(Reuters) -Canadian retailer Loblaw exceeded analysts’ expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit on Wednesday and said customers buying locally produced products on its e-commerce platform have more than doubled.
The “Buy Canadian” movement is growing with citizens looking to shun products from U.S.-based companies amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s jabs to annex Canada, the imposition of a 25% levy on steel and aluminum from the country and threats to tax all other imports from there.
Executives at Loblaw — which is enjoying robust demand at its pharmacy stores and discount banners, Maxi and No Frills — said Canadian products at store shelves have also more than doubled. The company has onboarded 30 new Canadian suppliers to navigate the tariff situation, they said on a post-earnings call.
Canada’s retail sales shrank faster than anticipated in January, as domestic businesses and consumers dealt with a wave of U.S. tariffs. Its gross domestic product contracted in February for the first time since November.
The Bank of Canada and economists have predicted that growth will continue to totter in the coming months due to the tariff impact.
Growing uncertainty has pushed people to look for lower-priced items, boosting demand at Loblaw’s discount banners, which offer everything from fruits to household items.
Same-store sales at the company’s food retail segment rose 2.2% in the first quarter, while comparable sales at its drug retail unit increased 3.8%.
The company’s revenue rose 4.1% to C$14.14 billion ($10.22 billion), compared with analysts’ average estimate of C$14.07 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
On an adjusted basis, Loblaw earned C$1.88 per share, topping expectation of C$1.87.
The company reaffirmed its annual adjusted net earnings per share forecast of high single-digit percentage growth.
($1 = 1.3829 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shilpi Majumdar)
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