Contraband tobacco is hurting Couche-Tard
|BETTING À DAY
Quebec giant Couche-Tard thinks that smokers are turning more to contraband cigarettes, which has the effect of lowering their sales in this category.
“In Canada, we saw a little more pressure in the cigarette category. There seems to be a change because of the black market”, launched during the investor conference, Wednesday, Claude Tessier, chief financial officer of Couche-Tard.
Later during the call, analysts returned to the charge asking questions about this new phenomenon.
“There is a resurgence in the black market. I think these are temporary pressures due to inflation and prices in general for consumers. They're probably grabbing some market share,” analyzed Couche-Tard CEO Brian Hannasch.
According to Couche-Tard's No. 1, there could also have been, here and in the United States, more tobacco consumption during the pandemic.
“Since it reopened, people may be smoking a little less,” observed Brian Hannasch.
Lower profits
Meanwhile, the convenience store giant reported net income of US$477.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, down from 563, US$9 million in 2021, down 15.3%.
More broadly, Couche-Tard reported net income of US$2.68 billion for its fiscal year 2022 , down slightly by 0.8% compared to the cumulative US$2.71 billion in fiscal year 2021.
-With the collaboration of QMI Agency< /p>