MONTREAL - Rona Inc. (TSX:RON) has reported a 5.2 per cent decline in same-store sales in the first quarter and an' per cent drop in operating profit.
Net earnings declined to $1 million or one cent per share, compared with $9 million or eight cents per share in the year-ago period.
The largest Canadian retailer of hardware and renovation products said Tuesday that overall sales advanced 3.8 per cent to $911.5 million from $878.5 million because of acquisitions, store openings and the addition to new affiliate dealer-owners.
The reported 5.2 per cent decline in sales at locations open a year or more excluded price deflation of 0.5 per cent in building materials and a 1.3 per cent hit from the timing of Easter and Ontario's new Family Day holiday.
"Economic and weather conditions that were especially unfavourable to construction/renovation activities, particularly in Eastern Canada, largely explain this drop in same-store sales and profits," the company stated.
"Results were also affected by a decline in starts of single-family homes in Canada and a temporary slowdown in the demand for building materials in Alberta."
The results for the first quarter - seasonally the slowest for Rona, typically accounting for 15 per cent of annual sales - "reflect the strong drop in consumer confidence in the country's economic growth," commented CEO Robert Dutton.
"Results were also affected by weather conditions that were particularly unfavourable to construction and renovation activity in Ontario and Quebec, where we get nearly 70 per cent of our sales."
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