items, profit for the three months ended Aug. 3 rose to $218.7 million or $0.90 per share, from $196.2 million, or $0.78 per share in the year-ago quarter. The result beat consensus analyst expectations, according to Capital IQ, of $0.87 per share.

Sales for the quarter increased 0.8%, to $8.14 billion, beating the Capital IQ forecast of $8.05 billion. The increase was primarily driven by a strong performance across the business, particularly at discount banner FreshCo, and Full-Service, and slightly offset by lower fuel sales due to the Western Canada Fuel Sale last year.

Empire aims to grow adjusted earnings per share by increasing profit and through share buybacks. Under its current normal course issuer bid, which began on July 2, Empire has purchased 1.3 million Class A shares through Aug. 3 at a weighted average price of $36.11 for a total of $46.8 million.

The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on October 31.

The shares lost 0.4% on Wednesday to close at $38.47.