Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD) released fourth-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below.

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View the webcast at https://corporate.couche-tard.com/events-presentations#future:2026:5

Summary

ATD reported a strong fiscal 2026 with net earnings of $3.1 billion, a 21.8% increase from the previous year, driven by top-line growth and strategic execution.

The company implemented its 'Core plus More' strategy, which focuses on strengthening core business areas, accelerating growth in key categories, and enhancing customer engagement through digital platforms.

ATD achieved notable operational performance with a 20% year-over-year top-line growth in Q4, record-breaking EBITDA in Canada, and strong market share gains across the U.S. and Europe.

Same-store sales were robust, with a 2.2% increase on a consolidated basis, led by a 3.4% growth in the U.S., while Canada faced slight declines due to pressure in tobacco sales.

The company expanded its network by completing the construction and relocation of multiple stores and integrating Total Energy sites in Europe.

ATD reported strong performance in its food and beverage segment, with meal deals and energy drinks driving significant growth.

Loyalty programs continued to gain traction, with the Inner Circle program expanding to over 5,000 stores and reaching 15 million members.

Fuel margins remained robust despite a decline in same-store fuel volumes, driven by strong supply chain capabilities and market share gains.

Financially, adjusted net earnings for the year were $2.9 billion, a 12.1% increase, with adjusted EBITDA rising 10.8% year-over-year.

Strategically, the company plans to continue investing in organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, and digital capabilities to maintain its growth trajectory.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning, my name is Joelle and I will be your conference operator today. I will now introduce Mr. Mathieu Brunet, Vice President Investor Relations and Treasury.

Mathieu Brunet, Vice President Investor Relations and Treasury

Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to this web conference presenting ATD's financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026. All lines will be kept on mute to prevent any background noise. After the presentation, we will answer questions from analysts during the web conference. We would like to remind everyone that this webcast presentation will be available on our website for a 90-day period. Also, please remember that some of the issues discussed during this webcast might be forward-looking statements which are provided by the corporation with its usual caveats.

These caveats are risks and uncertainties outlined in our financial reporting. Therefore, our future results could differ from the information discussed today. Our financial results will be presented by Mr. Alex Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Felipe Da Silva, Chief Financial Officer. Alex, you may begin your conference. Thank you, Matthew. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the presentation of our fourth quarter and full year results as we look back on fiscal 2026. This has been an exceptional year for the company, and I'm incredibly proud of what our teams have accomplished. In February, we unveiled our Core plus More strategy outlining how we would strengthen our core business, accelerate growth in key categories while deepening customer engagement through digital capabilities.

Our model has proven successful as customers continue to respond to our compelling value proposition. Across our network, we strengthened our competitive position, gained market share, and delivered growth through disciplined execution. In the United States, we achieved our best performance in years, and we saw traffic growth in the fourth quarter reflecting the momentum we are building with customers. In Canada, we delivered record-breaking EBITDA supported by strong fuel execution, market share gains, and growth across the business.

In Europe, we continued to benefit from the strength of our diversified footprint and the performance of our teams. Turning to the quarter, we delivered solid top-line growth of nearly 20% year over year, and we are winning in the markets we serve, strengthening our position, and widening the gap versus the broader convenience channel. Before going further, I want to recognize our frontline teams. Every day they show up as one team and deliver on our promise of being fast, friendly, and customer-ready, bringing our offer to life, delivering value, improving availability, and simplifying the experience for our customers.

What stands out to me is the reliability of the operation. Day in and day out, our teams are maintaining a high standard and strengthening the connection to our brand. That level of execution remains a key enabler as we invest in and optimize our network. Importantly, US Turnover has reached the lowest level in our company's history, outperforming industry benchmarks across part-time, full-time, and managerial roles. We remain on track with our goal of building 750 new stores through 2030.

This past quarter, we completed the construction of 37 new stores and the relocation or reconstruction of 13 existing stores, bringing us to a total of 130 projects completed during fiscal 2026. At the same time, we have another 34 stores under construction that we expect to open over the coming quarters. As we expand the network organically and through M&A, we are also improving the overall quality and consistency of the customer experience. The integration of our Total Energy sites in Mid Europe continues to move forward.

We implemented 95 rebranded sites during the quarter, and we are seeing encouraging signs as these locations begin to benefit from our operating model and customer offer. Let's now turn to our convenience business where we delivered an impressive quarter. Same-store sales grew 2.2% on a consolidated basis with the United States leading at 3.4%, marking our best quarterly result in the last three years. Continuing with the U.S., we also delivered positive same-store sales in every quarter this year, with each period building on the last.

During the quarter, growth was broad-based with all business units delivering positive same-store sales. We see this as a clear signal that our initiatives are resonating with customers. In Europe and other regions, same-store sales increased by 1.1% with solid contributions from Norway and the Baltics. Norway saw both traffic and basket expansion while the Baltics benefited from promotional activity and stronger engagement. The Netherlands remained under pressure as we lapped prior year tobacco-related benefits.

In Asia, we delivered positive same-store sales results. While partly timing-related, it is still an encouraging sign as the team sharpens the offer and works to rebuild customer traffic. In Canada, even as same-store sales declined by 0.9% primarily due to persistent pressure in tobacco and modern nicotine, we had a good year. Excluding tobacco, sales were up 1.3% and key categories remained resilient with strength in alcohol and packaged beverages.

Diving into our food business where our progress is becoming increasingly visible. In the US foodservice, same-store sales grew over 5% with fresh food fast sales growing over 10%, anchored by the continued success of our meal deals platform. At the end of the quarter, we were running at nearly 1 million bundles per week and have since moved closer to 1.2 million bundles, reflecting growing customer adoption while responding to a simpler and more relevant offer with clear value.

Execution is also improving with hero item availability reaching over 90%, up from roughly 75% just a few quarters ago. As we continue to scale the category, we are investing in the capabilities required to support that growth. We see a clear opportunity to further expand the food offer with a strong focus on ensuring fresh food fast delivers consistently across the network. In Europe, food continues to perform well led by strong momentum in burgers and sandwiches driven by simple execution on value and availability.

Markets that are winning are those delivering a consistent high-quality offer, giving us confidence in the scalability of the model. In Canada, we are building from the same foundation, leaning into value and execution. Meal deals have exceeded daily targets with more than 30% of our food sales coming from a bundle. The team is sharpening execution through improved hero item performance, a prepared in Canada campaign, and a more thoughtful offer.

The overall direction in food is encouraging. We are seeing progress in execution, assortment, vendor partnerships, and a coordinated supply model with meaningful runway as we move into our summer season which will be marked by high-profile product launches and co-branded innovation. Most notably, we have a new boneless buffalo chicken wing product which was co-developed and co-branded with one of the world's leading brands. We are excited for that item to hit stores in the coming days.

Turning to thirst, we saw continued progress across all regions led by energy where same-store sales grew over 15%. In the U.S., strong demand for functional and performance beverages combined with favorable mix and pricing execution also contributed to margin expansion. Overall, packet beverages delivered another solid quarter, up nearly 6% in same-store sales supported by innovation, exclusive launches, and deeper integration into our meal deal platform.

We are also making progress in cold dispensed where improved uptime is supporting higher unit sales and a better customer experience through our loyalty platform. In Europe, packaged beverages are gaining traction led by energy and functional drinks as improved execution and a more focused assortment are supporting growth across markets. In Canada, performance remains strong with energy driving double-digit same-store sales growth and continued resilience in alcohol, particularly in Ontario.

We're very excited about the future trajectory of this category and more broadly it reflects our ability to stay nimble and adapt quickly to evolving customer needs and shifting product trends. Turning to nicotine, this remains an exciting and evolving category with strong momentum in modern oral. In the U.S., cigarette positive sales growth was driven by disciplined pricing and targeted affordability, limiting unit declines relative to the industry.

At the same time, other nicotine products are seeing solid growth at 8.5% in same-store sales supported by an expanding offer, refreshed back bar formats, and improved in-store visibility. We are also leveraging our age-verified membership platforms, now reaching 3.2 million users, up 12% versus the prior quarter. This is driving more targeted and personalized engagement through loyalty while improving conversion and retention. In Europe, next-generation products continue to gain traction with other nicotine products, driving category growth.

In Canada, results remain impacted by regulatory dynamics and illicit trade, with the team adapting through pricing and offer strategies. The performance across category is enabled by execution at scale, ensuring the right products are in the right stores at the right time. Turning to loyalty in the U.S., our Inner Circle program has now expanded to over 5,000 stores and has grown by nearly 50% year over year, reaching 15 million members by May. When you think about where we were just two years ago, that is truly a remarkable journey.

We are also strengthening the connection between fuel and in-store trips with pump-to-store conversion quadrupling, reflecting a more seamless customer experience. In Europe, we have completed the rollout of our revamped extra loyalty program across our legacy markets in Poland as well as our Baltic and Scandinavian business units. We are also beginning to integrate EV charging into the app, creating a more unified customer experience. Looking ahead, digital solutions will play a central role in scaling our initiatives, strengthening relationships with customers, and unlocking additional growth.

Turning to mobility, this remains a core strength and a key differentiator. Throughout the quarter, the environment remained volatile with geopolitical tensions and higher fuel prices weighing on demand in certain regions. In the U.S., same-store fuel volumes declined by 2.1% while total gallons sold increased by nearly 5%, reflecting the contribution from network expansion. Europe and other regions were down 4.4% while Canada remained more resilient with volumes up 2%.

Continuing the positive trajectory we have seen throughout the fiscal year, our efforts remain focused on growing gross profit across the network through disciplined pricing, margin protection, ensuring continuity of supply, and market share gains and volume across our geographies. What gives me great confidence is how we've built a world-class supply chain over the years along with the trading capabilities and network scale needed to remain competitive on price while capturing margins as market conditions evolve.

We have the reach, the experience, and the operational depth to manage through these cycles, and our teams know how to execute in this environment. During the quarter, we also completed the acquisition of three fuel terminals in Germany, further strengthening our supply capabilities and providing greater flexibility across our European network. In B2B across Europe and North America, we are focused on delivering a reliable competitive offering for our B2B customers, leveraging the same scale, supply chain strength, and execution that underpin our broader mobility platform.

We continue to see resilience in Europe where pressure on volumes was offset by margin performance. We also saw continued growth in non-fuel income with B2B transit charging volumes up by more than 50%. We are also continuing the rollout of our One Card payment platform, enabling a more seamless experience from onboarding through fueling, strengthening engagement across the network, and supporting market share growth and operating efficiency. Our mobile payment usage increased nearly 60% year on year in the US we are building momentum as we scale the business.

Our focus remains on deepening relationships with fleet and commercial customers supported by a differentiated national network, expanding truck accessible sites, and execution at the store level. Large national accounts have grown by more than 15% versus the same period last year. Our fleet segment grew volume by 6%, adding 11 million incremental gallons versus the same period of last year as we make strides in government fleet business development.

Meanwhile, strategic partnerships continue to drive substantial growth in our truck segment with volume up more than 55% versus a year ago and nearly 27 million incremental gallons. On E mobility, we continue to grow the business with disciplined capital deployment as demand continues to increase across Europe. By the end of the quarter, we surpassed 4,000 Circle K branded charge points with a total network of more than 4,700 fast chargers, up 30% year over year.

We are also seeing strong customer adoption with more than 2.2 million charging transactions in the quarter and over 8 million for the full year. Utilization continues to improve with charging transactions up over 50% and kilowatt hours sold up nearly 60% versus last year. This reflects the progress we have made in building a scaled and increasingly utilized network in Europe. Reliability has also improved with uptime now above 97%, reinforcing our leadership position in some of the most advanced EV markets including Sweden and Norway where we are respectively the number one and number two destinations.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

I will now turn it over to Felipe who will provide more details on our financials. Thank you, Alex. Good morning everyone. We delivered an excellent fourth quarter to close the year, driven by the quality of our underlying results, even excluding the impact of certain favorable items. Disciplined execution enabled us to maintain operating expenses below inflation, protecting profitability while continuing to invest in the business to support our core plus more strategy. Our results highlight the consistency and durability of our earnings and reinforce our confidence as we start the new fiscal year.

More importantly, these results reflect the contribution of multiple elements and merchandise categories working together. At the same time, we are investing in capabilities that improve availability, simplify the operation, and strengthen the long-term earnings potential of this business. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, net earnings stood at $863 million or $0.94 per share on a diluted basis. These results include a one-time net gain of approximately $260 million related to the resolution of long-standing legal matters, including a U.S. electronic payment interchange litigation. Adjusted net earnings were $667 million or $0.73 per share on a diluted basis, representing an increase of 58.7% compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. For fiscal 2026, reported net earnings stood at $3.1 billion, an increase of $563 million or 21.8%, compared with fiscal 2025. Diluted net earnings per share stood at $3.37 compared with $2.71 for the previous fiscal year. Adjusted net earnings stood at $2.9 billion, an increase of $312 million or 12.1% compared with fiscal 2025.

Adjusted diluted net earnings per share were $3.10, an increase of 14.4%. I will now discuss the following section. On an FX adjusted basis, adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 increased by $350 million or 28.9%, compared with the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025, mainly due to higher road transportation fuel growth margin, organic growth in our convenience activities, as well as the contribution from acquisitions, which amounted to $47 million, partly offset by the increase in operating expenses during fiscal 2026.

On the same basis, the adjusted EBITDA increased by $643 million or 10.8%, compared to fiscal 2025. During the fourth quarter, merchandise and service revenues increased by $242 million or 5.8%, attributable to both the contributions from acquisitions, which amounted to $137 million, and organic growth. During fiscal 2026, merchandise and service revenues increased by $1 billion, or 5.5%. Merchandise and service gross profit increased by $1.3 million or 7.1%.

This is primarily attributable to the contribution from acquisitions, which amounted to $50 million by organic growth as well as improved merchandise and service gross margin. Let me expand a little more on margins because this quarter gives a good picture of how the business is evolving in the US. Merchandise margin improved by 50 basis points to 34.4% driven by favorable category mix, enhanced vendor partnership, stronger procurement, and in-store execution.

This reflects higher margin growth in organic coating products and packaged beverages, which more than offset the continuous trend of sales in cigarettes. Food gross profit dollar also increased year over year, even though supply voyage created some pressure on the margin rate. That pressure was largely a function of growth, higher availability, and the mixed effect of a very successful middle platform rather than any deterioration in the economics of the offer.

More broadly, we are demonstrating that we can deliver further value to customers across categories without compromising the overall gross profit profile supported by partnership, stronger procurement, and more targeted commercial execution. In Canada, the gross margin rate decreased by 60 basis points year over year to 33.5%, mainly reflecting competitive pressure and mix, while the impact of lower cigarette sales and higher growth in energy drinks provided a partial offset.

In Europe and other regions, gross margin increased by 100 basis points to 39.6% supported by mix, including lower relative weight of cigarettes and a growing contribution from EV charging and service revenues. For fiscal 2026, merchandise and service gross profit increased by approximately $412 million or 6.4%. Our gross margin in the United States increased by 50 basis points to 34.4%, by 20 basis points in Europe and other regions to 39.1%, and decreased by 20 basis points in Canada to 33.5%.

Moving now on to fuel, our road transportation fuel gross margin was 52.44 cents per gallon in the United States, 13.44 US cents per liter in Europe and other regions, and 17.28 Canadian cents per liter in Canada. As Alex mentioned earlier, our global scale and capability across trading and the network allow us to navigate volatility while capturing margin opportunities as market conditions evolve. During fiscal 2026, our road transportation fuel gross profit increased by $748 million or 11.7%.

Our road transportation fuel gross margin was 47.49 cents per gallon in the United States, 11.73 US cents per liter in Europe and other regions, and 15.5 Canadian cents per liter in Canada. Turning now to SGNA for the fourth quarter, normalized operating expenses were up 2.6% compared to the previous year of 4.4%, which remained below the weighted average inflation across our network. For fiscal 2026, normalized operating expenses increased by 3.1% compared with the previous year of 3.4% and were within the range of our growth algorithm.

We were disciplined in managing our expenses and the increased combination of inflation, targeted investment, and supporting growth in areas where we expect to achieve returns. These investments are tied to supply chain technology and building the capability to support our long-term ambitions as we continue to expand the food platform and improve execution, obviously remains to be the efficient model that drives traffic, enhances customer satisfaction, and supports long-term profitability.

A good example of this is our supply chain where distribution center investments are about much more than simply expanding capacity. They provide greater control over procurement, product availability, and distribution while simplifying operations across the network. As we continue to scale these capabilities, we are unlocking opportunities to leverage our size and work more directly with suppliers, which will support improved efficiency and stronger economics over time.

We're also advancing the rollout of Redex. We have completed the pilot across four US business units and have now begun scaling to more than 200 locations. Early results are encouraging with improved inventory accuracy and product availability supported by more precise forecasting and alignment between inventory, shelf space, and demand. As deployments expand across the network, we expect these tools to support replenishment, reduce complexity, and improve execution at the start.

In addition, we remain confident in our ability to deliver $850 million EBITDA by 2030 across merchandise cost of goods, goods not for resale, store operation, general administrative expenses, and control costs. We have already covered how investments in our supply chain will allow us to expand self-distribution, improving store operation and inventory management, but also to reduce our merchandise cost of goods. Looking at goods not for resale, we are starting to leverage procurement stabilization and vendor consolidation.

Recent sourcing initiatives, including charging infrastructure, are demonstrating the benefit of a more coordinated approach to purchasing. As we continue to enhance procurement activities across the organization, we see additional opportunities to improve purchasing conditions, reduce complexity, and drive efficiencies across a broad range of categories. While many of these opportunities will take time to fully materialize, we are building the capabilities required to unlock them while continuing to invest in the future growth of the business.

As a result, we remain focused on balancing growth investment with operational discipline. We continue to operate with one of the leanest models in the sector and remain confident in our expense outlook as we look. Turning to depreciation for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, depreciation expense increased by approximately $17 million or 3.1% compared to the fourth quarter of last year. This increase was primarily driven by the impact from recent acquisitions, particularly GetGo, which accounted for approximately $20 million, as well as ongoing capital investment in equipment replacement and network improvements.

As we move into fiscal 2027, depreciation is expected to continue reflecting the investment made in recent years, including acquisitions, network expansion, and capabilities that support the long-term growth of the business. From a tax perspective, the income tax rate for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 was 23.7%, compared with 18.8% for the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025. The increase is mainly stemming from the impact of a different mix in our earnings across the various jurisdictions in which we operate.

As of April 26, 2026, we recorded a return on equity at 20.2% and our return on capital employed stood at 13.7%. During the fiscal year, our leverage ratio stood at 1.99. We also had strong balance sheet liquidity, with over $3 billion in cash and an additional $3.5 billion available through our revolving unsecured operating credit facilities. During the quarter, we repurchased 0.4 million shares for an amount of $22.6 million. Importantly, we have been able to improve returns while continuing to deploy significant capital during the year, including approximately $1.6 billion returned to shareholders through share repurchases alongside the integration of GetGo, which reflects the strength of our operating model and capital allocation. We also issued a new euro-denominated senior unsecured note totaling 750 million euros to replace existing notes of the same value, which were repaid subsequent to the end of the quarter. Turning to the dividend, the Board of Directors declared yesterday a quarterly dividend of 21.5 cents Canadian per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 to shareholders on record after July 9, 2026, and approved its payment effective July 23, 2026.

Finally, let me briefly comment on our progress with TotalEnergies. Now approximately two years into the integration, we continue to execute according to plan with a clear focus on aligning the business to our operating model and capturing synergies. As of the end of the fourth quarter, our annualized synergy run rate reached over 60 million euros, reflecting continued progress in operating expenses, cost of sales, and commercial initiatives across the network.

This puts us well on track to deliver our stated target of 120 million euros by fiscal 2027 and 170 million euros by fiscal 2029. In closing, fiscal 2026 represented an important year for the business. We improved our top-line trajectory, transformed our position in key categories, and continued to build the capabilities that support sustainable growth. We are encouraged by the progress we are seeing in Core plus More while beginning to unlock benefits from initiatives that leverage our scale, strengthen the operating model, and improve the economics of the business.

As we move into fiscal 2027, our priorities are clear: execute with discipline, focus on what we can control, and invest where we see attractive returns. I thank you all for your attention. I will turn the call over again to Alex. Thanks, Felipe. I'll leave you with a few final thoughts. We introduced our updated Core plus more strategy in February and we are energized by the progress so far. The strategy is clearly working and we are delivering strong execution against our growth algorithm in a profitable and sustainable way. We did what we set out to do and this year we executed against those priorities with a clear outperformance in several areas. We see better traffic margin expansion and a more productive network while we continue to invest in the capabilities that will extend these advantages over time and reinforce our value proposition for customers.

And importantly, our fuel platform continues to perform as our teams lean into the strength and agility of our supply chain and global scale to capture opportunities and grow market share across the network. We are seeing a constructive start to the year as we move from Q4 into Q1 with continued momentum across our key initiatives and geographies. Thanks again for your time and your continued support. With that, let's open it up for Q and A.

OPERATOR

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the 1 on your touch-tone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. We request that our callers limit their questions to one question.

Your first question comes from Michael Van Nuys with TD Cowan. Your line is now open.

Michael Van Nuys (Equity Analyst at TD Cowan)

Hi, good morning. Impressive quarter with big earnings and a lot of it. I mean you're doing really well on same-store sales growth in the US. But I wanted to ask first about the fuel margins. The US fuel margin was probably 30% higher than what the Opus data would have implied. And it's clear that some of the investments that you're making in sourcing capabilities are delivering returns. But it's even more evident now in these volatile markets. And I'm wondering if you could give us a few examples of how you're able to attract much higher or much better sourcing prices on the fuel side during this environment.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Hey Michael, thank you for the question. I think you've heard us state many times over the years in the quarters that when volatility exists we are well positioned to capture the advantages there and margin that becomes available with that volatility. And you know, for us this has been a journey for more than a decade as we kind of pivoted and invested in our own brands and invested in our supply chain. As we've talked about previously, it's really about building optionality that gives us sourcing choices when the market becomes volatile and or constrained.

And so you see us executing against that and utilizing that optionality to deliver against Opus. So that is a litany of investments over multiple years over the last decade into terminals, into positions while maintaining a very tight bar or risk management profile. So I'm not gonna go any deeper than that. But it's something that we have invested in for more than a decade. I think you've heard us consistently state when there is volatility it is a strong opportunity for us and you see us delivering in this very volatile time.

Alex

And to build on Alex, also my colleague, it's not just us, you can see that also in Europe, you know we are trading there. Alex just mentioned that we know we are even further investing in additional terminals there because we see value also on that piece. So yeah, very, very excited by what we have built and what, what is still there in terms of opportunity. So yeah, confident that we will continue to overperform there.

Michael Van Nuys (Equity Analyst at TD Cowan)

Thank you. And just one follow-up, a shorter one. I guess I'll let others get into the same-store sales and all that. But just on the exit run rates. I know you entered Q4 with a pretty strong same-store sales growth in the US. I'm wondering how you exited it amid the pressures that were coming from the Iran war and whatever.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, I think we continue to execute very well, Michael. Core plus more is delivering and it's not one category. It's the things we talked with you about. We are clearly delivering in fuel, we are delivering in nicotine, we are growing thirst substantially, we are growing food, we are growing EV. And our digital platforms are enabling traffic and growth across that. Our trends in Q1 are very similar to Q4. Our volume has improved a bit, margins remain, fuel margins remain, robust traffic and same-store sales remain within our growth algorithm.

And we continue to control cost and pursue the efforts we're making to expand margin. So Q1, the momentum continues and we're just focused on executing against the strategy we shared with you in February. Thank you very much Michael. I understand that that's your last earning calls with us, so just wanted to thank you. It has been a pleasure to work with you and yeah, just wanted to wish you a happy retirement, Michael. Well deserved.

Michael Van Nuys (Equity Analyst at TD Cowan)

Thank you very much. It's been a great 25 years covering you guys.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Michael. Thank you Michael.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Irene Nattel with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

Irene Nattel (Equity Analyst at RBC Capital Markets)

And good morning everyone. Thanks for the comprehensive answer to Mike's question. I'm going to pivot for a second and can we talk about capital allocation, please? Balance sheet is squeaky clean at this point in time. Your ratio and yet there was no activity on the NCIB. Can you talk about how we should think about F27 perhaps from an M&A perspective around NCIB? And you know, just conceptually you talk about continuing investments, you know, how much dry powder are you keeping for capex, etc. Thank you.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Hi, Irene. And thanks for the question. So our capital allocation framework remains unchanged and really it's about maintaining financial flexibility in terms of priority. I would say first in terms of capital allocation. First is investing in our organic business and you have heard us aiming at reinvesting 30 to 35% of our EBITDA into the organic space. Second is of course M and A and pursue, you know, attractive M and A opportunities within our discipline from financial framework. And the third one is maintaining, you know, a disciplined leverage profile. So today we are within our comfort level. So between two and two and a half times and all the excess capital will be, you know, used to through a new share repurchase program.

So that's how we have, you know, defined our captive framework and that's how we continue to proceed. And yeah, you know, we're keeping always in mind that we want to, you know, create long term value creation for our shareholders and that we may change. So that's what I can see in terms of capital allocation. I read.

Irene Nattel (Equity Analyst at RBC Capital Markets)

Thank you. And can you comment on the current M&A environment and sort of where your head may be at with all volatility in the market right now, as we

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

mentioned the last two quarters and I'm sure that Alex can comment as well, but we continue to see activity there. Of course, as you know, it's part of our DNA. We are looking at that and remain confident that over the framework of our Core plus mock strategy, you will see us actually doing M and A in our industry. Of course, prioritizing the market we are present, but also looking at why not expanding in other regions in the future. So, yeah, that remains.

We remain quite positive and optimistic in the environment in terms of M and A today.

Alex

Yeah, sure. Hi, Irene, good to hear your voice. Yeah, I just remind everybody we're focused on our Core plus more and we're not relying on M and A to deliver our growth algorithm. And hopefully we're increasingly showing you that M and A remains very active. We're seeing multiple files in multiple geographies, large, medium, small. And we just continue to pursue transactions with our focus on our strategic and financial criteria. And that's really what we can tell you.

But there's plenty of activity in the M and A space right now. Thank you.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Vishal Sridhar with National Bank. Your line is now open.

Vishal Sridhar (Equity Analyst at National Bank)

Hi, thanks for taking my questions. Could you, following on the fuel margins which were exceptionally strong, could you comment on your fuel capability across your major geographies? I noticed that you purchased some terminals as well in Germany. My understanding is that they're strongest in the US to capitalize on this. But maybe you can expand and give me some context. And I'm also asking in the context of your longer inventory holds in Europe and how that might complicate your ability to take advantage of volatility.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

No, I, again, thanks for the question. You know, we're in very volatile times. I think that's one of the reasons we have a little more cash on our balance sheet. It's also we upped our inventories in Europe a little bit to ensure that we, you know, I think I shared on the last update that our supply and trading teams, their number one responsibility is to keep our stores in product. And with the events, we thought it was wise for us to put a little more inventory into the system just to be safe.

You know, it really is about optionality. It's about recognizing various markets, how those markets receive product, what options are there to supply those markets, and building those options so that when you need them or when opportunity exists, you can take advantage of that. In events like this, when markets get volatile, you start to see product flows change. Certain areas get quite tight on product. That's when those options benefit us. And that's what you saw flow through our financials in this quarter.

Vishal Sridhar (Equity Analyst at National Bank)

Thank you.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from John Zampero with Scotiabank. Your line is now open.

John Zampero (Equity Analyst at Scotiabank)

Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to ask about the merchandise margins, particularly in the US. And I wonder if you could update us on where you are in your journey on building out new distribution centers. What type of impact did that have in the quarter and how should we think about margin improvements to come from increased DC penetration over the next few years?

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Thanks, Dan. And for the question, yeah, pretty excited. As we mentioned last quarter, we have opened these three new DCs in the US and associated to that we were commenting about some ramping up costs that were impacting our journey, but we are seeing that actually cooling down in this quarter and we start to see improvement in terms of availability in the store and getting, you know, this operation starting to mature. So very excited about what's coming.

You know, all these investments are being done, you know, with of course the objective of improving availability, making sure that we have, you know, the product in stores and we can help source to deliver the best experience to customer. But of course also with the mind of getting returns on that. So yeah, you will expect, we are expecting actually to have on the, on the midterm, you know, a positive impact in our cards and of course also in our engineering because on the cog side of course getting deeper in this supply chain as we did with the fuel, we get better economics with the vendors at some point and we'll start to see that already this year, John. And on the agni side there's no doubt also that only the supply chain will help us actually to be more productive in store at some point. So there's a lot of benefits to see there. Of course a supply chain, you know, we are just at the beginning of the journey. It's a learning curve you should expect, you know, over the end of this year. But I would say most importantly in the coming two years more, more positive, you know, impact in our P and L coming from the disease.

And as you know we are continuing to assess what else we need in terms of supply chain in us and as well in Europe. So more to come by that but very excited by what we see today. And I just add on that I think we've talked with you consistently about our data journey, our journey around analytics, around I think understanding better, where to really push on compelling value, where to run promotions, where not to run promotions. We just continue to get improved. We continue to improve in that and we continue to improve at our category management and I think our pricing strategies inside of category management. I think we also talked with you on Core plus, more about we actually have some structural tailwinds around mix and you know, we shouldn't overlook Europe.

Europe had a really strong merge margin quarter and that's, you know, I think we talked with you about our EV business. It continues to grow and it is becoming meaningful for us. That is a really nice tailwind into our services and merch margin as well as our investments in car wash. So there's some positives for us that I think we believe over the mid to long term will continue to provide some momentum for our business. Thank you very much.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Chris Lee with Deshablin. Your line is now open.

Chris Lee (Equity Analyst at Deshablin)

Good morning everyone. Thanks so much for all the helpful comments so far. My question is, I know market conditions are still obviously very fluid, but given all the positive comments you've made about the momentum of your business so far, I guess my question is, do you have a good line of sight to achieving your financial framework of more than 10% organic EPS growth this year? And just asking the context of that, you'll be lapping some tough comps on a fuel margin at least later this year.

So I wanted just to gauge of what's your comfort level on achieving that target this year.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you. Thank you, Chris. And I would say we have a great momentum. Alex has been mentioning what's happening, you know, in Q1. We feel very confident. The team are doing an amazing job there, executing, you know, at pace, transforming this company, you know, from one region to another. So there is no reason for us to, to tell you that, you know, our financial growth algorithm is, is not achievable. We announced that, you know, five months ago.

We remain very confident and yeah, we'll execute according to that. So yeah, Chris, there is a good confidence there.

Alex

Yeah, I just echo, I think in this quarter we delivered against every, every level of the algorithm and that's our focus. And you know, Felipe brought up just, our teams are really executing across, across the geographies and, and the focus that they are having, the execution they're having, they deserve the credit. And we sit here in a pretty competent, strong position and I think also we're just focused on winning, winning in the environment we're operating in and we see resilience from consumers.

Chris Lee (Equity Analyst at Deshablin)

Thank you for your answers and all the best.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Martin Landry with cecl. Your line is now open.

Martin Landry

Hi, good morning. Given the high fuel prices during the quarter, I believe that triggers more trip to the pump, you know, as consumers put roughly the same dollar amount as usual. So I was wondering if this increased traffic at the pump has translated into more traffic inside the store. You know, would it be possible to break down your 3.4% same store sales, merchandise growth into traffic and basket for the quarter?

Alex

Yeah, so our fill rates are down 12, 13, 14% but our traffic at our pumps are up because of the higher prices. I think that the key element here is our ability to access those customers and incentivize them or entice them to go into the store. And our digital platforms are what are enabling us to reach those consumers. And I referenced in my comments that, you know, we've quadrupled our capability of getting those fuel customers into our stores. You know, the breakdown of our 3.4%, you know, we referenced.

We had positive traffic that was, you know, slightly positive or up, but that's. That's great for us. And the rest is basket. It's a mix of we had a really strong quarter in nicotine, really strong porter in food and thirst. We were 3.6 in cigarettes. Other nicotine, eight and a half. I'm doing this off my head. You heard me reference energy. I think Pac Bev was up six, six and a half. Food I referenced in my comments. Right. We were up a little over 5% and 10% on same store sales.

So, you know, you see us executing against core plus more. And that mix is what's driving the 3.4%.

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

And to be on Alex, you know, on this, on this traffic, we see that as an opportunity, a huge opportunity. And Alex was, you know, mentioning all this work that we are doing on the digital side and connecting the dots between the forecourt and the store. I think there's an opportunity for us to. To build on this profit that's coming to the forecourt and to be even better and getting more customer entering in our store. So we are doing that personalizing offer and yeah, I think here we are already seeing some of that.

Alex is mentioning it, but there's a huge unlock for us and a lot of opportunity to continue to grow in that space.

Martin Landry

Thank you so much and best of luck.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Tom Palmer with JPMorgan. Your line is now open.

Tom Palmer (Equity Analyst at JPMorgan)

Good morning and thank you for the question. I wanted to maybe kick off on the foodservice side. It's an area where you noted the top line strength really for multiple quarters now last quarter. So in the third quarter you had noted some margin pressures from shrink and I think some mixed headwinds around the meal deals. Curious progress we might have seen just given that improved margin in the fourth quarter and any expectations in terms of continued progress as we move into 27.

Thank you.

Alex

Yeah, I think. Thanks for the question. I think, you know, we talked with you about the need to do a reset on food, our focus on execution. We are stable now. We are executing. We are producing food. You heard me reference that our hero items are over 90% production. So we are executing and we are stable. And that presents the platform one to continue to evolve our offer and to continue to work on our production and bring our shrink down. But we are still in early innings in food and our goal is to drive traffic and to drive sales growth.

Our meal deals are resonating with consumers. You heard me reference 1.2. Our compelling value is resonating with consumers and we are going to lean into that over this summer in a big way with fuel unlocks our new chicken wings I referenced. We have a $2.50 meal deal in play right now but we are going to really focus on continuing to grow sales. But we can do that in a margin constructive way. And again I just compliment the teams. This has been a journey and they are really executing really strongly right now.

Tom Palmer (Equity Analyst at JPMorgan)

Right. Thanks Alex for all that detail. Also did want to follow up just on the fuel volume trends that you're seeing. You noted kind of the higher frequency, lower gallons per fill up. Do you guys look and kind of see like a price level or you know point where pressure becomes more acute in terms of price levels and if so are we there today just given some of the price moves that we've seen here over the last few weeks or was it maybe more pronounced if we look back to earlier period.

Alex

Yeah, I think if you look at our quarter where we had the most pressure was really out on the west coast of the United States and that's where prices were the highest. California, Arizona. So you know we reach six and a half seven dollars a gallon in California, over five dollars a gallon in Arizona. So we, we definitely see those price points impacting demand. The Southeast United States, the Midwest of the United States really continued with with really solid volume performance. As I shared the you know we've been strengthening on volume performance as we've moved into this quarter and and prices are coming down.

So I will never predict the future of what's there but prices are coming down really across our geographies and we're confident in our ability to continue to capture market share and deliver strong volume performance.

Tom Palmer (Equity Analyst at JPMorgan)

Thank you.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Mark Petrie with CIBC. Your line is now open.

Mark Petrie (Equity Analyst at CIBC)

Good morning. Thanks. I actually just wanted to follow up on a topic I think you touched on in your answer to Martin's question. But the impact of the loyalty program and the personalized promotions. Hoping you can quantify the impact ideally to us same store sales and volumes. And I know you called it out specifically with cold dispensed but maybe on a consolidated basis. And then Alex, you referenced the pump to store conversion up four times but I'm assuming that's off a relatively low base so some broader context would be helpful.

And then what you think the Runway or what you think the opportunity is from here as that program gains traction.

Alex

Yeah, I think our capability in the space just continues to advance. And you heard me reference our launch of our new engine and new platform in Europe and we're seeing very solid results. So you asked me to quantify it. I think for us it's all about membership. Active members, increased visits, increased basket, and we are seeing that consistently. Those numbers continue to go up month on month, quarter on quarter. And we fundamentally believe that is playing in to our improved performance on same store sales.

Can I give you an exact percentage of what we, we believe or know that to be? I cannot, but we know that the program is resonating with consumers. We know we hit the top 10 app downloaded in the United States during this past quarter. And we know that more and more people are using the platform. And once they're on the platform, they are shopping with us more and they are buying more from us. And you know, you're right, the quadruple is on a low platform.

But we're in the early innings of personalization, which just gives me increased confidence. But our teams are really executing our capability in that space. The way our digital teams are working with our operators has never been stronger. And again, this is another area that gives us confidence and we believe is underpinning the results we're sharing with you.

Mark Petrie (Equity Analyst at CIBC)

Maybe just to clarify, the four times on the pump to store conversion, would that have been a material tailwind to the traffic growth that, that you're talking about?

Alex

No, it's not material enough to be material. But you know, again, the value of these platforms is we know who the customers are, we know what they're purchasing, we know when they're coming to buy fuel from us and if they're coming into our stores and we're getting better at incentivizing them and enticing them to come into our stores.

Mark Petrie (Equity Analyst at CIBC)

Yeah, definitely. Fully appreciate that. Okay, thanks for all the answers and all the best.

OPERATOR

The next question comes from Bobby Griffin with Raymond James. Your line is now open.

Bobby Griffin (Equity Analyst at Raymond James)

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the questions and appreciate the details throughout this call. Alex, I want to ask more of a high-level question on just like the overall market from the fuel side of things. When you look at the last period of volatility in 2022 and compare it to this period of volatility here today and you think about how the market reset. Are there things that are different that give you confidence that the business resets differently than it did maybe last time and. Or vice versa, things that we should keep in mind, is anything there on how you think about, you know, lapping kind of a period of volatility when, you know, the last one was a few years ago and we saw different aspects play out?

Alex

Yeah, I think every event is different. And, you know, the global fuel and products markets are incredibly resilient. So what you see is product flows adjusting real-time and movements of where product goes to really keep the world supplied with product. And those flows change in any event like this, it adapts. And the changes from last time are not the changes from this time. I can't predict when the next big volatile occasion will come, and I cannot predict fuel margins.

What I can predict is that our ability to execute, our capabilities in this space, I think, continue to grow. I think we are well prepared to compete under any environment. And when we see these volatile environments, we realize significant value. And then just quickly for me, a second one, Felipe, on the productivity of the capital employment, I don't believe you mentioned kind of new store productivity. Could you maybe touch quickly on what you're seeing out of the new store class as you guys have accelerated the organic openings and how those are opening up and hitting pro forma numbers?

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, very excited by the program. You know, these stores that we're opening are four or five times more profitable than the average stores that we are in the network after three years of operation. So, you know, both stores are really making a big difference. That's why we have taken the decision actually to accelerate our NTI program. And yeah, you have heard Alex mentioning that. Yeah, we are well on track to open 750 stores over the next four years.

Thank you.

Bobby Griffin (Equity Analyst at Raymond James)

Best of luck going forward.

OPERATOR

Your next question comes from Corey Tarlow with Jefferies. Your line is now open.

Corey Tarlow (Equity Analyst at Jefferies)

Great, thanks. And good morning. I wanted to touch on SGA. So it was up quite substantially in the prior quarter, and then the quarter you just reported, costs, I'd say were relatively well controlled. Could you give us maybe a lens into kind of what's changing from a cost perspective in the business, what we might be able to expect going forward, especially as you invest more into food service?

Felipe Da Silva (Chief Financial Officer)

Thanks so much. Yeah, thank you for the question. And let me start saying that I'm very proud of what the team is achieving on the cost side. You are hearing us a lot talking about transformation, and we are deeply transforming this company on investing in many places, making this company more digital faster, you know, and really enabling better execution, better customer experience. And that is possible because we are keeping a very, very significant discipline on the cost.

Okay, you heard me saying last quarter that yeah, we were above inflation, but it was linked to some of these investments, so and directly related to the supply chain. And when you look at this quarter, we had not so significant investment, punctual investment, ramping costs. And you can see the underlying cost there going down at 2.6% growth during the quarter. So feeling good. A lot happening in terms of selling initiatives, teams working in Europe in their overhead cost structure.

On the marketing piece, when you look at us, a lot happening there. Also on the store, on the labor model, on looking at supply, waste management, security. We have mentioned to you many times about all the procurements set up and the good things that we're seeing there. So pretty excited by what we see the way that you need to look at. And we have said that during the corpus more presentation is really aiming at delivering normalized expenses below inflation.

That's our goal. And you should look that on, you know, on a yearly basis, not quarter to quarter because again, there will be some investment there time to time. But yeah, you can trust we are very confident on the team. We were again yesterday looking at both plans and yeah, there is a lot happening on the savings that give us huge confidence that will be there in terms of guidance from a cost perspective.

Alex

And I just add, you know, you've heard me reference the execution of our teams and at the end of the day, you look at our P and L and our cost, our big cost lines are our labor lines and our lines in our stores and the teams are really executing there as well. Really strong overtime management. You hear me talk about turnover that directly relates to training cost. So you see the productivity gains, the strong overtime management, the reduction in training hours the teams are executing and we are just fighting hard to save dollars in our core operations to enable the investments we're talking with you about. But again, the teams are executing well and we're well positioned and we gave you our growth algorithm and we plan to execute inside of that growth algorithm.

Corey Tarlow (Equity Analyst at Jefferies)

Understood. And then just a quick follow up, Alex, on the same store fuel volumes, the margins are quite robust and better than you've seen in quite a long time, if ever. So as you think about the level of margin that you're generating and the volumes that you have in the U.S. is there a consideration about potentially investing more into price to drive better volumes?

Alex

Thanks so much. Yeah, I mean we compete every day at every site and it is all about customer value proposition and being extremely consistent for the customer that they can count on us to be in a certain price position against our competitor sets and candidly, that does not change regardless of the supply environment or our underlying margin. This is about consumer value proposition being very consistent on the totem on the price side and then leveraging our digital platforms to deliver additional value for visits and additional trips for loyal customers.

OPERATOR

This concludes the Q and A. I will now turn the call over to Metzer for closing remarks.

Metzer (Moderator)

Thank you Alex and Felipe. That covers all the questions for today's call. Thank you all for joining us. We wish you a great day and look forward to discussing our first quarter 2027 results in September.

OPERATOR

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.