By Robb M. Stewart

Canadian grocer Metro warned a strike at its Montreal-area produce distribution center will weigh on the current quarter, casting a shadow over a lift in second-quarter sales thanks to new store openings and a significant pre-Christmas shopping day.

Workers at the company's Laval distribution center walked off the job at the end of March, a dispute Metro said would have an impact on its third-quarter results.

Metro's second-quarter net earnings increased to 246.6 million Canadian dollars ($180.5 million), or C$1.16 a share, from C$220 million, or C$0.99, a year earlier. The performance was bolstered by C$20.4 million in gains on the sale of out-of-service warehouses.

Adjusted per-share earnings came in at C$1.11 for the three months to March 14, up 8.8% on the prior year and in line with what analysts polled by FactSet had penciled in.

Sales for the fiscal quarter increased 4.1% to C$5.11 billion, beating the C$5.08 billion mean estimate of analysts.

Comparable same-store food sales ticked up 1.8%, and Metro's pharmacy segment saw same-store sales increase 5.1%.

The company, whose banners include Metro, Food Basics and Premiere Moisson, said it has a contingency plan in place for its Laval center and its Quebec stores are now generally well stocked. It said it would provide further details on the fallout from the strike in due course.

Empire, the owner of grocery chains including Sobeys and Farm Boy, logged a 2.1% rise in sales for the quarter ended Jan. 31 and a 16% increase in adjusted per-share earnings. Loblaw Cos. is scheduled to release financial results for its fiscal first quarter on May 6.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2026 07:35 ET (11:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.