BRAMPTON, Ont. — Loblaw Cos. Ltd. reported its fourth-quarter profit and sales rose compared with year ago.

The grocery and drugstore retailer says it earned a profit available to common shareholders of $541 million or $1.72 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 30. The result compared with a profit of $529 million or $1.62 per diluted share in the last three months of 2022.

Revenue totalled $14.53 billion, up from $14.01 billion a year earlier.

Food retail same-stores sales rose by 2.0 per cent, while drug retail same-store sales gained 4.6 per cent, with front store same-store sales growth of 1.7 per cent and pharmacy and health-care services same-store sales growth of 8.0 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Loblaw says it earned $2 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.76 per share a year earlier.

The earnings follow an announcement by Loblaw on Tuesday that it planned to invest more than $2 billion to build more than 40 new stores and renovate hundreds of others.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2024.

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