The North West Company reported its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended April 30, 2015. The board declared a dividend of $0.29 per share to shareholders of record on June 30, 2015, to be paid on July 15, 2015.
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Sales increased 10% to $414 million compared to $376.3 million in the first quarter last year driven by strong sales gains and the impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations sales.
Excluding the foreign exchange impact, consolidated sales increased 5.2% and were up 5% on a same store basis. Food sales increased 5.8% and were up 4.9% on a same store basis with all banners contributing to the sales growth. General merchandise sales increased 6.6% and were up 5.3% on a same store basis as sales growth in Canadian Operations more than offset lower sales in International Operations.
Earnings from operations increased 18.4% to $23.7 million compared to $20 million in the first quarter last year. Gross profit dollars were up 9.7% driven by sales growth and the impact of foreign exchange as the gross profit rate decreased 8 basis points compared to last year.
Selling, operating and administrative expenses increased 7.7% but were down 49 basis points as a percentage to sales.
The expense increase was substantially due to the impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations expenses and higher short-term incentive plan costs. These factors were partially offset by lower share-based compensation costs and the impact of employee head office restructuring costs last year. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, earnings from operations increased 13.4% to last year.
Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 14% to $34.4 million led by strong EBITDA growth in the International Operations and the impact of foreign exchange.
Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, EBITDA was up 9.6% compared to last year and as a percentage to sales was 8.5% compared to 8.1% last year.
Net earnings increased $3 million or 23.8% to $15.7 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.32 per share compared to $0.26 per share last year with both the Canadian and International Operations contributing to the net earnings growth.
The impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations earnings was also a factor. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, net earnings increased 18.7% compared to last year. ■