Report Scope
This report covers our fiscal 2022, from May 2, 2021, to May 7, 2022, unless otherwise stated.
Report Scope
This report represents the sustainability commitments, targets, approach and progress of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc. Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc., and related real estate. This report covers Empire’s food retailing business, as defined in Empire’s 2022 Annual Information Form and excludes Investments and Other Operations. This report focuses on material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors for our Sobeys Inc. operations. This encompasses:
-
- Full-service, community and discount grocery banners
- Related Businesses, including convenience, fuel, liquor, pharmacy, wholesale, Pete’s Frootique and Big 8
- E-commerce grocery business
This report covers our more than 1,500 stores, 24 distribution centres, three customer fulfillment centres and over 350 retail fuel locations in all 10 Canadian provinces, as well as our more than 130,000 teammates.
Unless otherwise stated, data included in this report reflects all Sobeys Inc. operations, excluding Farm Boy and Longo’s.
Report Methodology
This report includes disclosure required by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Food Retailers & Distributors Standard, available here. As an independent standards-setting organization, SASB has issued sector-specific standards to enable businesses to identify, manage and communicate material sustainability information to their investors.
Materiality
The information included in this report is based on the topics that are deemed material to the sustainability performance of Sobeys Inc. For more information see our Materiality section.
Feedback
For related inquiries and the latest updates on our programs and commitments, please contact investor.relations@empireco.ca
Learn More
This report is part of a suite of disclosures and resources through which we share updates on our performance and progress, including:
Forward-Looking Information
This document contains forward-looking statements, which are presented for the purpose of assisting the reader to contextualize the financial position of Empire and Sobeys Inc. (the “Company”) and understand management’s expectations regarding its sustainable business program. These forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are identified by words or phrases such as “estimates,” “plans,” “predicts,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” “could,” “may,” “projects,” “will,” “would,” “foresees” and other similar expressions or the negative of these terms.
These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following items:
Statements relating to climate and greenhouse gas emissions, including without limitation plans to achieve net-zero by 2040 for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and net-zero by 2050 for Scope 3 emissions; plans to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by a minimum of 55 per cent by 2030; expectations that 62 per cent of suppliers, by spend, will set science-based reduction targets on their Scope 1 and 2 emissions in five years; plans to reduce emissions from fuel sold by 28 per cent by 2030; plans to electrify supply chain and Voilà online grocery delivery vehicles, transition to low carbon sources, and partner with suppliers to set science-based targets, all of which may be impacted by changes in renewable energy production, risks of defects from early adoption of technology, electricity grid decarbonization, economic conditions, availability of electric vehicles, political stance on emissions, supplier relationships and negotiation, carbon fuel supply and demand
The Company’s expectations regarding the financial impact and benefits of Project Horizon and its underlying initiatives, including without limitation EBITDA, margin and costs, which could be impacted by several factors, including resource capacity to execute and the time required by the Company to complete the initiatives
Statements relating to sustainable practices, including without limitation plans to reduce food waste by 50 per cent by 2025; plans to source 100 per cent physical trace certified sustainable palm oil by 2025 for its Own Brands products and implementation of its next Sustainable Business Strategy in fiscal 2024, all of which may be impacted by several factors, including supplier relationships and negotiations and the duration and impact of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19” or “pandemic”), on the business, supply chain, customer behaviour, and resource capacity
By its nature, forward-looking information requires the Company to make assumptions and is subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made. For more information on risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may impact the Company’s forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company’s materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Risk Management section of the fiscal 2022 annual Management’s Discussion & Analysis (MD&A).
Although the Company believes the predictions, forecasts, expectations and conclusions reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such matters will prove correct. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this document reflects the Company’s current expectations and is subject to change. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made by or on behalf of the Company other than as required by applicable securities laws.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Financial Metrics
There are measures and metrics included in this report that do not have a standardized meaning under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. Management believes certain investors use these measures and metrics as a means of assessing financial performance. Empire’s definitions of the non-GAAP terms are as follows:
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) is calculated as net earnings, before finance costs (net of finance income), income tax expense, depreciation and amortization of intangibles.
Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA excluding certain items to better analyze trends in performance. These adjustments result in a more comparable economic representation of the underlying business. Adjusted EBITDA is reconciled to EBITDA in its respective subsection of the Operating Results–Full Year section of the MD&A for applicable years.
Adjusted net earnings is net earnings, attributable to owners of the Company, excluding certain items to better analyze trends in performance and financial results. These adjustments result in a more comparable economic representation of the underlying business.
For a more complete description of Empire’s non-GAAP measures and metrics, please see Empire’s MD&A for the fiscal year ending May 7, 2022.
