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Highlights

  • George Weston is a Canadian public firm operating through two subsidiaries, namely Loblaw and Choice Properties. 
  • For Q1 2023, the company posted a revenue growth of about 5.9% to CAD 13,133 million from CAD 12,407 million in Q1 2022.
  • The company says this earnings growth is because of the excellent performance of the retail sector, which includes the sale of food and drugs.

George Weston Ltd (TSX: WN) is a Canadian public firm operating through two subsidiaries, namely Loblaw, the largest grocer in Canada and Choice Properties, an open-ended real estate investment trust. 

For the first quarter of the year 2023, the company posted revenue growth of about 5.9% to CAD 13,133 million from CAD 12,407 million, while net income increased by 6% on the previous corresponding period. Also, George Weston registered an industry-beating margins profile this quarter, with improved liquidity and cash flows. Moreover, the firm’s adjusted EBITDA rose to CAD 1,507 million in the same reporting period from CAD 1,422 million on pcp.

The company attributes this earnings growth to the excellent performance of the retail sector, which includes the sale of food and drugs.



During Q1 2023, there has been a 3.1% year-on-year growth in food retail sales to CAD 9,011 million from CAD 8,682 million in Q1 2022. The income before taxes for the company was recorded at CAD 886.0 million against CAD 844 million in Q1 2022.

The company recorded a cash flow of CAD 914 million from operating activities in Q1 2023, marking an increase of CAD 134 million over Q1 2022. It was mainly because of a favorable change in non-cash working capital, and higher cash earnings.

Overall, the decent growth in key financials led to net profit of CAD 868.0 million, as compared to CAD 615.0 million in the previous corresponding period.

Top 10 Shareholders

The top ten shareholders of the company hold approximately 66.25% of the total shareholding. While Weston (Willard Galen Garfield) owns the maximum stake in the company at around ­­­56.66%, and RBC Global Asset Management Inc. holds near about 2.69% of the total shareholding in the firm.

Stock Price Performance
There has been an increase of approximately 3.48% and a fall of around 12.11% over the last one month and three months, respectively. The stock’s 52-week high and 52-week low price are CAD 183.92 and CAD 138.77, respectively.

Markets are trading in a highly volatile zone currently due to certain macroeconomic issues and geopolitical tensions prevailing. Therefore, it is prudent to follow a cautious approach while investing.

Note 1: Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Note 2: The reference date for all price data, currency, technical indicators, support, and resistance levels is July 24, 2023. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from EODHD/Others.