UPDATE 1-Canadian retailer Loblaw misses revenue estimates amid cautious consumer spending

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- Canadian retailer Loblaw L.TO on Wednesday missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue, as consumers turn cautious about their spending amid rising macroeconomic uncertainty.

With household budgets squeezed by higher inflation, rising crude oil prices from the Iran war and steeper grocery prices, lower-income Canadian consumers are pulling back on non-essential spending, which is weighing on retail sales.

The caution is weighing on retailers across North America, with U.S. grocery Albertsons ACI.N last month forecasting soft annual sales and Canadian discount retailer Dollarama DOL.TO also projecting annual sales largely below expectations.

Loblaw, however, continues to expect its annual adjusted net earnings to grow in high single digits.

The retailer said its discount banners, including No Frills and Maxi, continued to outperform, as it continues to sharpenen its focus on core operations.

Same-store sales rose 2.4% at its food retail segment and 4.1% at its drug retail unit in the quarter.

The company's quarterly revenue grew 4% year-on-year to C$14.48 billion ($10.65 billion), but missed analysts' estimates of C$14.55 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It posted an adjusted earnings per share of 52 Canadian cents for the three months ended March 28, in line with analysts' estimates.

Loblaw in March said it was investigating a data breach after a criminal third party accessed some basic customer information on a non‑critical part of its IT network, though no financial, health or password data was compromised.



($1 = 1.3599 Canadian dollars)