Empire had a profit spike in Q4, beating analyst expectations, as its three-year growth plan concludes.

The parent of Sobeys, Farm Boy, IGA and FreshCo says that for the quarter ended May 6, it recorded net earnings of $182.9 million compared to $178.5 million for the same period last year.

Same-store sales, excluding fuel, increased by 2.6%.

The company is also taking a one-time cost related to its new plan to integrate Longo’s e-commerce business, Grocery Gateway, into Voilà in July, thereby “capturing logistics and delivery synergies.” This week, the grocer also announced the expansion of Voilà into key Western markets, like Calgary and Edmonton.

Empire is excluding the estimated impact of a cyber attack in March from its results, which cost the company upwards of $50 million, as well as net of insurance recoveries. It is also excluding the estimated one-time costs associated with integrating Grocery Gateway into Voilà.

Empire also reported that it successfully completed its three-year growth strategy, Project Horizon, at the end of fiscal 2023.

As part of this strategy, the company says it “realized significant benefits” from a store renovation program, expanding Farm Boy, converting stores to discount banner FreshCo, promotional optimization, data analytics and becoming a partner in Scene+. It is also deriving benefits from personalization of offers, enhancing its private label portfolio and generating sourcing cost efficiencies. Project Horizon was implemented to further the transformation at the company after it completed Project Sunrise, a three-year business turnaround plan.

“With our six-year turnaround now complete, we have the tools, team, assets and capabilities needed to thrill our customers, compete and win,” says Michael Medline, president and CEO, Empire. “Our focus going forward will be on turbocharging our business, with an even greater emphasis on our stores and supply chain, enhancing our digital capabilities and driving efficiency.”

Empire says the focus on digital and data will include continued ecommerce expansion with Voilà, growing loyalty through Scene+, more personalization, improved space productivity and the continued improvement of promotional optimization.

The company also expects to open an additional two Farm Boy stores in the Greater Toronto Area in fiscal 2024, as well as an additional three FreshCo stores in Western Canada.