The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, November 16, 2012

Article Excerpt

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD., $33.10, Toronto symbol L, has signed a new long-term deal with Towers Watson, a private firm that helps Canadian companies manage their employees’ health benefits. Under the agreement, Loblaw’s in-store pharmacies will offer special discounts to Towers Watson’s clients, which together employ over 30,000 people. These discounts should draw more shoppers to Loblaw’s stores and more than offset the lost revenue. Roughly half of Loblaw’s 1,000 supermarkets now have in-store pharmacies. Meanwhile, the company earned $222 million, or $0.79 a share, in the three months ended October 6, 2012. That’s down 5.9% from $236 million, or $0.84 a share, a year earlier. Even with the decline, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.78 a share. Loblaw continues to invest heavily in upgrading its computers and streamlining its supply networks. This will help it compete with Wal-Mart, which is selling more groceries. For all of 2012, Loblaw now expects to spend $50 million on these improvements, up from its…