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Turnaround for Jean Coutu

The Jean Coutu Group Inc. has posted a profit of US$30.8 million in its second quarter. This comes on the heels of a loss a year ago. With more than 2,000 drugstores in the U.S. and Canada, the Montreal-based company's earnings for the quarter ended November 26 amounted to 12 cents a share. This contrasts sharply with the US$4-million (or four-cent-a-share) loss the company posted a year earlier. The previous quarter's results included a foreign-exchange loss on monetary items of US$19.7 million. Revenue, meanwhile, enjoyed a slight rise, to US$2.71 billion from US$2.7 billion. Company officials have credited the turnaround to improved sales growth in the U.S., partially offset by issues associated with supply chain disruptions. Source: Canadian Grocer E-Newsletter, January 16, 2006.