Metro faces ongoing worker shortage, higher overtime pay to keep grocery stores open
Workers at Metro Inc. are putting in overtime to keep stores open as the company grapples with an ongoing labour crunch, the Montreal-based grocery and drugstore retailer said Wednesday.
"There's a lot of open positions out there and there's not enough workers to fill them," Metro president and CEO Eric La Fleche said during a call to discuss the company's third-quarter results.
Canada's labour market remains exceptionally tight, with more than one million job vacancies across the country amid historic low unemployment rates, according to Statistics Canada.
"Labour shortages are causing pressures ... because that increases overtime to supply our stores," La Fleche said. "We have higher overtime percentages than we're used to."
He added that Metro currently has "more open positions" than usual but declined to provide an exact number of vacancies across the company's warehouses and stores, which include conventional supermarkets like Metro and Metro Plus, discount grocery chains Super C in Quebec and Food Basics in Ontario as well as drugstores Jean Coutu and Brunet.
La Fleche's comments came as the retailer reported a third-quarter profit of $275 million, up from $252.4 million a year earlier, as sales gained 2.5 per cent.
The profit amounted to $1.14 per diluted share for the period ended July 2, up from $1.03 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Sales totalled $5.87 billion, up from $5.72 billion, as food same-store sales gained 1.1 per cent and pharmacy same-store sales rose 7.2 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Metro said it earned $1.18 cents per diluted share for the quarter, up from $1.06 per diluted share a year earlier.
The grocer warned that ongoing inflationary pressures and labour shortages could begin to weigh on margins.
"If this high inflationary, high price environment continues it will continue to put pressure on margin," Metro chief financial officer Francois Thibault said.
For now, strong margins in the company's pharmacy division made up for a decline in food gross margin, he said.
"We had very strong front-store sales in our pharmacy business at Jean Coutu and Brunet in the quarter," La Fleche said. "Over-the-counter cough and cold products are flying."
Canada's jobless rate stayed at 4.9 per cent in July, the lowest since comparable record-keeping began in 1976, Statistics Canada reported last Friday in its latest labour force survey.
Meanwhile, inflation continued to shape consumer habits during the company's third quarter.
Shoppers increasingly opted for discount grocery stores, switched to cheaper house brands and sought out cheaper protein choices.
"We saw the shift from conventional to discount (stores) accelerate when compared to the previous quarter," La Fleche said.
"We also saw a shift to private labels (and) trading down on proteins ... there's a shift for sure to value."
The price of food purchased at stores increased 9.4 per cent in June, Statistics Canada said last month.
Metro also said it expects same-store food sales to grow at a higher rate than in recent quarters and for growth in prescriptions on the pharmacy side of the business to moderate.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.