New Empire CEO says costs, delivering on investments are priorities

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STELLARTON — For the first time, the newly named chief executive of Empire Co. Ltd. offered insight into his plans for the grocer after he took on the top job last month.

Pierre St-Laurent said one of the first things on his to-do list is to deliver the full value of the investments Empire has made over the past few years.

“Longer-term, we will focus on where I believe it matters the most — focusing on being relevant for customers,” he said during an earnings call on Thursday.

When asked about the biggest opportunities he sees in reducing costs, he said an example is the company can be more nimble in aspects that improve customer experience and drive growth -- and that will come with discipline.

“Discipline is the keyword,” St-Laurent told analysts.

The comments came as Empire reported a drop in profits during its latest earnings.

The grocer earned $159 million in its second quarter, down from $173 million in the same quarter last year. Its profit amounted to 69 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Nov. 1, compared with a profit of 73 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Empire’s stock was trading more than eight per cent lower at $46.79 as of mid-Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

St-Laurent said the grocer’s margins were partly impacted by labour action at the Sobeys distribution centre in Alberta.

RBC analyst Irene Nattel said operating results were in line with forecast, “underpinned by solid merchandising strategies in place to address ongoing value-seeking consumer spending behaviour.”

She said Empire continued to execute on its strategy to maximize revenues in full-service stores despite the broader consumer shift to discount banners, while growing its discount presence.

St-Laurent said the company is “underdeveloped” in its discount segment.

“We have a lot of white space in discount, but we won’t just focus on discount because there (are) other markets where it’s not a discount market and there’s more opportunity to grow our Farm Boy, our Longo’s, our Food Land.”

Sales for what was the company’s second quarter totalled $8 billion, up from $7.8 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales were up two per cent, while food same-store sales rose 2.5 per cent.

St-Laurent said there are a lot of smaller initiatives in the works that will help deliver better overall margins, as the focus remains on “squeezing every drop of juice and realizing the full value of these investments.”

The grocer planned to invest about $850 million during fiscal 2026, with about half of the money going into renovations and opening new stores, a quarter of it allocated to IT and business development projects and the rest invested in logistics and sustainability, according to Empire’s 2025 annual report.

Empire on Thursday also announced the appointment of Jo Mark Zurel to the company’s board of directors.

Zurel is chair of the board at Fortis Inc. and also serves on the boards of Major Drilling Group International Inc. and Highland Copper Co. Inc.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press