07:15 AM EDT, 07/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Loblaw (L.TO) on Thursday reported higher adjusted profit and revenue for its second quarter and also announced a settlement related to the bread price-fixing lawsuits.

The supermarket and pharmacy chain reported an adjusted profit, excluding most one-time items, of $664 million, or $2.15 per diluted share, 6.1% higher than the $626 million, or $1.94 per share in the prior year quarter. The result was slightly above consensus analyst forecast of $2.14 per share, according to Capital IQ.

Revenue rose 1.5% to $13.95 billion, from last year's $13.74 billion, missing Capital IQ's forecast of $14.17 billion. Loblaw said drug retail sales continued to outperform food retail.

Loblaw and and parent company George Weston (WN.TO) on Wednesday entered into binding Minutes of Settlement to resolve class action lawsuits against them for their role in an industry-wide bread price-fixing arrangement between 2001 and 2015. Weston will pay $247 million, and Loblaw, $253 million, offset by $96 million previously paid to customers by the company under the Loblaw Card Program.

The company recorded charges of $164 million ($121 million, net of income taxes) in its second quarter SG&A, relating to its portion of the total settlement and related costs.

In its outlook for the full year 2024, Loblaw said it expects adjusted net earnings per common share growth to be in the high single-digits. It will invest a net $1.8 billion in its store network and distribution centres, and to continue with share repurchases. On a year-to-date basis, Loblaw repurchased 6.4 million common shares at a cost of $952 million.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.513, payable on October 1.