Shares of Metro were trading lower Wednesday morning after the company released its fiscal fourth quarter earnings report. Despite reporting in-line revenue, the company’s adjusted earnings fell short of expectations.
At 10:04 a.m. ET, shares were down 7% at 70.32 Canadian dollars ($51.35).
According to a poll on FactSet, Metro reported adjusted earnings of C$0.99 per share, below the C$1.07 per share that analysts were anticipating.
The company attributed this shortfall to employee strikes across the Greater Toronto Area during the summer, which cost the company approximately C$0.12 per share during the quarter.
However, Scotiabank analyst George Doumet noted in a report that when adjusting for the strike’s impact, earnings per share would have exceeded market expectations.
Gross margin for the quarter came in at 19.5%, missing Scotiabank’s forecast of 20.3%. This represents a 90 basis points decrease year-over-year.
Doumet commented, “The decline in gross margin reflects C$36.3 million in lost profits and direct costs related to the strike at 27 Greater Toronto Area stores, as well as a decline in food gross margin.”