СÀ¶ÊÓƵ

Skip to content

Bread-fixing settlement delivers $253 million hit to George Weston Q2 results

TORONTO — George Weston Ltd. says a recent settlement it reached in the bread price-fixing class actions it faced had a $253 million impact on its second-quarter net earnings. The company, which holds a majority interest in grocer Loblaw Cos. Ltd.
2e178f639918008c6abe82b80963bcbe709dfa3fda2d89d2f852d8e084da9e6c
George Weston Ltd. signage is shown at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. George Weston Ltd. says a recent settlement it reached in the bread price-fixing class actions it faced had a $253 million impact on its second-quarter net earnings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO — George Weston Ltd. says a recent settlement it reached in the bread price-fixing class actions it faced had a $253 million impact on its second-quarter net earnings.

The company, which holds a majority interest in grocer Loblaw Cos. Ltd., says its net earnings amounted to $667 million in the period ended June 15. That compared with net earnings of $782 million a year earlier.

Its net earnings attributable to shareholders totalled $410 million compared with $508 million a year before.

Revenue for the quarter amounted to about $14 billion, up from $13.8 billion a year prior.

The bulk of that revenue, more than $13 billion, came from Loblaw, which George Weston says saw an increase in retail sales recently. Its Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust also saw a jump in revenue because of higher rental rates and the completion of acquisitions and developments.

The bread-fixing class-action cases alleged defendants including George Weston and Loblaw conspired to fix the price of packaged bread in Canada. Loblaw agreed to a $252.5 million settlement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:WN)

The Canadian Press

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks