New service helps Metro compete

Article Excerpt

METRO INC. $50 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 227.4 million; Market cap: $11.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) operates 600 grocery stores and 650 drugstores, in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. Metro recently launched home delivery in certain parts of Quebec, and plans to offer that service in Ontario later this year. Demand for online grocery shopping and delivery is growing strongly, and this new service will help Metro compete with larger food sellers. The company charges customers a fee of $10 per order and delivers those items in its own trucks, which should help offset the added costs. Metro is a buy. buy…