The Jean Coutu Group posts 6.1% in Q2 revenue gains

VARENNES, Quebec — The Jean Coutu Group on Thursday reported revenue gains of 6.1% to $596.8 million. Jean Coutu attributed the growth to strong overall market growth that overcame the deflationary impact associated with increased generic dispensing.



"During the second quarter, network retail sales and front-end sales of our distribution centers showed a noticeable increase despite a still very competitive environment," stated Francois Coutu, president and CEO The Jean Coutu Group. "We will continue to make the necessary efforts to promote retail sales growth and maintain our [market] leadership."



For the quarter ended Sept. 2, on a same-store basis the PJC network's retail sales increased by 4%, with pharmacy same-store sales up 4.6% and front-end comparable sales up 3.4%. Same-store sales of OTC medicines, which represented 8.5% of total retail sales, increased by 5.5%.



Generic drugs reached 72% of prescriptions during the quarter, compared with 71.3% of prescriptions for the comparable period of the previous fiscal year.

Earlier this month, Metro announced a deal to acquire the Jean Coutu Group for $3.6 billion, creating for a combined food and pharmacy retailer with annual sales of $12.8 billion. As part of the deal, Metro will acquire more than 400 Canadian drug stores and a distribution center.

Metro's existing pharmacy distribution and franchising activities will be combined with those of the Jean Coutu Group, which will operate as a stand-alone division of Metro with its own management team led by Francois Coutu.



The combined business will have an overall network of more than 1,300 stores in Canada, with 677 drug stores.