02:23 PM EDT, 03/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Empire reported Q3/F24 EPS of $0.62, versus NBF at $0.63 and consensus at $0.64; last year was $0.64.

Key Takeaways:

National Bank's Vishal Shreedhrar views Q3/F24 results to be slightly light. Adj. EPS was impacted by -$0.02 reflecting the impact of a strike and the sale of the fuel business. However, a cybersecurity incident last year impacted EPS by -$0.06. Therefore, the y/y performance is weaker than headline results would suggest.

Empire also acquired the remaining 12% stake in Farm Boy (for $77 million) in Q4/F24 and noted a potential ~$110 million (in addition to the $775 million in planned F2024 capex) in land acquisition.

Even with heightened investments, National Bank is modeling net debt to EBITDA improving to 3.0x in F2025 vs. 3.2x in F2024.

EPS estimates slightly reduced on challenging backdrop -- F2024 goes to $2.78 from $2.87 and F2025 goes to $3.15 from $3.21.

Maintain Sector Perform rating; price target is $40 from $41.

Price: 32.61, Change: -0.34, Percent Change: -1.03