The North West Company (NWC.TO) after trade Tuesday said its first-quarter sales and adjusted profit declined year-over-year.
The company, which operates grocery stores in Canada's North and the Caribbean, said adjusted earnings, excluding most one-time items, fell to $30.3 million from $33.6 million a year ago. The company did not provide per-share amounts. FactSet expected earnings per share of $0.68.
Consolidated sales for the quarter ended April 30 fell to $631.6 million from $641.4 million in the year-ago period "due to the impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations sales and a decrease in Canadian Operations sales," the company said. FactSet projected sales of $648.5 million.
The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41, the same as the previous quarter, to shareholders of record on June 30, to be paid on July 15.
"While our Canadian Operations performance faced expected headwinds following the sunset of the Inuit Child First Initiative food voucher program, our team remained focused on execution and finding efficiencies within our business," Chief Executive Dan McConnell said.
"Looking ahead, we are mindful of external pressures, including the impact of rising fuel costs, and the evolving pace of government infrastructure investments and settlement payments in the communities we serve. While near-term variability in these factors may impact results, we remain confident in our long-term strategy, the fundamentals of our business, and our ability to create sustainable value," he added.