By Ben Glickman
Alimentation Couche Tard's profit sank in the fiscal third quarter after cash-strapped shoppers pulled back.
The Canadian convenience-store chain reported a profit of $623.4 million, or 65 cents a share, in the quarter ended Feb. 4, compared with $737.4 million, or 73 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected per-share earnings of 73 cents.
Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings also came to 65 cents, compared with the 67 cents forecast by analysts, according to FactSet.
Revenue fell 2.2% to $19.62 billion, beating the $18.3 billion expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Couche-Tard said the drop in revenue was caused by lower average car-fuel selling prices and weaker traffic because of challenging economic conditions.
Chief Executive Brian Hannasch said the company was focusing on giving cash-strapped customers value, including through private-label options and its loyalty program.
Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-20-24 1751ET