07:25 AM EDT, 06/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Empire Company (EMP-A.TO) on Thursday reported higher fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat estimates. The company also announced a 10% dividend increase and renewed its normal course issuer bid (NCIB).

The food retailer's adjusted net income rose to $173 million, or $0.74 per share from $154 million, or $0.63 per share, in the prior year period. The result beat the consensus analyst estimate of $0.71 per share, according to FactSet.

Sales increased 3% to $7.64 billion, in line with the $7.65 billion that had been expected. Empire reported that same store sales for food increased 3.8%, driven by growth, particularly in the Full-Service and Discount banners. Internal food inflation was below the CPI for food purchased from stores, it said.

The company has set aside $400 million for its NCIB program, and intends to buy back up to 11.5 million shares from July 2. Under its current normal course issuer bid, which ends on July 1, Empire bought back 9.9 million shares at a weighted average price of $42.25 for a total cost of $418 million.

Empire will pay the nigher quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on July 31.