The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) ended the second quarter of its 2023-2024 fiscal year with a net profit that fell compared to the same period last year.
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The state-owned company's net profit for the fiscal year ending September 9, 2023 reached $336.3 million, or $14 million less (-4%) than in the same quarter last year.
Revenue saw a slight decline of 0.6% to $945.7 million. In a press release issued on Monday, the SAQ clarified that this decline was due to sales to its network of food wholesalers.
More broadly, the SAQ forecasts that “the slowdown in growth observed in the last two quarters could continue given the economic context.”
Reduced cost but more common
The financial results also show that the average consumer shopping basket increased from $64.51 to $62.42, a slight decline of 3.2% in a year. According to SAQ, this decline could be explained by “more frequent” consumer visits to stores. The number of passengers actually increased by 3.2%, it said.
Overall, the average selling price per liter for sales to consumers increased to $20.41 compared to $19.99 in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.
Sales of Quebec products reached $147.8 million in this second quarter, an increase of 0.7% compared to the previous year, and represents 16.8% of sales generated through the branch network and specialized centers becomes.