Business
The North West Company Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter Earnings and an Increase in the Quarterly Dividend
The North West Company Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter Earnings and an Increase in the Quart...
About this update from North West Company Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nThe North West Company Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter Earnings and an Increase in the Quarterly Dividend\n\n/* Style Definitions */\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCanada NewsWire\nWINNIPEG, March 14, 2019\n\n\n\nWINNIPEG, March 14, 2019 /CNW/ - (TSX: NWC):  The North West Company Inc. (the \"Company\" or \"North West\") today reported its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2019.  It also announced that the Board of Directors have declared a dividend of $0.33 per share, an increase of $0.01 or 3.1% per share, to shareholders of record on March 29, 2019, to be paid on April 15, 2019.\n\"Fourth quarter sales were very robust across most banners offset by expense pressures and one-time business disruptions.  Our airline continued to invest to bring aircraft maintenance in-house.  This need was reinforced by the extended downtime of one of our ATR aircraft due to delays with third party maintenance providers, which in turn required the use of higher cost third-party aircraft,\" commented President & CEO Edward Kennedy.  \"Our focus for 2019 is on driving same store sales growth that leverage more positive economic conditions in the north and in key Caribbean markets.  We will cycle through cost inflation with the exception of higher insurance rates which will be offset by growth\".\nFinancial Highlights\nFourth quarter consolidated sales increased 7.1% to $532.5 million led by same store sales gains in International Operations, the impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations sales and new stores in Canadian Operations.  The early issuance of the February Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (\"SNAP\") benefit payments in January due to the U.S. Government shut-down and the re-opening of two stores in the British Virgin Islands that were previously closed as a result of the hurricanes last year were also factors contributing to the sales gains in International Operations.  Excluding the foreign exchange impact, consolidated sales increased 4.5% an...