George Weston Limited (WN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

We really are full today. That's terrific. Okay. So good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Annual General Meetings of shareholders for both George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies Limited. I'm Galen Weston, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of George Weston and the Chairman of Loblaw. And so today marks the first time that we've brought together the annual meetings of George and of Loblaw. During this hybrid meeting, we look forward to engaging with shareholders of both companies gathered here in Toronto and through our virtual platform. As the format of this meeting is new to all of us, we do ask you for a little bit of patience and we do encourage shareholders to actively engage in today's meetings. Joining me on stage are Richard Dufresne, President and Chief Financial Officer of George Weston and Chief Financial Officer of Loblaw; Andrew Bunston, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of George Weston. Nick Henn, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Loblaw and of course, Per Bank, President and Chief Executive Officer of Loblaw. We are also honored to welcome Director nominees of George Weston and Loblaw, trustees of Choice Properties, representatives of the auditors and members of the senior management teams from across the Weston Group. I'd ask all of you to please stand and be recognized. We'd also like to extend a warm welcome to the Grade 12 accounting class from Bloor Collegiate, all aspiring young business people, and I'd ask you guys to please stand and be recognized. I hope you all enjoy our meeting and that you will take the opportunity, as I mentioned earlier, to ask any of those hard questions that you have. I've got four people up here who will be really pleased to answer them. Okay. So before we begin, I'd like to just take a couple of minutes and address how this hybrid meeting is going to proceed and just outline a little bit how the issue of voting on items is going to be addressed. So following this overview of the meeting procedures, we'll receive an update on the business and financial performance of George on Loblaw and on choice. So for the whole group. We'll then move to the formal business of George Weston, the meeting followed by formal business of Loblaw. So we're going to have updates on the business performance from Per, from Richard and from [indiscernible]. And then we're going to go into the formal proceedings. We're going to do one meeting with formal proceedings and then we're going to do another meeting with the formal proceeding. And then once that business has concluded, I will share my perspective on our group of companies, and then we'll have a joint question-and-answer session. So the majority of shareholders of both companies have submitted their proxies or their voting instructions in advance. Voting during today's formal meetings will be conducted in person or through our online platform. And please note that you cannot cast votes via telephone. If you're voting in person, please complete the ballot provided by the scrutineer. And if you are a shareholder of both companies, please note that the blue ballot is for the business of George Weston and the yellow ballot is for Loblaw. Please raise your hand at the end of voting on all matters of the relevant and a representative of the scrutineer will come and collect your ballot. To vote online, please use the Lumi platform. And when we're ready to table an item of business for a vote, you will see voting options appear on your screen. If you're a shareholder of both companies, please take a moment to ensure that you are logged into this meeting with your control number provided as a shareholder of George Weston because the George Weston meeting will be held first. And then folks who are online, when it's time to proceed to the Loblaw meeting, I will also remind you that you need to log out of the George meeting and then log back in to the Loblaw meeting with your Loblaw control number. You will only be counted if you have logged in to the correct control number for the relevant meeting. So if you're shareholders of both and you're online, you have a little bit of work to do. Your vote on George Weston matters will not be counted if you've logged in with the Loblaw control number and vice versa, even if you've, in fact, appeared to have voted. Then the scrutineers will tabulate all the votes cast during each meeting, and we will share the preliminary voting results at the end of each relevant meeting. Is everybody with me? Okay. Good strong nodding. I like, that's good. Okay. Andrew Bunston will act as a Secretary of the George Weston meeting. And you can imagine when I'm see next, Nick Henn will act as the Secretary of the Computershare Investor Services is going to act as scrutineer for both meetings by way of its representatives, Melanie Tong and Kate Stevens. Only George Weston and Loblaw shareholders of the record at the close of business March 10, 2025, or their proxies are entitled to take part in and vote at each respective meeting. To make the best deal of our time, certain shareholders have been asked to move and second the motions, which are called for in the notice of the meeting. A copy of each of the George Weston and Loblaw notices of meeting and proof of their mailings have been filed with the respective company. The scrutineer's report indicates that a quorum is present at each meeting, and I therefore declare that each of the George Weston and Loblaw Annual Meeting has been properly called and is duly constituted the transaction of business. Questions will be accepted in person and through the online platform. We will address questions related to a particular motion at the appropriate time of the relevant meeting, and then save general questions until the later question-and-answer period. [Operator Instructions] To ask a question in person, please line up in front of 1 of the microphones up here I think they're going to be held by individuals. They're going to have microphones in their hands, just here, you can see. And please proceed to the microphone prior to voting on that matter of business. If you wish to ask a general question, please wait a lineup until we begin that formal question-and-answer period. [Operator Instructions] The operator will verify that you are a shareholder or a proxy holder, and you will be able to ask your question at the appropriate time. If you have further questions, you will need to repeat this process to be added back into the queue. If you were attending the meeting virtually and are logged in as a guest, you will be able to listen to the meeting, but you will not be able to vote or ask questions. as only the registered shareholders and duly registered proxy holders may do so. Today's remarks may include forward-looking statements, details regarding forward-looking statements can be found in the applicable company's 2024 Annual Report and First Quarter 2025 report to shareholders. Okay. How are we doing? Everyone's okay, I'm exhausted. So now we can move to the financial update portion of the meeting as well as the business update for George Weston. And so I'd like to ask Richard Dufresne to share his perspective on how our group of companies performed in 2024.

You got a break.

Thanks.

Thank you, Galen. I'm pleased to share an update regarding the performance of George Weston and its two operating businesses, Loblaw and Choice Properties. 2024 was a good year for George Weston and consistency continues to characterize our financial results. At George Weston, our focus is on building generational value expertise in strategy, operations, capital allocation and talent development. Alongside our more than 220,000 colleagues and employees who serve our customers and tenants every day, George Weston provides Loblaw and Choice Properties with world-class support. Together, we drive value creation through steady financial performance and by helping to build prosperity in the communities we serve across Canada. In 2024, George Weston continued to build shareholder value. On a consolidated basis, George Weston increased revenues by 2.5% to over $61 billion and adjusted net earnings per share increased by 13.2%. George Weston continues to build on its track record of delivering robust performance over the long term while optimally deploying its capital, including returning capital to shareholders and when needed, reinvesting capital in its operating businesses to further enhance long-term earnings capabilities. Last year, George Weston generated strong cash flow of $1.1 billion from dividends received from Loblaw, distributions received from choice and proceeds from participating in Loblaw's share buyback program. Combined with its cash balance, this supported the return of capital to George Weston shareholders through the repurchase of $1 billion worth in shares and the payment of almost $400 million of dividends. [indiscernible] that George Weston announced this morning a 9% increase in our dividend, marking our 14th consecutive annual increase. At Loblaw, the company continued to deliver strong and consistent financial and operating results across its various businesses, reflecting its ongoing focus on retail talents. Loblaw delivered improved sales momentum, market share growth, stable growth margins and carefully managed expense while once again delivering strong earnings performance in line with our financial framework. Consolidated revenue increased 2.5% to $61 billion. Food same-store sales increased by 1.5%. We saw continued strength across all our banners, in particular, in hard discount, where Maxi and Nofal stores bring value and quality to a growing number of communities across Canada. 2024 was also a great year for TNT supermarkets, as they celebrated the opening of our first U.S. store in Seattle. TNT is Loblaw's fastest-growing banner, further strengthening the top line performance of our food retail business. Our drug retail business delivered another strong year. Same-store sales were up 2.4%, lapping very strong growth of 5.4% in the previous year. Pharmacy and health care services, same-store sales grew by 6.3%, led by specialty and chronic prescription volumes. Front store sales declined 1.5% in 2024, mainly driven by the decision to exit certain electronics categories offsetting continued strength in beauty products. Retail gross margin grew 30 basis points in 2024, supported by improvements in shrink. Stability in gross margin is always a priority, and Loblaw continues to balance it carefully, reinvesting savings to deliver more value and attract more customers to its banners. Loblaw's retail SG&A expense rate was also stable last year, reflecting the careful management of costs across the organization. This helped drive a 5.7% increase in adjusted consolidated EBITDA. In 2024, consolidated adjusted earnings per share for the year grew by 10.3%. Retail free cash flow was $1.5 billion on the year Loblaw repurchased $1.8 billion worth of common share and invested $2.2 billion of capital back into the business. Including buybacks and annual dividend increases, total shareholder return grew by an impressive 49.2%. The balance sheet remains strong, and Loblaw continued to improve on its key return metrics. Return on equity was at 23.6% and return on capital, 11.8% at the end of 2024. Looking ahead, Loblaw remains well positioned to continue to deliver retail excellence and consistent financial and operating performance. With a focus on sales growth through new stores, stability in gross margin and careful cost management, Loblaw aims to grow earnings per share each year in line with its financial framework allowing it to keep delivering value to customers and strong performance to its shareholders. Lastly, Choice Properties achieved another year of strong operational and financial performance. It continued to demonstrate the stability of its portfolio and strength of its balance sheet while making meaningful progress on its transformational development pipeline. In 2024, the team delivered strong operating and financial performance against its financial framework. Occupancy remained high at 97.6%, same asset cash net operating income or NOI increased 3.2% and funds from operations grew 2.9%. In addition, net asset value increased to $14.07 per unit an increase of 2.9% year-over-year. Choice continued to demonstrate prudent financial management, ending the year with strong debt metrics and ample liquidity. Adjusted debt to EBITDA net of cash at the end of the year was 7x. And Choice maintained a strong liquidity position with $1.5 billion available on its credit facility and approximately $13 billion worth of unencumbered properties. Supported by strong operating performance and a solid financial position last year, Choice once again increased its annual unitholder distribution in the first quarter of 2025. Since its IPO in 2013, Choice has delivered an 8.4% annualized total unitholder return, demonstrating consistency and resilience. Looking ahead to 2025, Choice remains well positioned with a strong portfolio and prudent capital structure that are conservatively built to withstand economic cycles. Overall, we are very pleased with all the great work being done across the Western group and once again, I want to thank all our colleagues for all you do. Looking ahead, we remain confident that we will continue to execute against our plan in 2025, creating shareholder value and serving Canadians every day. I'll now turn the meeting back over to Galen.

Okay, Richard, thank you very much. Those of you who joined last year will recall that we invited Per to provide a deeper dive on the Loblaw business at that time. Given today as a joint AGM format, we're going to hear from him again shortly. . But before we do, we wanted to take advantage of this year's meeting to hear from one of our other operating businesses, I guess, our other operating business choice properties. And so I'd now like to ask Rael Diamond, the President and CEO of Choice Properties to share some of his strategic priorities.

Thank you, Galen, and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to share more of our Choice Properties with shareholders of George Weston and Loblaw. The growth of Choice Properties since the spin-off from Loblaw in 2013 is simply remarkable. In just 12 years, we've more than doubled in size to become the best public real estate entity in Canada. On the screen behind me, you can see that we lead in 6 key areas. We are the largest REIT in Canada with over 700 properties, and we are focused on 3 strategic asset classes of retail, industrial and residential. Our retail portfolio is truly unmatched. Every day, thousands of people are shopping for groceries or the neighboring retail stores at one of our properties. The retail we own is truly essential to the everyday lives of Canadians. That's why we are aiming for our sites to be the heart of communities achieving this through place making. This involves us investing in spaces that are on our sites and supporting local businesses. For example, we recently opened an outdoor space in Bradford. And we [indiscernible] to see that it has become a cherished gathering place for the local community. Other examples include an off-lease dog run in Leaside, which was so well received that were doing a second one this year in Barry. And last year, we launched GarborouProud, which gave much needed outdoor space to 14 community groups and offer 3 activities like yoga or karate glasses. These projects are examples of how we can transform our properties into vibrant gathering places that foster community connection and cell-based local culture. It's a positive outcome for the communities, our tenants and our business. We have a parallel ambition on the environmental side, and we are the first REIT in Canada to get our carbon reduction targets approved the science-based targets initiative. Newsec also recently ranked us as one of Canada's most responsible companies. As a large real estate business, we think long term and aim to preserve value on ourselves now and to the future. Our financial strength is driven by a strong and prudent balance sheet, resulting in the high REIT credit rating in Canada. Our strong balance sheet supports opportunistic acquisitions and a robust development pipeline, which is of 18 million square feet of potential across our 3 asset classes. Finally, we have a strategic relationship with Loblaw that helps us grow. Our relationship with Loblaw gives us access to valuable real estate opportunities and strategic insights an advantage that helps us move faster and make smarter decisions. But it's not a one-way street, Loblaw wins too. Our real estate strategy and expertise improved their store and distribution network supporting their continued growth. Let me give you a few examples. One of our priorities is to maintain a market-leading portfolio. We do this through what we call cattle recycling where we take equity out of one property and reinvest it in another. Over the past 6 years, we have completed $5 billion in these transactions. Some of these transactions involved real estate. Their choice had the opportunity to purchase from Loblaw. For example, we purchased Maple Leaf Gardens, which preserved the original arena features offering a link to Canada's rich hockey passed. By understanding Loblaw's expansion plans, we can help them grow by identifying opportunities for new store openings. Let me briefly tell you about 2 examples for No Frills expansions. At Mount Pleasant and Eglinton in Toronto, we purchased a vacant storefront and leased it to No Frills. Similarly, we recently purchased a neighbored shopping center in Ottawa where the grocery anchor had informed the vendor of their intentions to close at the end of their lease. Most buyers would have assumed they would take time to fill that space. However, we leveraged our partnership with Loblaw and secured a No Frills lease in store, providing value to the local community and growth avenues for both Choice and Loblaw. Our competitive advantage with Loblaw also shows up in our development activities. We are building across all 3 asset classes of retail, industrial and residential. On the retail side, we're currently building 6 new grocery stores for Loblaw, including a TNT at our Aroma Power Center that will serve Mississauga and Oakville. And additionally, we have 10 Shoppers Drug Mart locations currently under construction and another 10 in planning. If you think how exciting that is, Per, that's 26 new retail locations for Loblaw. We're also committed to ensuring these projects are leading edge in terms of environmental standards. For example, our recent retail intensification at Coventry Hills in Calgary included a Shoppers Drug Mart and a [indiscernible] achieved Canada's first zero-carbon building design certification. We did this by enhancing the building envelope electrifying the mechanical systems and generating on-site renewable energy through solar. In Industrial, we have delivered 3 new projects in the past few years, 1 in Vancouver and 2 in Ontario. The Vancouver project was leased to one of our retail tenants, pet value, highlighting the revenue synergies between retail and industrial. As it relates to Loblaw, we recently completed their distribution center a choice East way and have leased them land for a similar building at Choice Caledon Business Park. These buildings are approximately 1.2 million square feet each include significant amount of automation and feature some of the largest rooftop stole installations in Canada. Finally, on the residential side, we have already delivered 7 purpose book rental assets. But what's more exciting is what's still to come. At Woodborn and Dankort, we are planning approximately 600 rental units above a Subway Stage station, a Loblaw grocery store and will include community amenities such as a preschool and a theater, we are working closely with Loblaw to align on timing to minimize the impact on the existing operations. Our rental residential asset class has the greatest opportunity to create long value for choice. In Toronto alone, we have 70 properties with development potential like the Woodbine and Ampol example, working together with Loblaw makes many of these projects possible. What I've just shared illustrates the importance of our partnership with Loblaw by unlocking value both of our businesses. We're in a great position to seize future opportunities and deliver strong results. I'm really excited for what's ahead and look forward to sharing our progress in the future. I'll now turn the meeting back to Galen. Thank you.

I think we should applaud you. Rael, thank you. You're doing an amazing job with your team is sitting here in the third. Really, I can see them. They're all smiling impressed with how you delivered that message. And we're all very impressed with what you're doing with the team and how you're executing against your strategy. And particularly, as you refer to how well you're collaborating with the team at Loblaw to the benefit of both companies. We really appreciate your perspective and your commitment to building communities where people thrive. Well, now that we've heard a little bit about what's going on at choice and how they're working well with Loblaw, I think it seems quite timely and appropriate. Per, don't you think, to hear from you. And so, Per, if I can ask you to step up and share your perspective on what's happening at Loblaw these days.

Thank you, Galen, and hi, everyone. I've been -- very much looking forward to give my very short speech. But before that, I would just like to say that I really enjoy living in Canada. I've been here for almost 2 years. Fantastic country, fantastic values, been traveling around teledaround the country at my family, into Fino last summer and even doing some snowmobiling a few months ago, a few hours north from here. So it's great. It's great to work for a lot of flows, fantastic colleagues. So I really, really enjoy it. And before I call to order, I might get back to my speech now. Maybe I can mention I also figured because leave one last night, right? Then I heard that we should enjoy it while it lasts. So that's not bad either. But looking back on 2024, I am pleased to report that it was a good year for Loblaws. We have maintained our unwavering focus on providing quality, value, service and convenience to help Canadians live life well. Our unique assets, great partners and fantastic colleagues all contribute to a successful year. That said, we are operating in an uncertain environment in which Canadians are feeling significant financial and affordability challenge. We understand those challenges. And because of that, we have doubled down on the efforts of the entire organization on delivering value every single day for our customers. In 2024, we piloted several initiatives that brought more value to our customers, improved our business and created additional pathways for future growth, all while delivering predictable, consistent operational and financial performance for our shareholders. We are pleased with what we accomplished. Everything starts with our dedicated colleagues who bring forward new ideas, influent plans with position and speed, support their communities and put our customers first in every single thing that they do. Let me tell you one quick story of one of our special colleagues. A few months, Galen and I, we met Bonnie on one of our many salvisits. And she's a colleague at our Leslie Loblaws in Toronto. Bonnie has worked for our organization for 25 years, and she's 90 years old. And she still comes in a few times to work during a week, she brings incredible energy and enthusiasm to her work. Her passion is serving her customers, ensuring that they have a great experience every time that they shop at her store. So it's first store. That's at least what she told us. This is why we do what we do. It's about making the moment a little better for every individual who walks through our doors and engage with us online. And again, visiting stores throughout the country. We're meeting so many experience colleagues. We're proud of telling me that, hey, Per, I've been in this in this company for 50 years, 55 years, 40 years, so it's almost like when you get a little bit outside Toronto, it feels like a family. It's such a place that we were part of. So I'm inspired by Bonnie and the entire team who demonstrate every day what a content focus on our customers can achieve, their commitment to live up to our company's purpose truly gives me great confidence in the future. So please join me in acknowledging our more than 220,000 colleagues across the country. Thank you to everyone of you for the hard work and not least the dedication that we put in your work every day. So over the past year, we've launched innovative initiatives like the hit of the month and we remove[indiscernible] from our hard discount stores because customers told us that they preferred single buyers, and that's in [indiscernible] . We bought excitement back to nonfood. The right-hand side, as we call it internally, of our larger stores and will further roll out this pilot program to another 20 stores this year. We started some engaging programs across our banners like the Marvel Card program and achieved an overwhelming success with our [indiscernible], collect-in-stores, selling 4 years' worth of cookware in just 3 months. And yes, we did not have enough of the Pablo walk, which I'm deeply sorry for because we couldn't predict how popular it would be. However, I'm happy to say that right now, we are bringing another 200,000 walks back to our stores. And I heard from Mary this morning that about the 29th of May this [indiscernible] back and thought, and I'm sure they will do very well. So more recently, we have done our utmost in responding to customers concerned and confusing around tariffs. We are highlighting Canadians made products in stores and online and calling out specific products where prices have been directly impacted by tariffs. Our small supplier program and Supplier Summit have strengthened relationship and help us onboard 30 new Canadian suppliers since the beginning of the year. We believe this differentiates us in today's environment. And customers, they are noticing our efforts. I get lots of feedback from customers offering suggestions, but also acknowledgment of the positive changes we made. This is also validated by our market share performance. Last year, we [indiscernible] our largest market share gains in more than a decade and marked a significant milestone as we surpassed $60 million in revenue for the first time in our history. This achievement is a testament to the fact that the service, quality and value that we are providing is resonating with our customers. As proud as we are with our results in '24, we also recognize that there's much more that we can do. Our growth drivers build on our hard discount and supermarket grocery formats and our coast-to-coast network of pharmacists. This is complemented by our PC Optimum loyalty program, omnichannel digital platform and our leading digital banking platform. These unique assets combined to enhance our long-term customer proposition and help us to deliver our financial framework that Richard, he always reminds me about. So we stay true to that. This is underpinned by a cost management mindset across the organization as well as savings and efficiency initiatives, which allow us to continue to reinvest in the future. Across the country, last year, we added 52 new stores and 78 clinics, and we grew our retail square footage by 1.1%. This was our first year of store growth in over a decade in last store growth. In grocery, we continued our focus on hard discount growth, matching an established global consumer trend towards discount format shopping. Specifically, in Quebec, we'll reshape the province grocery market landscape over the past 3 to 4 years. With new Maxi stores and conversions, we have nearly doubled our hard discount sales in the province. This week, we will celebrate the opening of our 500 hard discount stores across Canada, bringing unparalleled value closer to more Canadians than ever before. In every corner of our business, we strive to recognize and support the diversity of this great country. The diversity fuels the success of our business and, in turn, makes our communities even stronger. We have leaned into expanding our multicultural merchandise product assortment. This is nowhere more evident than in the success of TNT in addition to offering a selection of TNT products in our other grocery banners, there are 37 very successful TNT stores in Canada. We also opened our first TNT store south of the border in December. Though it's easy, though it's early days, the store has been an unmet success. On the pharmacy side, our pharma pre and Shoppers Drop Mart business continued to deliver stronger performance and a solid foundation for growth. Beauty boutiques and our cosmetic businesses remain a market share leader and our growing network of pharmacy care clinics are rapidly expanding access to primary care and communities across Canada. Last year alone, we provided over 3.1 million prescribing services in pharmacy and continue to expand our net of life Mark clinics that provide over 4 million fish and rehabilitation services. Let me just share one example of a young man in Alberta who injured his ankle at work. After surgery, he was referred for Fisher, but the pain was too severe. So without access to a family doctor, he turned our team for help. Just 2 months later, our servers pharmacy working alongside our LiveMarket as a therapist, his pain under control and he respect to work and enjoying life again. So we have lots of those small examples that we love to share with you. We also completed rolling out the PC health hub in more than 700 of our stores, enabling our pharmacies to provide point-of-care blood test for diabetes and heart health to help our patients manage chronic disease. With the test result sinking to the PC Health app, along with the appointment booking and digital care journeys, we are making health care more accessible and convenient than ever before. So I can only encourage all of you to take advantage of the important service, and it's for free and stop by your local servers or farmer and get tested and then you can track and monitor your health care journey. So looking ahead to 2025, we'll continue to grow our food and drop businesses. We are set on opening another impressive slate of 80 stores alongside over 100 clinics, Helman Canadians like in more communities live life well further solidifying ourselves with the communities nationwide. We're investing heavily into Canada's future. That remains paramount. We have committed to invest more than $2.2 billion again this year and upwards of $10 billion over 5 years, improving access to more affordable food and health care services for Canadians. At the same time, creating around 8,000 jobs in communities across the country. And this investment include building to 1 million square foot highly advanced logistics and distribution centers. And the first is already ramping up and performing very, very well. Thank you once again for your support as customers and shareholders. I, for sure, remain excited and confident as we look ahead. We will maintain our unveiling focus on our customers while investing meaningfully in our future growth. Together, this allows us to deliver value to our customers, the Canadian economy and you, our shareholders. I will now return the meeting over to Galen. Thank you.

Terrific. Per, thank you. Your passion for providing great value to customers is clear. You lead an incredible team, many of whom are in the room today, who are working hard to buy Canadians with more and more access to everyday essentials and health care services. Okay. How's everyone doing? We're now going to proceed to the formal part of the meeting. So it's slowed down a little bit to pay close attention because this is where if you haven't already voted, your vote will count. Okay. So if you're a Loblaw shareholder and you don't hold any shares in George Weston, consider this a break, but you have to stay where you are. It's a break, you can sit on your hands, you can let your mind drift off, don't pull out your phone and because this is a time where only the George Weston shareholders are entitled to vote. As a reminder, George Weston shareholders who wish to vote online, you have to be logged into the meeting, and you have to use your George Weston control number. Otherwise, your vote will not be counted. And also remember, if you have any questions regarding the formal items of business, please proceed to the microphone prior to voting on that matter of business or identify online that your question relates to a motion being considered as part of the formal business. [Operator Instructions] I'd now like to place before the meeting audit -- before the meeting, the annual audited consolidated financial statements of George Weston together with the notes and auditor's report for the year ended December 31, 2024. These are included in the annual report, which was provided to shareholders and can be retrieved from the George Weston website or from SEDAR. Are there any questions in connection with the financial statements?

From Stratford, a rather small shareholder of George Weston, but enough to her. I have just one question on the financials. And related to the presentation as well, what is EBTIDAFV? I'm familiar with the old EBITDA which in Conrad Black, was known as earnings before I trick the monitors. But you've turned the [indiscernible] around and added an FV, could you tell me what that is? I'm getting old, but that's a new one for me.

Richard, do you want to answer that one?

Yes, we can get back to you. But essentially, it's another version of cash flow that is used to monitor the business.

It's a non-GAAP measure, just the way you think about the cash flow generation of the business.

Thanks, Bob. Appreciate it. And by the way, we're here in this harmonized meeting in part because of your feedback from last year. So we it's an experiment how it all goes down, but maybe we can chat afterwards on how feel about it. Okay. So thank you. We'll now move to our next item of business, which is the nomination and election of directors. With us today are all of George Weston's Director nominees, and I ask that they please stand to be recognized Thank you. There are 7 director nominees standing for election at the meeting. All of these nominees are current directors of George Weston. George Weston's management proxy circular contains detailed biographies, setting out the valuable qualifications and diverse backgrounds of these nominees. I'm pleased to report that based on the proxies received by the scrutineer in advance of the meeting, each director nominee received votes in favor from -- just a sec, Bob, let me finish. And then I'll come to you just before we vote. Each director nominee received votes in favor from at least 97% of the votes cast. We'll now consider the election of directors. Okay.

I have a concern about what's a very widespread trend now of not mailing out the proxy circular accepted the fact that it makes sense not to mail out annual reports because a lot of people don't look at them. But I always look at the proxy circular when it came in the mail, yes I can get it online. And that's -- but it's a matter of principle. There are key issues that we're going to vote on that are in the proxy circular, and I like to see ink on paper. And when I came to the meeting, they didn't even have copies of the proxy circulars at the registration desk. I was planning on picking up my printed copy, to say, save you mailing it, and they're not there. And I think that is a mistake, not sending out the proxy circular and it makes it very difficult to -- not very difficult. It makes it more difficult to assess the issues that are up for voting. And I'll fault you for your having the directors stand but not introducing them one by one by name.

Thank you. Appreciate the feedback. Thanks. Okay. So I now declare the polls open on all George West resolutions. Before proceeding to voting, I'll address any questions related to the nomination and election of the directors, first in person and then online. Okay. Are there any additional questions related to the nomination and election of vectors, Andrew?

We've received none.

Okay. Thank you. So let's proceed to the next item of business. Could I please have a nomination for the election of directors.

My name is Samantha Juniper, and I am a shareholder. Mr. Chairman, I nominate the following persons for election as Directors of George Weston to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until they resign or successors are duly elected or appointed. Mary M. Marianne Harris; Nancy, HO Loco Sharab S Mawa, Gordon and Nixon, Barbara G [indiscernible] , Galen G. Weston, Cornell right.

My name is Johny Park, and I am a shareholder. Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. I'll now call for a motion to move that the nominations be closed.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the nominations be closed.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their vote by completing their blue George Weston ballots or through the online portal. If you are voting by ballot in person, the scrutineer will collect all ballots at the end of voting on all items of business. Thank you. I think we got the names out, Bob. Well, I'll talk with them about it at lunch, and let's other feel it. Thanks for the feedback. [Voting]

Okay. Moving on to the next item of business, the appointment of the auditor. Were there any questions in relation to the appointment of the auditor. Any questions online, Andrew?

No questions online.

Okay. So let's proceed to the next item then. I'd now like to ask for a motion for the appointment of the auditor of George Weston and the authorization of directors to fix the auditor's remuneration.

Mr. Mr. Chairman -- Hello, Mr. Chairman, I move that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP be appointed as auditor of George Weston until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders of George Weston and that the directors be authorized to fix the auditors' remuneration for the 2025 fiscal year.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. If you've not already done so, I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing their ballots or through the online portal. [Voting]

Okay. The next item of business is the advisory resolution regarding George Weston's approach to executive compensation. The resolution is more fully described on Page 18 of the George Weston Management Proxy Circular. Are there any questions related to the advisory resolution regarding George Weston's approach to executive compensation? Any questions online, Andrew?

Again, no questions online.

Okay. So then I'll now entertain a motion to approve on an advisory basis, George Weston's approach to executive compensation.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the advisory resolution regarding George Weston's approach to executive compensation as more fully described on Page 18 of George Weston's Management Proxy Circular be approved.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. If you've not already done so, I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing their ballots for through the online portal. [Voting]

Okay. This brings us to the end of voting on the George Weston items of business before the meeting, and I therefore declare the polls closed. Thank you for casting your votes. The scrutineers will now collect any blue in-person ballots and tabulate the preliminary voting results of the George Weston meeting. Please raise your hand now so that a representative of the scrutineer can collect your George Weston ballot. Otherwise, your vote will not be counted. [Voting]

Terrific. Okay. We have received the preliminary voting results from the scrutineer on George Weston's three items of business. On the election of directors, the voting results show that each director nominee received votes in favor from at least 97% of the votes cast. On the appointment of the auditor, the voting results show that more than 99% of the votes cast were in favor. And on the advisory vote on George Weston's approach to executive compensation, approximately 97% of the votes cast were in favor of George Weston's approach. I declare all motions to be passed. The final voting results will be available after the meeting and posted to SEDAR or the SEDAR profile of George Weston Limited. Okay. So as there's no further business, can I have a motion to terminate the George Weston meeting.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the George Weston meeting terminate.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Terrific. I now declare the meeting of George Weston Limited terminated. Okay. So it's now time to proceed to the Loblaw meeting. So again, let's all remind ourselves what's about to happen. If you're a George Weston shareholder who doesn't hold shares in Loblaw's, it's your turn to take a little bit of a break because you're not entitled to vote on these matters. If you are a Loblaw shareholder who is currently logged in using the George Weston control number, you must now log out of the Lumi platform using the icon in the top right corner or anyone who's online, once logged out then you have to log back in, again, using the Loblaw control number. If you're logged in as a guest or you're not a Loblaw shareholder, don't worry, everything is good. You don't need to do anything. While we give shareholders a moment online to log back in, I wanted to take a second just to thank all shareholders and guests who have taken the time to join us here today for these meetings. We really look forward to engaging with you every year, and I'm pleased to be able to provide the opportunity for you to participate here in and, of course, virtually. Okay. We'll now proceed to the formal part of the Loblaw meeting. As one last reminder, Loblaw shareholders who wish to vote online must be logged into the meeting using your Loblaw control number. Also, if you have questions regarding the formal items of business, please proceed to the microphone prior to voting on that matter of business or identify online that your question relates to a motion being considered as part of the formal business. I would now like to place before the meeting the consolidated financial statements of Loblaw Companies Limited, together with the notes and auditor's report for the year ended December 28, 2024. And these are included in the annual report, which was provided to shareholders and can be retrieved from Loblaw's website or from SEDAR. Are there any questions in relation to the financial statements for Loblaw? Okay. Seeing anything online, Nick?

No questions online.

Okay. And so let's continue to the next item of business, which is the nomination and election of directors. So with us today in person and online are all of the Loblaw Director nominees. I ask those who are here today to please stand and be recognized. Okay. Bob Balcom, let me get through the nomination process, and then I'll come to you for questions in just a second. There are 13 director nominees standing for election at the meeting. All of these nominees are current directors of Loblaw, our management proxy circular contains detailed biographies, setting out the valuable qualifications and diverse backgrounds of the nominees. I'm pleased to report that based on the proxies received by the scrutineer in advance of the meeting, each director nominee received votes in favor from at least 97% of votes cast. We will now consider the election of directors. I declare the polls open on all Loblaw resolutions. Before proceeding to voting, we'll address any questions related to the nomination and election of directors. I see follow-up question.

Okay. I am very concerned about something that I've raised in the past, which is confusion, even errors in promotions that shoppers drug mart regarding the PC Optimum program. I've kind of cautioned you that you're making it complicated. But what I've observed in the past year is an increasing number of mistakes, dates that there's a special that happened 2 weeks ago as it's...

Bob...

This is a governance issue.

Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. So bring it to the directors, quick, please.

No, I appreciate the distinction between a general question and a government issue. I don't have confidence in this board, okay? We're in an era where boards have to make sure that the company operates, honestly, I don't need to remind you about $3 billion of TD Bank shareholders' money that went into the U.S. Treasury because they didn't mind the store with regard to money laundering. So there's a mining of the store issue here. I've got some smaller complaints, but I'm going to cut this pretty brief. I mean -- for example, this was really annoying, a 2-day sale on Saturday and Sunday only, Sunday happened to be Easter Sunday. In a Stratford, there are 2 shoppers marts, and they were both closed Sunday. So there's a disconnect between who's putting out the advertising and who's actually staffing the stores. The stores in Stratford were closed on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I'm concerned about that because Shopper's Drug Mart is known for being convenient. Now we can -- you were convenient. And you think that at least one of the stores in Stratford would have with reduced hours.

Fair enough, keep moving, please.

Keep moving. Okay. But most recent flyer for it's this week. The 20-point offer on the front of the flyer has a mistake in it, which I wouldn't [indiscernible] given what I see as a history of what could be otherwise dismissed as misprints; it doesn't say yet you have to spend $60 to get 20x points. And I can imagine a few customers who went shopping at day and thought they were hitting 20 points and didn't spend $60 and didn't get their points. Now it's got past to risks, and it says, see Page 4 for details but this flyer, what's Page 4 because I'll turn that page, is that Page 2 or not -- I got to the fine print I had to get out of magnifying those.

Message received. So -- the good news...

Point is was nowhere in fine print that you have to read with a magnifying glass. I had to spend $60.

I got it.

And that's a serious error. And it's on top of a pattern of inaccuracies in the flyers.

Message received.

So in terms of governance I'm making a proposal that in future, we have directors who actually shop at Shoppers, I want to see how many points they've accumulated along with a number of shares. I don't imagine there's any board member who's accumulated as many points as I do I'm blessed to a shareholder than I'm a customer these days, and I am a customer. I'm in shoppers at least once a week.

Bob, listen, I got it. Thank you. Okay. Much appreciated.

No, but this is serious.

Yes, I know I hear you. And it's good feedback, and we have a terrific new young whipper snapper, President of Shoppers Drug Mart. He's sitting over here. His face is going bright red.

And so it should.

And he's only just started 2 weeks ago. He has an opportunity to fix that. So David, if you can chat with Bob a little bit afterwards, and he can walk you through a couple of those examples. Look, accuracy in terms of our pricing and promotion is a major priority for the organization. You can imagine you're not the only person who gives us feedback in the event that there are errors, this is a management responsibility and accountability, and you're right to put pressure on us to make sure that we don't make careless errors. And as far as the Board is concerned, I assure you, based on the feedback that I get from them on a very regular basis that they all shop both in Shoppers Drug Mart and in our Loblaw supermarkets. And they're often giving us feedback that results in direct improvements to the store, and we appreciate that very much, too. So I have no doubt whatsoever that they are conducting themselves in the most appropriate way on the ground and, of course, when it comes to governing the Board. So thank you for your input. Okay. So are there any other questions in relation to the appointment and election of directors? Nick, anything online?

No questions online.

Okay. Terrific. And we'll continue to our next item of business. Could I please have a nomination for the election of directors?

My name is Sandra Kessler, and I am a shareholder Mr. Chairman, I nominate the following persons for election as Directors of Loblaw Companies Limited to hold office until the next annual meeting of the shareholders or until they resign or their successors are duly elected or appointed, Scott B. Bonham, Shelley G. Broader, Christie J.B. Clark; Daniel Debeau William A. Downe, Janice Fukakusa, M. Marianne Harris, Kevin Holt, Claudia Kotchka, Rima Qureshi, Sarah Rice, Galen G. Weston, and Cornell right.

My name is Catherine Thomas, and I'm a shareholder. Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. I'll now call for a motion to move that the nominations be closed.

Mr. Chairman, I move that nominations be closed.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you both. I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing their yellow Loblaw ballots or through the online portal. If you are voting by ballot in person, the scrutineer will collect all ballots at the end of voting on all items of business. [Voting]

So we'll now move to the next item of business, which is the appointment of the auditors, are there any questions on the appointment of auditors in the room or Nick, do you see anything online?

No questions online.

Okay? So we'll continue to move on. I'll now entertain a motion for the appointment of auditor of Loblaw and the authorization of Directors to fix the auditor's remuneration.

Mr. Chairman, I move that PricewaterhouseCooper LLP be appointed as auditor of Loblaw until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Loblaw and that the directors be authorized to fix the auditor's remuneration for the 2025 fiscal year.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. If you've not already done so, I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing their ballots or through the online portal. [Voting]

Okay. The next item of business is the advisory resolution regarding Loblaw's approach to executive compensation. The resolution is more fully described on Page 21 of the management proxy circular. Are there any questions related to the advisory resolution on executive compensation Nick, any questions?

Nothing online, either.

Okay. So let's continue to that next item of business, and I'll entertain a motion to approve on an advisory basis, Loblaw's approach to executive compensation.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the advisory resolution regarding Loblaw's approach to executive compensation as more fully described on Page 21 of the management proxy circular be approved.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. Once again, if you've not already done so, I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing their ballots or through the online port. Okay. Moving on to shareholder proposals. The next item of business is shareholder proposal #1 submitted by the accountability Board. The shareholder proposal and supporting statement are included in Schedule B of Loblaw's management proxy circular. I'd now like to ask Matt Prescott, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Accountability Board to please present this proposal. Please go ahead.

Thanks so much, Galen, and hello, everybody. I can keep this pretty briefly for the sake of time. I just want to say thanks, first to the Board for considering the proposal. Obviously, we didn't see the eye, but I do precede the consideration. And also thanks to all the shareholders who have reached out to us about this one, it's great to see so much interest in it. The reason why we feel this proposal on board is that currently, Mr. Weston is involved in the process of selecting the director key and the rest of the Board she's the Chair of the Nominating Governance Committee and that directors who then serves as a lead. But that's not that practice. Best practice is we're only independent director have a role in the profit, and that's indeed what happened at other major publicly held firm, even companies with dominant family shareholders like Walmart or the Walton Family Control it's almost 50% of shares, I think it's 48. They ensure that only independent directors are involved in the process. So I just wanted to clarify that and say very much again to the Board for consideration and again, to all the shareholders who have reached out to us about this proposal. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Matt. I appreciate it. The Board of Directors has reviewed and carefully considered the shareholder proposal and included a number of good discussions with the accountability Board team. Following this review, the Board of Directors recommends against the Loblaw shareholder or just that the Loblaw shareholders vote against the shareholder proposal. And all Schedule B of managed Loblaw's management proxy circular provides a very detailed explanation for the Board of Directors' recommendation on this resolution. I will add that we believe that our current structure of a strong, well-defined lead independent director role represents a highly effective governance structure for Loblaw. This has worked well over the last 20 years. And while we do appreciate as always the perspective raised by the accountants [indiscernible], we really don't believe that there's a need to make any changes to the current lead independent director structure. Are there any questions related to this shareholder proposal? Anything online, Nick?

No questions, Galen.

Okay. So let's move on next item and I'll ask that a motion be made to put this first shareholder proposal to a vote.

Mr. Chan to facilitate the business of the meeting, I move that shareholder proposal 1, as more fully described in Schedule B of the management proxy circular be approved.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. If you've not already done so, I'd ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing your ballots or through the online portal. [Voting]

Okay. Second, shareholder proposal. The next item of business is shareholder proposal #2, again, submitted by the accountability Board. The shareholder proposal and supporting statements are included in Schedule B of the Loblaws Management Proxy Circular. I'd again ask Matt Prescott to please present his proposal. Go ahead, Matt.

Thanks again, Galen. I'll keep the comments even more brief. We think that the proposal regarding Food Wine really speaks for adulting folks to the proxy for more information. The only thing that we really want to add about this point is that -- the proposal really just asked a lot a lot to do what it's been telling shareholders year after year after year, it's going to do, which is to disclose just how food much food wave the company is generating that obviously always is financial is net food rate as well. And while we do recognize that the company has made a significant investment into waste production it's the case that shareholders just have no way of measuring the company's return on that investment under its current disclosure. Since it only discloses the amount of food waste diverted by weight, but not the total amount generated, there's literally no way to understand the company's progress. All of that food waste diverted could be 99% of Blue Wave generated or it could be 1%. We have no known without a baseline total, which, again, is something the company keeps saying year after year after the year is coming. So adoption of this proposal would result in the company just finally doing what is saying it's going to do, and we think that its adoption is warranted. Thank you. And have a great day, everybody.

Okay. Thanks, Matt. So the Board of Directors has also considered this shareholder proposal, and we've discussed it extensively with Loblaw management. The Board of Directors recommends the shareholders vote against this proposal. In addition to the details regarding the Board of Directors' recommendation on shareholder proposal 2 set out in the management proxy circular and Schedule B. I would just add that we work hard. Loblaw is working hard to continue to improve the level of detail that it discloses relating to food waste and to a number of other ESG-related metrics. We hold ourselves to a very high standard when it comes to ensuring the accuracy of the data that we report. And the fundamental reason that we don't -- that we're not reporting this yet is because we're not comfortable with the level of precision with which we can, in fact, disclose it. That is improving every day, and we will get to the point where we are comfortable disclosing this food base. We have a good general idea, but just not a level of specificity that gives us confidence that we want to actually report it. As you can imagine, it's a very -- there's a lot of manual process in the whole exercise of collecting and counting and measuring waste, and there is potential for a stake. But believe me, we have a very, very good idea of how much waste is being produced and the effectiveness of the programs that we are deploying to reduce it. So we will provide further detail when we have the confidence in the quality and accuracy of that additional data. Okay. Any questions from the room or Nick, anything online in relation to this proposal?

No questions, Galen.

Okay. So I'll now ask that the motion be made to put this second shareholder proposal to a vote.

Mr. Chairman, to facilitate the business of the meeting, I move that shareholder proposal 2, as more fully described in Schedule B of the management proxy circular be approved.

Mr. Kaman, I second the motion.

Thank you. Once again, if you've not already done so, I ask shareholders or their appointees to cast their votes by completing their ballots through the online or through the online portal. [Voting]

Okay. Final shareholder proposal. Number three, this item of business is shareholder proposal #3, submitted by the BCGEU. The shareholder proposal and supporting statement are included in Schedule B of Loblaw's management proxy circular. I'd now ask Emma Pullman of the BCGEU to please this proposal. Emma, please go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning, fellow shareholders. I am as the Chairman decide here to present shareholder Proposal 3 on behalf of the BC General Employees Union, term Loblaw shareholders. I'm unfortunately not there in person, but I'm joining you from sunny Victoria, British Columbia. So in recent years, Loblaw has expanded beyond its traditional food and pharmacy offerings and into health care and digital health care platforms. This expansion presents important growth opportunities, many of which we heard about earlier today but it also raises risks and opportunities related particularly to data privacy and ensuring ongoing consumer trust. In our view, limitations to Loblaw's existing data privacy policies expose the company and investors to risk. The interconnectness of Loblaw's businesses, including how information is shared across business units and with Loblaw loyalty program, which we also heard about today, heightened risk or pose additional risks. And finally, while it at opportunities, there are additional sensitivities and risks associated with the expanded use of AI, machine learning and generative AI. At 2023 privacy commissioner of Canada study found that 61% of Canadians distress businesses with consumer privacy. The U.S. special reporter on the right privacy has expressed significant concerns regarding the handling of health data by corporations, particularly in the context of digital health innovations. The special reporter asserts that violations of privacy can directly and adversely impact health outcomes and the trust the public has in the entire health care system. The proposed impact assessment before you today could provide customers and investors with critical information regarding the management of sensitive patient data and ensure that Loblaw's policies are aligned with evolving regulatory expectations, consumer expectations and global best practice. So fellow shareholders, I move proposal #3 for an independent data protection impact assessment of Loblaw's health care offerings, including PC Health. Life Mark and QHR at Kyro EMR. I encourage you to vote in favor of this resolution to promote greater transparency and safeguard long-term value, and thank you for your time.

Thank you very much, Emma. So the Board of Directors recommends that shareholders vote against this shareholder proposal. In addition to the information around the directors' recommendation for Shareholder Proposal 3, which is in schedule B of the management proxy circular. I would comment that Loblaw believes it has a very robust privacy program and privacy governance structure. We take this very seriously and don't believe there is any need for independent data protection independent data protection impact study at this time. As an example of the company's actions, we recently formed a Care Committee, they are one of our independent directors, Sarah Race, and within the portfolio of the mandate of that committee, understanding risk and making sure that the highest level of care and consideration for patients is taken every time we make a decision. So thank you very much. This is an issue that we need to continue to stay very vigilant on and we believe that we are doing so. Are there any other questions in connection with this shareholder proposal?

Well, if I could, I'll second the proposal has already been moved. I'll second it. I just want to actually congratulate you on a very respectful way in which you are dealing with shareholder proposals. Much has changed in 25 years when I started being the shareholder advocacy crusader. Most people in this room don't know that I had to go all the way to the Supreme Card of Canada to establish the right of shareholders to do what just took place here of having matters put before the shareholders. And it was a very adversarial situation back then. I got slapped with court costs in 2 courts. The Supreme Court didn't correct that part of it, but they did rule that what I was proposing to do was entirely the intent of the law. So anyway, much has changed over that period. Corporate governments that are big banks and other large widely held corporate has been greatly improved. And I just as I said, this is a complement, take it.

Got it. And I do appreciate it very much. Okay. So are there any other questions, any questions on line, Nick?

There is a question on the phone.

Okay, go ahead. Whoever is on the phone. I think you have to press star 1. Okay. Yes, maybe we can come back to it in the general session. Okay. Thank you very much. So let's continue on. Motion has been made. I'll now ask for a seconder so that this yes we need a -- you second it, okay. That's you did. Okay. Thanks, Bob. We're -- appreciate that keep us moving.

So now I'll ask everyone if you haven't already done so. I'll ask the shareholders and their appointees to cast their votes by completing their ballots or through the online portal. No blue ballots, right? They're yellow ballots, orange, something not blue. Okay. Good. So this brings us to the end of voting. There's a few ballots being collected. I can see that's terrific, now declare the polls closed. Thank you for casting your votes. The scrutineers will now collect any of those in-person ballots and tabulate the preliminary voting results for the Loblaw meeting you've done that. You've raised your hands, so we can keep going. And have you counted, quick, quick, quick. Okay. They've counted. We have received preliminary voting results from the scrutineer on Loblaw's 6 items of business. On the election of directors, the voting results show that each direct nominee received votes in favor from at least 97% of votes cast. On the appointment of auditors, the voting results show that more than 99% of the votes cast were in favor of the appointment of PwC as auditor Loblaw. On the advisory vote on Loblaw's approach to executive compensation, approximately 94% of the votes cast were in favor of the approach to compensation, and I declare these 3 motions passed. On the shareholder proposal #1, voting results show that 98% approximately of the votes cast were against the proposal. On proposal #2, the voting results show that approximately 85% of the votes cast are against the proposal. And on shareholder proposal 3, the voting results show that approximately 89% of the votes cast were against the proposal. As there are a greater number of votes against than in favor for each of these proposals, these motions are not carried and the shareholder proposals are not passed. The final voting results will be available after the meeting and posted on the SEDAR profile of Loblaw Companies Limited. Okay. So as there's no further business, can I have a motion to terminate the Loblaw meeting.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the Loblaw meeting terminate.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. I now declare the meeting of law Companies terminated. We did it. We did it. We amde our first ever joint Loblaw and George Weston AGM. I'm looking out of the corner of my eye I can see that both Nick and Andrew breathing aside of relief now we got the last of the voting results being read out. And so now we're almost at our favorite part or at least my favorite part, which is your questions. But before we do, I wanted to just take a couple of minutes and share a few thoughts. It's always a memorable occasion to come together with all of you here and to reflect a little bit on the state of the group. I'm out in stores regularly on my own and with payer, and I can see why Loblaw continues to do so well. Store conditions are consistently good, merchandising programs are exciting, value messaging is better than ever before. I love what we're doing to celebrate Canadian in stores and at the shelf, lots of Canadian maple leaps on the shelf and in the store, really great to see as a historically Canadian company. I had a great review of the summer insiders. Mary is sitting here with the Loblaw Brands team. It looks better than ever. My boys were pouring over it yesterday at home, at the dinner table. I went with the Shoppers team about a month ago to get my cholesterol, an A1C tested, that was super cool. I'm a little obsessed with my blood sugar at the moment. But that's what happens when you take test that. Lots of big momentum on e-commerce and loyalty. If you do shop on PC Express Checkout. This is the swap and save for Canada function, which is very cool and very popular where you can do all of your grocery shopping and then swap for the closest Canadian made or manufactured alternative is a nice way to continue to support Canada, loyalty and digital e-commerce two programs that are particularly close to my heart. You also heard directly from Rael about some of the great products that his team is working on at Choice, I'm particularly enthusiastic about the progress that they've been making on placemaking, which he touched on transforming our properties into gathering places for their communities, and I can see Erit here who leads that initiative there in the third row, she's doing a tarriff job, and appreciate the whole team for the work that you're doing there. So the strength and the stability that you can hear from the team and about our business really does give me a sense of confidence, which I think is -- it's been increasingly rare in recent months in the world. And I'm sure that I'm not alone in feeling somewhat destabilized by the chaos of what's going on around us. The threat of tariffs, then prive on tariffs, then more tariffs than reciprocal tariffs and the occasional talk of annexation thrown in for good measure. I think we're all suffering quite a bit from some kind of geopolitical whiplash. And I'll be the first to admit that it is both difficult and also perhaps a little bit dangerous to try and predict where things are going to end up. Many of the changes that we've seen over the last 100 days are real. They're changing the world at an astonishing pace and quite possibly changing it permanently. But I also think that there are some reasons to be, let's say, cautiously optimistic. Every day now, we're seeing signs of de-escalation, certainly in relation to Canada from the U.S. administration and from the Canadian government, both hinting at the possibility of a trade deal on the horizon and with it, I hope, the end of annexation talk. Love to see how things go in Washington today. There might be a statement out in the time that this meeting started. Maybe it's good, maybe it's not. Either way, the last -- we need to treat the last few months as a wake-up call as a wake-up call for Canada. The sense of vulnerability that we feel and the risk to our communities is real. We have to address it. We all know that Canada has been a chronic underperformer when it comes to the key economic measures that matter. And yet our natural advantages are significant. It is not an overstatement to say we could be the most prosperous nation on earth in a way that benefits all Canadians, breaking down interventional trade barriers, diversifying trade relationships, building national energy infrastructure and refocusing on our natural resources are all things we need to do to unlock the animal spirits of our economy and return to driving growth. These are the kinds of things that are vitally important for the next government and represent a generational opportunity for Canada to reshape it itself. As a proudly Canadian company that provides everyday essentials from coast to coast, the better Canada does, the better we do. A prosperous Canada is essential to our company, and we are committed to doing our part. We're already diversifying our source of supply to reduce our reliance on the U.S. You heard that from Per. We're ramping up support for Canadian manufacturers, increasing the availability of local products on the shelves and listing new ones. We're doing more than ever to tackle food and security, providing $190 million of funds and in-kind donations to food banks and school programs just last year. And as you heard also from Per, we are continuing to invest confidently in our country with over 80 new stores and two of the most technologically advanced distribution centers in the world. Over the next 5 years, those investments will create thousands of new jobs, generating growth and productivity, all while helping us keep prices low. These are the right things to do for our business and they're the right things to do for the country. Loblaw, George Weston, together, we are a family business. And there's a story from the second world war, some of you may know, and I'd like to tell again. In 1940, the Royal Air Force was enduring heavy losses in air battles over the English channel. On a single day, that summer, 16 British spit fires and the lives of 13 pilots were lost to German fighters. The British War effort at that time was under intense pressure, and there was a struggle to find the money needed to build enough planes to keep fighting Nazi forces. On August 9, that summer, my grandfather, Garfield, walked into the Ministry of aircraft production. He handed the cheque to the minister, Lord Beaverbrook, it was blank. Only God can replace those boys my grandfather said, I'd like to replace the machines. Or Beaver books factories built 8 spitfires in my grandfather's name, but the story is not about one man's patriotism. It's about what happened next. That one gesture, that one blank check sparked an outpouring of donations across Canada. Newspaper publisher, JW McDonald gave $1 million enough for an entire squadron of aircraft, a squadron that would end up being built, right, in Canada. It wasn't only the wealthy who rose to the call. Dorothy Christie of Montreal came up with the idea of rallying other Dorothys across the country to organize fundraising events. In the end, the many dates of Canada hosted more than 20,000 tea parties, where guests pay $0.25 a piece. Meanwhile, Canadian artists auctioned off their works, for the cause, a church in Westminster, BC, pass the hat, locals in an Alberta donated the proceeds from a song recycle, the Lachute Fair in Quebec even pitched in, a city of Windsor too on and on across countless Rumit sales, auctions, golf tournaments and dances, each Canadian doing their part. By the end of the war, more than 8 million pounds have been raised by Canada and beyond. 1600 spit fires were built from these funds, along with other aircraft that helped turn the tide in the war. Now our current challenge doesn't compare to what they endured or what they overcame. But it is also a moment of challenge. And like they were, we're being called to rise to the occasion in support of our country. From early on, my family has believed that the funds generated through the work and success of our Canadian businesses should be distributed in Canada for the benefit of Canadians. And for the last 65 years, that has meant support for pioneering treatments of diabetes and Alzheimer's, indoor growing innovations to bring affordable fruits and vegetables to Canada year-round. The conservation of our nation's most valuable ecosystems and advances in microbiome research that could see natural supplements, take over statins as a treatment for high cholesterol. And today, due to the success of this group over the last number of years, the Weston family is committing over $1 billion of philanthropic funding with the specific goal of strengthening Canada. This is a significant ramp-up of investment and effort and it will build on our historical support for transformational health research, conservation and food security with an added imperative of scaling these innovations to ensure that they deliver national impact. And we will look for new projects and people with ideas that can directly and positively improve the lives and prosperity of Canadians. Our family owes a great deal to this country and we will continue to give back just like my grandfather did 85 years ago. So we will no doubt see continued volatility and uncertainty here at home and we'll certainly see it around the world. But keep in mind, Canada for all of its challenges has tremendous inherent strengths and our group remains strong and well prepared for coming headwinds. In this moment of challenge, we will rise to the occasion in support of our country and the communities that every day. Thank you. Okay. We can now move to our question-and-answer period. That's fun. So where should we start? We start with some of those students from the Grade 12 accounting class anybody else, don't be bashful. Per is here, looking forward to answering some questions. Rael, if you have a real estate question, he's over there. He's going to come on stage if he needs to do Richard's here, we'll do our best to answer.

My name is [indiscernible] and I'm here as a student from Boricha. And my question is, how is Loblaw using technology to improve customer service and to be more efficient overall?

Oh, goodness me. Per, do you want to take that one on?

Yes, I can give it a start. So Gale mentioned our new distribution centers, which is world-class. So that's one way of using technology. We are on the forefront of what's happening in the world. And Rob Weep, who is sitting just over there in the second row, he will be able to explore even more. But it's about using data, using technology to serve our customers to make sure that we limited the out of stock, so we maximize the availability that we have in our stores. So that's one end of it. Another end would be using technology to personalize the offers that we're giving our customers. So we have Laurence Steinberg here, who is heading up all our digital loyalty and retail media and she can talk like 2 hours about that, how good we are using technology and how we are a world-leading in that as well. AI, we just had a sit in the Board meeting yesterday about I, how do we use that again to enhance customer experience, but also in ways to take cost out of the business. So yes, in lesser ways.

I'm William. I'm also from Laura Collegia Institute. I was wondering as the President of Loblaw Companies Limited, how the information in your financial reports influences your decision-making on company operations?

I can take that one. Yes, financial information is crucial to know what's going on with our business. We look at our sales every morning. But more importantly, is our ability to identify trends and build forecasts about the future. I always say that it's relatively easy to report the news, but we need to make the news. And by noticing the trends we see in our financials, we can sort of build good forecast, get a glimpse of the future and alter our plans and decisions so that we can drive the business to its goals.

I'm Hale from Bloor Collegiate Institute. So we understand that Loblaws has reduced carbon emission by 16% since 2020. So my question is what were some of the most significant changes made? And what more are you working on now?

So maybe I'll take that one. And is that the right number, 17%? 16%. Okay. Good question. Yes, I should have guessed you would get that right. Okay. So lots of things. A good example would be solar panel installations. And I think you heard from Per that we've got the biggest solar panel installation in North America going up on our latest distribution center. One of the other things that we're doing is increasingly and more efficiently managing electricity. We're lucky in Canada. Our electricity grid is mostly green, which means the more we can replace gas or diesel or energy sources like that with electricity, that meaningfully reduces our carbon footprint. There are some very interesting and exciting work that the supply chain transport team is doing to improve the fuel efficiency of the transport fleet, which is one of the largest in North America. And then ultimately, what we have to address is what we call Scope 3 emissions, which are the emissions produced by the suppliers, the growers and the farmers who supply us. And that's an initiative that we're also working hard at along with our partners in those spaces. So that will be the toughest part of the journey for us, and we'll keep close track of the progress we're making. Okay. Maybe why don't we move over to this side, and then we'll come back -- no, we're doing okay. So...

Mr. Chairman, my name is Michael Wilmot, and I'm a shareowner of the spine companies. I think it would be enormously remiss this morning if a shareholder or shareholders, did not thank the Board of Directors, the management and the employees of your 2 fine companies for a job extremely well done and is no more evident that in seeing the terrific enhancement and the training value of the respective common shares. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, would you please show the management and directors of this company your appreciation.

Thank you very much.

I have a supply question, I guess it's taper or Mr. Bank. When the Chairman mentioned tariffs, one of the reasons as a small shareholder, we think that somebody in the large company will be easily the supply chain can be managed. So I understand that citrus like Oranges, recently used to be supplied from California and Florida are now mainly Europe. Can you talk about the process of the supply chain -- change. Did you have the -- all of those companies, the same people you used to deal with? Was it easy to do? I mean, relatively easy to do. Did you keep the same margins? And what happens to the citrus from Florida and California what tariff has to go down before that comes back.

I think that's a very, very relevant question and many thanks for that. I'll try to give my perspective, and then if you're not happy with that, then we have Danny, who is Head of our sourcing here today that can explore even more about that. On the citrus, exactly, we have moved 6 SKUs, 6 products of citrus away from the U.S., and now we are sourcing those 6 in Spain. And of course, there was a reason why we used to source it in the U.S. because of quality and price was the best, of course, also less transportation costs coming from the U.S., but it made sense to move these 6 products. On produce, which is the area on tariffs that are impacted the most. We are buying a significant part from the U.S. So far, our sourcing team have been able to move a significant part, not 50% yet, but it's -- it's close to 25% that in short term, we'll be able to move away from the U.S. into other countries. There will be other products which is impossible to move like watermelons because watermelons, they are very, very costly to transport. So that will still be the best quality and the cheapest option to buy from the U.S. And we also very much aware of not to become anti-American. And we are pro-Canadian we're not anti-American, so we will still trade with a lot of our suppliers in the U.S. because we don't trade with countries. We trade with good partners who are suppliers. But that said, 25% tariffs, which on average comes down to about 10% because we negotiate with our suppliers. It's not everything that's where the tariffs will be put on. So we are trying to do our utmost to mitigate those tariffs to our customers. And where we can't mitigate it, we have decided to put like a T for tariffs on the shelf. So customers understand what we have done. And when you see that team, they can choose to buy the products or they can choose to look for alternative. That's I think what we have been really adamant to do to be very transparent. We also said that we're only increasing the price cent by cent. So I think that's our contribution to tariffs. But yes, we are using our entire sourcing abilities and supply chain to look across the businesses and then buy more in Canada. And we are buying more in Canada than we used to. Thank you.

Terrific. Thank you, Per. I think we have one more question, Bob?

Yes. I want to add my congratulations. I mean this is an amazing company. I shop, as I say, that shoppers regularly, all of the grocery banners and I really appreciate how this company has improved over the years. And it's a mammoth operation to manage beyond and I had 60 employees at my peak. I can't imagine having 220,000. So anyway, my point in general question period is, can you please make a priority of low sodium foods. This is a frustration. I did a search on your website looking for low sodium foods. And I was disappointed in what I found, and in some cases, what was shown on the site just being low sodium when I got to the store and looked at the label, it wasn't. I had the misfortune of a near fatal heart attack last year. I've recovered almost fully, but one of the outcomes of that is that I'm on a low-salt diet. And it's very frustrating when you've been accustomed to some things. And so you have some excellent products. President's Choice original tomato sauce, which is always a bottom shelf, you have to look for it. is low sodium, and it tastes wonderful. One of the things I learned is that anything with tomato sauce in it is good in hospital food solely. So by the -- it's a life safer. All right.

Well, the good feedback. So I'm looking at Mary here, and I guess probably Danny and Frank and Mal, all will take that feedback. I agree with you, by the way. We need to continue to ensure that we have access to those products. And also because of my A1c test, we need to have low sugar products. Those are places that we've got to do more. And it's no surprise, Bob, that our emphasis that offers Drug Mart from a primary care and chronic care perspective really focuses around hypertension, and diabetes. And there's a reason for that. The reason is that food what you consume in your body are major inputs to how to manage a chronic condition or to prevent the development of one of those conditions. And we've had this aspiration for many years and are continuing to develop let's call it, an integrated set of solutions that Lauren and her team are knitting together through some of our digital products. So you're on absolutely the right stuff, and you should see more of it in the coming months and years. Okay. I see no more questions, and we thank everybody for those who are brave enough to come up and ask some, especially those from Bloor Collegiate. And so on behalf of George Weston and Loblaw, I'd like to thank our incredible colleagues and our employees for their hard work, hard and constructive and superb work over the last year and to all of you for taking this time to join us today. I wish you all the best to you, to your families and hope that those of you who are here in person, will join us for a minute afterwards at the Atrium for some refreshments and an opportunity to try some more of those fabulous President's Choice products. Thank you all very much.