Lack of store investment, underlying issues led Hudson's Bay to 'slow death': experts

Hudson's Bay 'slow death'

Photo: The Canadian Press

A Hudson Bay Company store in Toronto is shown on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. 

Analysts say the planned liquidation of Hudson's Bay will leave a hole in the country's retail landscape, as Canada's oldest company prepares to wind down in the coming months unless it can find a last-minute solution.

Retail experts attribute a combination of missteps that led to Friday night's announcement from Hudson's Bay, which said it would begin liquidating its entire business as soon as next week, pending court approval.

The department store chain that dates back to 1670 and now spans 80 stores said it has been forced toward a full liquidation because “exhaustive” efforts haven't turned up the financing it needs to keep at least some of its empire alive.

A closure of the entire business, which is planned pending a court appearance set for Monday, would mean job losses for 9,364 employees the company has in Canada across its Hudson's Bay stores, as well as three Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 13 Saks Off 5th locations it owns through a licensing agreement.

The liquidation process would wrap up in June.

"It's really, really sad, because of how many people are going to be impacted because of this," said Liza Amlani, co-founder of the Retail Strategy Group.

"It is an iconic brand. It's important to Canadians, and there will be a gap in the market if The Bay completely disappears."

But Amlani said the writing had been on the wall for some time.

She said customers likely noticed the lack of investment by Hudson's Bay into its physical stores, where it wasn't uncommon to find non-functioning escalators that went unrepaired for long periods of time. Amlani also pointed to several stores in the Vancouver area that temporarily closed last summer related to problems with air-conditioning systems.

She said another problem the company ran into in recent years was that its stores' hours didn't always align with that of the malls where they are located.

"Considering a department store's original function is to be an anchor store — a gateway to the mall, let's say — the fact that the store hours were different, and that has continued to today, that is absolutely an issue," said Amlani.

"In tourist destinations like the Eaton Centre, for example, if the store is closed and the mall is open, that is a problem. That is something that the customer will notice and then they'll tell other customers."

Though the situation looks bleak, the company said it remains optimistic it can drum up capital and find a solution with key stakeholders, particularly its landlord partners, to avoid a full shutdown.

“Our team has worked incredibly hard to identify a viable path forward, and our resolve is strengthened by the overwhelming support from customers and associates who have shared heartfelt stories about Hudson's Bay and what our stores have meant to them, their families, and their communities across the generations,” said Hudson's Bay president and CEO Liz Rodbell in a statement on Friday night.

While the company's coast-to-coast footprint and its 17th century fur trade origins have made it a quintessential part of the fabric of Canada, it has been led by Americans for several decades.

American real estate kingpin Richard Baker's National Realty and Development Corp. Equity Partners bought Hudson's Bay in 2008 from the widow of late South Carolina businessman Jerry Zucker for $1.1 billion.

That marked "the point at which the company began its slow death," said Joanne McNeish, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University specializing in marketing.

"Investment firms are like house flippers ... A house flipper rarely deals with the underlying business issues," she said in an email.

"Investment companies don’t allow the management team to run businesses. Rather they take their profit, sell on the problems to the next company or break up the company to sell off its assets."

Baker took the company public in 2012 and then turned it private again with a takeover bid that had to be boosted twice to earn shareholder approval in the weeks before Canada was hit with COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Shareholders were difficult to appease in part because Baker presided over HBC while its stock was dropping — but many thought the company still carried immense value in its real estate.

"If we look at the Bay, I speculate that the management team has not been allowed to make the financial and effort investments in running the business for success for the past 17 years," said McNeish.

"The result is a stagnation in the presentation of the company, and limited the changes that might have allowed the company to continue to be a strong competitor in the retail landscape."

In documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday, Hudson's Bay said it plans to sell off its assets over the coming months, pending court approval, which could include an auction process if it receives multiple qualified bids.

The company said a store-by-store liquidation is necessary because it has only secured “limited” debtor-in-possession financing — a form of capital companies can seek for restructuring purposes after they make creditor protection filings.

It said that "without an immediate liquidation across retail stores, it is not expected" that Hudson's Bay would be able to repay its obligations under the financing it did secure.

Given the company's "limited liquidity," it wants to conclude the liquidation process by June 15, Jennifer Bewley, the chief financial officer for Hudson's Bay's parent company, said in an affidavit filed in court Friday.

The company's plea for help comes roughly a week after it laid bare its financial struggles in a creditor protection application. The documents said it was facing financial struggles because of subdued consumer spending, trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada, and post-pandemic drops in downtown store traffic.

The filings show the company owes more than $950 million to 26 pages' worth of listed creditors: landlords, suppliers and other partners, including fashion heavyweights Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Columbia Sportswear, Diesel and Estee Lauder.

On Saturday, the union representing approximately 320 workers at the company's Windsor, Kitchener and Sherwood Gardens stores, and its Toronto e-commerce warehouse, called on Hudson's Bay "to uphold its legal obligations to workers" and provide "clear communication" about potential store closures, layoffs and severance protections.

“HBC must act in good faith by ensuring workers receive the wages, benefits, and severance they are entitled to under their collective agreements,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a statement.

“Workers’ livelihoods are on the line — they’re rightfully concerned and deserve full transparency from HBC.”

A full liquidation in Canada would also leave anchor tenant spaces in malls and prestige real estate in high-traffic shopping districts in need of filling. The sites Hudson's Bay operates in often contain several floors and make up significantly more square footage than other retailer businesses.

The bulk of the company's stores are in Ontario, where it has 32 locations and more than half of its employees work. B.C. hosts 16, Alberta and Quebec each have 13 and Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have two per province.

Vance hopeful 'high-level' TikTok deal will be completed by early April

TikTok deal on the way?

Photo: The Canadian Press

FILE - The icon for the TikTok video sharing app is seen on a smartphone in Marple Township, Pa., on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Vice President JD Vance said Friday that he was hopeful a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. will be wrapped up by the early April deadline.

“There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise,” Vance said in an interview with NBC News abroad Air Force Two.

Questions about the future of the popular video sharing app have continued to linger since a law requiring its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban took effect on Jan. 19. After taking office, President Donald Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute until April 5.

Vance, along with National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, were tapped by Trump to find an approved buyer. On Sunday, Trump told reporters aboad Air Force One the administration was in talks with “four different groups” about TikTok and that a deal could come soon.

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have not publicly commented on the talks. It’s also unclear if ByteDance has changed its position on selling TikTok, which it said early last year it does not plan to do.

After it made those comments, ByteDance and TikTok launched a legal challenge against the federal law, which was passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden. In January, the two companies lost their case at the U.S. Supreme Court.

NBC News reported that Vance did not offer details on who the potential buyers could be but noted that some issues could push a final agreement past the April 5 deadline.

“We’d like to get it done without the extension,” Vance told the news outlet. “I think the question is, what is the equity ownership of the new joint venture? How do you do the contracts for all the investors, the customers, the service providers? … The deal itself will be very clear, but actually creating those thousands and thousands of pages of legal documents, that’s the one thing that I worry could slip.”

Trump has previously said the deadline on a TikTok deal could be extended further if needed. He has also proposed terms in which the U.S. would have a 50% stake in a joint venture. The administration hasn’t provided details on what that type of deal would entail.

TSX, U.S. markets rally Friday, gold price tops US$3,000 an ounce for first time

Stock markets rally

Photo: The Canadian Press

The TMX Market Centre is shown in Toronto, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paige Taylor White

Canada's main stock index gained 1.5 per cent Friday, rallying alongside U.S. markets to end an otherwise grim week for equities, while the price of gold topped US$3,000 an ounce for the first time ever.

It’s been almost two weeks since U.S. President Donald Trump levied tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, and what’s followed has been a series of exemptions, delays, new tariffs and threats of more levies to come. Markets have responded negatively and with a heavy dose of volatility, with the S&P 500 touching correction territory as of Thursday.

Market watchers shouldn’t take Friday’s rally as a sign that everything is back on track, said Pierre-Benoît Gauthier, vice-president of investment strategy at IG Wealth Management.

“We are purely moving on from (the) oversold conditions of the week,” he said.

“When you look at your week's return, you won't even notice today's rally.”

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 350.17 points at 24,553.40.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 674.62 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 41,488.19. The S&P 500 index was up 117.42 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 5,638.94, while the Nasdaq composite was up 451.07 points, or 2.6 per cent, at 17,754.09.

Gauthier said it could take months for markets to recover from the past two weeks.

Tariffs will continue to be the “big dark cloud over the market’s head,” he said.

The latest reading on U.S. consumer sentiment showed it sank for a third straight month amid concerns about the future.

“It was a fail on every line,” said Gauthier, but the market brushed the report aside.

In the week ahead, Monday’s retail sales data in the U.S. will be a focal point as investors look for insight into how the consumer is faring, said Gauthier.

Market watchers are looking for any signs that a recession could be on the way, he said.

“The big selloff really started when Donald Trump kind of hinted that we could see economic pain … and this worried the market.”

Gauthier said at this time he doesn’t think a recession is coming.

The U.S. Federal Reserve also has its interest rate decision next week. Unlike the Bank of Canada, it’s not expected to cut. But the speech from chairman Jerome Powell will be closely watched, said Gauthier.

The Canadian dollar traded for 69.50 cents US compared with 69.40 cents US on Thursday.

The past few weeks may have been brutal for stocks, but they’ve been stellar for gold, which crested US$3,000 on Friday. That’s because the commodity is usually seen as a safe haven during uncertain times, and is also facing increased global demand, Gauthier said.

The April crude oil contract was up 63 cents at US$67.18 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down a penny at US$4.17 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was up US$9.80 at US$3,001.10 an ounce and the May copper contract was down three cents at US$4.90 a pound.

Court approves sales of two plants owned by company linked to listeria outbreak

Sale of 2 plants approved

Photo: The Canadian Press

Signage for Joriki Beverages is seen in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. 

A court has approved the sale of two facilities owned by the Canadian company that processed plant-based milk linked to a deadly listeria outbreak.

Court documents show Joriki is selling its Delta, B.C., plant to Happy Planet Foods and its Toronto, Ont., plant to Top Shelf Food and Beverage Corp.

Joriki is also in the process of liquidating the Pickering, Ont., plant where the outbreak occurred.

The company was granted court protection from its creditors after financial challenges stemming in part from the recalls of several plant-based milks it manufactured.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the Pickering plant was the source of a listeria outbreak that infected at least 20 people and led to three deaths.

Joriki ceased business operations and laid off almost all of its approximately 565 employees at the end of 2024.

B.C.’s liquor industry remains mired in bureaucracy

Liquor mired in bureaucracy

Photo: Submitted.

Sarah McCauley is the corporate wine director at Glowbal Restaurant Group.

B.C. has made great strides in liberalizing its liquor laws in the past dozen years, but red tape remains.

Back in 2014, B.C. was the final province to allow restaurant and bar owners to change the price of drinks for short periods during the day, thereby allowing happy hours.

Then-premier Christy Clark also snipped red tape by culling a regulation that banned customers from being able to carry alcoholic beverages from one licensed area of an establishment to another, such as from a restaurant to an adjoining lounge or to their hotel room.

One example of lingering red tape is that restaurants are not allowed to buy alcohol from privately run stores. B.C. Premier David Eby told BIV in 2020, when he was attorney general, that he planned to change this restriction. He never did. 

If a restaurant runs out of a wine, its staff cannot go to a nearby wine store to stock up and buy a few bottles. 

They must buy directly from the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch.

This can inflate restaurants’ inventory costs and restrict them from offering niche products.

If restaurateurs want to buy special listings, for example, they must buy a full case of wine instead of individual bottles.

When buying less than a case of wine, the options tend to be widely available products that consumers know almost too well, and know the prices, restaurateurs say.

“It’s not ideal if someone can see the wine on a shelf priced at $20 and then I’m selling it for $60,” said Sarah McCauley, corporate wine director at Glowbal Restaurant Group.

She said she would like to be able to go to boutique wine stores, such as Marquis Wine Cellars, and speak with knowledgeable staff who can guide her to quality wines that are less well known.

Inventory costs would be substantially less if restaurateurs were able to test new products by buying only a few bottles to start, McCauley told BIV.

Marquis Wine Cellars owner John Clerides has long lobbied the B.C. government for the ability to sell directly to restaurants.

“If you’re a young person and you want to open a wine bar, you’re going to have to buy 20 cases of wine at $40 per bottle,” he said. “That is versus going to a private store and being able to buy two or three bottles of each wine. What’s the difference in the cost of opening? It’s massive.”

Government slow to implement all liquor-panel recommendations

Eby was attorney general in 2017, when he created the Business Technical Advisory Panel (Liquor Policy).

That panel released a series of recommendations in 2018 aimed at streamlining B.C.’s liquor-distribution system.

Allowing restaurants to buy products directly from private liquor stores was one of the panel’s recommendations.

BIV asked the B.C. government why the measure was not implemented, and it responded that it conducted a thorough review of the panel’s recommendations in 2022 and “potential policy, labour, financial and trade implications.”

The government added that “it was determined at that time there would be no changes made to the current model.”

Many of the panel’s recommendations were implemented.

“The most significant thing that was done was introducing wholesale pricing for hospitality customers,” the panel’s chair, Mark Hicken, told BIV.

That change came in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is the most important and significant liquor policy change in a generation, BC Restaurant and Food Services Association CEO Ian Tostenson wrote on LinkedIn at the time.

Before that, restaurants had to pay full retail prices for their inventory.

If restaurant owners were allowed to buy wines from private stores, the prices for those sales would be at whatever levels the two parties agree on, but likely at least slightly higher than the wholesale price.

Investors shun tourism investments in stock market correction

Investors shun tourism

Photo: Rob Kruyt, BIV.

Canada in February welcomed 10.9-per-cent fewer international visitors than in February 2024 - the first monthly year-over-year decline in almost four years

The S&P 500 officially hit correction territory today, led by declines in mega-cap technology companies.

It has been recent downturns in tourism-related businesses, however, that are an ominous sign for how investors expect the sector to perform.

Shares for airlines, hotels and online travel companies have declined by more than the broader market since the S&P 500 last hit an all-time high, on Feb. 19.

Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange, buoyed by metals and energy, has only fallen 5.55 per cent, to 24,203.23, since Feb. 19, so it is far from being in correction territory.

B.C.’s tourism entrepreneurs are also grappling with gauges of consumer confidence that show an apprehensive public wary to spend in the face of on-again-off-again tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The decline in tourist visits has already started.

Statistics Canada Monday released preliminary data showing 4.1 million international visitors arrived in Canada in February, down 10.9 per cent from February 2024.

This is the first year-over-year decline in visitors for a month in almost four years – since March 2021, when the comparable month in 2020 included the final weeks of pre-pandemic travel.

Stock market investors seem to think tourism is set to suffer.

The S&P 500 last hit an all-time high on Feb. 19, at 6,144.15. It then officially notched a correction, or at least a 10-per-cent decline, this afternoon, with a 5,521.52 close – down 10.13 per cent from that recent high.

Airlines’ share prices have been crushed since Feb. 19, with downturns sharper than the broader market.

Air Canada’s (TSX:AC) shares fared better than most competitors, falling 12.95 per cent, to $15.19.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) shares plunged 32.47 per cent, to $43.92, while American Airlines Group Inc. (NYSE:AAL) shares fell 33.31 per cent, to US$10.67, and United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE:UAL) shares fell 34.37 per cent, to US$69.90.

The world’s largest hotel company, Marriott International (NYSE:MAR) since Feb. 19 has seen its shares decline 17.48 per cent, to US$237.29.

Online booking companies have similarly sunk by far more than the broader market.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BKNG) shares fell 15.95 per cent, to US$4,295.40 while Expedia Group Inc. (NYSE:EXPE) shares fell 23.92 per cent, to US$157.11.

Business confidence in general is low, and Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs are causing entrepreneurs to be uncertain about making large capital expenses, or to hire more staff.

Worse, the friction felt in the tariff war has unleashed animosity, at least in Canada, toward Americans. Booing the U.S. national anthem at sporting events has become somewhat common, and reciprocal booing of the Canadian anthem in the U.S. has happened many times.

That resentment could dampen Americans’ enthusiasm for visiting Canada. 

“An anthem booing contest will solve nothing,” Destination Vancouver CEO Royce Chwin told BIV after his March 11 address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

“We have to remember what unites this country. That message cannot be lost. We're the biggest trading partners. We're allies. We’re each other's biggest customers."

Destination Canada’s Vancouver-based CEO Marsha Walden told BIV that while much remains uncertain, she knows that people love to travel, and they love Vancouver.

“We're looking at multiple scenarios: everything from there being a minor disruption to there being a very, very severe disruption,” she said. “Generally, what we find is that consumers’ desire for travel is a very strong urge. We see it prevail against all manner of things, including the pandemic, when travel came roaring back the minute people had the opportunity.”

One upshot Walden said she sees is that a harsh trade war could weaken the Canadian dollar, and encourage more budget conscious travellers. That lower dollar, and the current Buy Canadian trend, could also encourage more visits from travellers in other provinces.

By and large, however, Walden said that most international visitors do not check currency rates before coming to Canada, or at least do not make the currency’s value a determinant of whether they will visit.

This is, however, a good time for governments to take notice of how valuable tourism is for the economy and to take steps to protect it.

She lamented that governments have been focused on increasing housing supply more than on increasing hotel development.

“Allowing mixed-use designations in cities will also encourage a combination of capital uses that we think will include hotels,” she said.

Walden praised Vancouver city council for taking steps to encourage hotels but said more could be done.

“It's all municipalities that have not necessarily prioritized tourism development needs versus other needs,” she said.

Vancouver consistently has the highest hotel-room prices in Canada, although it was the only major city in 2024 to see a year-over-year decline in hotel occupancy, according to a new Avison Young report.

February US wholesale prices unchanged showing inflation easing, though trade wars threaten trend

Wholesale price unchanged

Photo: AP Photo/David Zalubowski

FILE - Shoppers guide their carts through the milk display in a Costco warehouse Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Sheridan, Colo. 

U.S. wholesale inflation decelerated last month, suggesting that price pressures are easing for now. But the progress may not last as President Trump intensifies his trade wars.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers — was unchanged from January after rising 0.6% the month before. Compared to a year earlier, producer prices were up 3.2%, down from a year-over-year gain of 3.7% in January.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale prices fell 0.1% last month from January, first drop since July. Core producer prices rose 3.4%, lower than the 3.8% year-over-year gain in January. The numbers were all lower than economists had expected.

The readout comes as Trump ramps up his trade war with a wide range of U.S. trade partners, threatening to send inflation higher. He has effectively imposed 25% taxes — tariffs — on foreign steel and aluminum and has plastered 20% levies on Chinese imports. In coming weeks, he is set to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and to introduce "reciprocal tariffs'' that match higher taxes that other countries slap on U.S. products. And on Thursday the president threatened a 200% on European wine, champagne and spirits if Europe goes ahead with a tariff on U.S. whiskey.

Major retailers have warned that they expect U.S. consumers to pull back spending this year in the face of higher costs, partially from from Trump's tariffs.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department said that consumer price inflation slowed last month for the first time since September. The consumer price index was up 2.8% from a year ago, down from a 3% year-over-year increase in January. Core consumer prices rose 3.1% from a year earlier, smallest increase since April 2021.

Wholesale gasoline prices fell 4.7% last month. Food prices rose 1.7% from January to February, led by a 28% surge in the price of eggs.

After cutting its benchmark rate three times in late 2024, the Federal Reserve is expected to leave the rate unchanged at its meeting next week. “The Fed will not see any argument for pushing interest rates lower or sooner in today’s figures,” Carl Weinberg and Mary Chen of High Frequency Economics wrote in a commentary Thursday. “The Fed is focused now on the impact of tariffs on future food prices much more than it is focused on the impact of egg prices on prior (producer price) increases.’’

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably health care and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index. Thomas Ryan of Capital Economics noted that some of the wholesale prices that feed into the PCE measure, including hospital costs and international airfares, came in hotter than expected in February.

AtkinsRéalis Group reports fourth-quarter profit down, announces sale of 407 stake

AtkinsRéalis profit down

Photo: The Canadian Press

AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. reported its fourth-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it announced the sale of its remaining stake in the company that owns the Highway 407 ETR toll highway north of Toronto.

AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. reported its fourth-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it announced the sale of its remaining stake in the company that owns the Highway 407 ETR toll highway north of Toronto.

The engineering services firm says it earned net income attributable to shareholders of $52.4 million or 30 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from $90 million or 51 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, AtkinsRéalis says its professional services and project management business earned 26 cents per diluted share, down from an adjusted profit of 45 cents per diluted share a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $2.59 billion, up from $2.28 billion in the same quarter last year.

The company says its services backlog reached a record $17.2 billion as of Dec. 31, up from $13.7 billion a year earlier, due to demand for the company's services and nuclear products, while its lump-sum turnkey project backlog sat at $234.3 million, down from $364.6 million a year ago.

AtkinsRéalis also announced it reached deals to sell its 6.76 per cent stake in Ontario's 407 toll highway to subsidiaries of Ferrovial SE and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for approximately $2.79 billion.

Travel company Transat A.T. reports Q1 larger net loss from a year ago as revenue up

Transat A.T. reports net loss

Photo: The Canadian Press

An Air Transat Airbus A330 is silhouetted against the full moon when approaching for landing in Lisbon just before sunrise, Monday, July 22, 2024. 

Travel company Transat A.T. Inc. reported a first-quarter net loss of $122.5 million, compared with a loss of $61 million in the same quarter last year.

The company behind Air Transat says the loss amounted to $3.10 per diluted share for the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with a loss of $1.58 per diluted share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.90 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted loss of $1.97 per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $829.5 million, up from $785.5 million a year ago.

The increase came as traffic expressed in revenue-passenger-miles rose 1.0 per cent compared with 2024

Transat's capacity was up 0.5 per cent compared with a year earlier.

Grocery retailer Empire Co. Ltd. reports $146.1M Q3 profit, as sales rise

Empire Co. Ltd. sales rise

Photo: The Canadian Press

Shoppers enter a west-end Toronto Sobeys grocery store, Sunday, June 26, 2023. Empire Co. Ltd. says it earned a third-quarter profit of $146.1 million as its sales rose during the period. . 

Empire Co. Ltd. says it earned a third-quarter profit of $146.1 million as its sales rose during the period.

The parent company of grocery retailer Sobeys says the profit amounted to 62 cents per diluted share for the 13-week period ended Feb. 1, compared with a profit of $134.2 million or 54 cents per diluted share a year ago.

Sales for the quarter totalled $7.73 billion, up from $7.49 billion a year earlier.

The increase came as same-store sales rose 2.5 per cent.

Same-store sales growth, excluding fuel sales, amounted to 2.6 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Empire says it earned 62 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, which was the same compared with its third quarter last year.

CIBC CEO Victor Dodig to retire this fall, will be succeeded by Harry Culham

CIBC CEO to retire this fall

Photo: The Canadian Press

CIBC says its president and chief executive Victor Dodig will retire this fall and be succeeded by Harry Culham. Dodig speaks during the bank's annual meeting of shareholders in Ottawa on Thursday, April 6, 2017.  

CIBC says its president and chief executive Victor Dodig is set to retire this fall and will be succeeded by Harry Culham, who has also been appointed chief operating officer effective April 1.

The bank says Dodig, who has led CIBC since September 2014, will continue on as a special adviser to Culham after the transition on Nov. 1.

Dodig says the bank's strategy under his leadership has focused on "client relationships, financial strength, innovation, sustainability and genuine community engagement."

Board of directors chair Kate Stevenson touted CIBC's acquisitions of PrivateBancorp, Inc. and Costco's Canadian credit card portfolio during Dodig's time as CEO, noting the latter added more than two-million clients to CIBC, including many mass affluent and business banking clients.

The bank says Culham has led capital markets and other key areas of CIBC's businesses and head office groups after first joining the bank in Vancouver as an intern and participating in one of its first-ever graduate programs.

Dodig says his successor is a proven leader whose "client focus, inclusive leadership and track record of performance and consistency position him perfectly to take the bank forward and build on the momentum we have established."

Canada's Couche-Tard's chief stresses 'friendly' interest in Japan's 7-Eleven chain

Friendly interest in 7-Eleven

Photo:Kyodo News via AP

Alain Bouchard, chairman of Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Thursday, March 13, 2025. 

Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard reaffirmed Thursday that it is determined to acquire Seven & i Holdings, although the operator of Japan’s top convenience store chain has rejected its offer.

“We are continuing to pursue a friendly, mutually agreeable transaction,” the chairman and founder of Alimentation Couche-Tard, Alain Bouchard, told reporters in Tokyo.

Bouchard stressed that his company was pursuing a “friendly” transaction, not a hostile takeover. He reiterated his promise to retain local management, saying the merger would be good for 7-Eleven’s business.

The chain has more than 20,000 stores nationwide and more than 80,000 outlets around the world, serving an estimated 63 million customers a day, according to Tokyo-based Seven & i Holdings Co.

In rejecting the Canadian company’s offer, Seven & i Holdings said it intends to boost its own corporate value. It also has raised antitrust concerns that it says will come up in the U.S.

Seven & i appointed a new chief executive this month and announced a share buyback and said it will sell its supermarket subsidiary to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, to help boost its value and fend off the acquisition.

Last year, Couche-Tard, which operates Circle K stores, proposed acquiring all of Seven & i Holdings shares for $14.86 per share in cash. Media reports now say the offer is for $18.19 per share, or about 7 trillion yen ($47 billion).

Seven & i has made public a letter that Stephen Dacus, its new chief executive, sent to Bouchard in September, explaining why it was rejecting the Canadian company's offer.

“The proposal is not in the best interest of 7&i shareholders and other stakeholders. We are open to engaging in sincere discussions should you put forth a proposal that fully recognizes our standalone intrinsic value,” Dacus wrote.

Convenience stores, known as “conbini” in Japan, are popular, offering various services such as paying utility bills and selling concert tickets, while selling various everyday goods.

Seven & i announced a restructuring plan last year to strengthen its U.S. business and streamline operations, closing some Ito-Yokado supermarkets in Japan. In 2023, Seven & i sold its Sogo & Seibu department stores in Japan to Fortress Investment Group, a U.S. fund, for $1.5 billion.

Couche-Tard, founded in 1980 in Quebec, offers coffee, beer, snacks, fuel and lottery tickets. It runs more than 16,800 stores worldwide, including in the U.S., Europe and Asia.