- Dividend of over $2 billion to pay for important government priorities
- Sales across all categories, e-commerce, and wholesale drive increase in revenue
- Customer donations and employee fundraising raised a record-breaking $13.3 million
Full details available at:www.lcbo.com/year-in-review
TORONTO, Aug. 17, 2017 /CNW/ - The yearly dividend returned by the LCBO to the Province of Ontario goes toward improving our communities, including through investments in health care, education, and infrastructure. With financial revenues of $5.89 billion, marking net sales growth of 5.8 per cent, the LCBO transferred a dividend of $2.06 billion* to the Ontario government for the 2016-17 fiscal year – an increase of $125 million from fiscal year 2015-16.
"We are proud that the significant dividend we transfer to the provincial government is invested in services that improve the lives of all Ontarians like hospitals and schools, the building of bridges and roads, and to connecting businesses and communities across the province," said LCBO President & CEO George Soleas. "LCBO's strong fiscal year results highlight our commitment to excellence in the customer experience, support of local producers, and our focus on social responsibility. Moving forward we will continue to drive progress in our strategy to succeed in a more competitive marketplace so that we continue to deliver value for the people of Ontario."
Additional information on the LCBO's fiscal 2016-17 year in review can be found at www.lcbo.com/year-in-review Highlights by category include:
Overall sales
- Key net sales figures by category (excluding Private Ordering) were:
- Spirits $ 2.24 billion, up 5.1 per cent
- Beer & Cider $ 1.29 billion, up 9.9 per cent
- Wine including VINTAGES $ 2.04 billion, up 3.9 per cent
- Gift Cards $ 105.1 million up 11.9 per cent
- e-commerce: Sales through this new channel in the first eight months starting in July 2016, totaled $4.4 million.
- Grocery: Sales from the wholesale supply of beer, wine and cider to grocery stores totaled $65 million, a figure expected to grow alongside the number of grocers licensed for sales.
Support of local producers
- Net sales of Ontario wine through LCBO wines and Vintages were $483 million, an increase of 5.9 per cent.
- Locally produced craft cider increased 39 per cent to $7.1 million.
- Sales of local craft beer were $88.5 million, up more than 27.6 per cent over the previous year.
- Ontario small distillers continue to see sales growth, up 62 per cent to $6.3 million.
Social Responsibility
The LCBO is recognized by Ontarians for actions that support responsible retailing and for promoting a culture of moderation; product quality and safety; environmental sustainability and community involvement and fundraising.
- LCBO retail staff challenged more than 14.4 million people who appeared underage, intoxicated or were suspected of purchasing for an underage or intoxicated person. 258,628 individuals were refused service; 82 per cent for reasons of age.
- LCBO's Quality Assurance department conducted 633,000 laboratory tests to confirm products are safe to consume, are authentic and meet federal and provincial compositional, packaging and labeling standards.
- Through the LCBO's funding of the Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP) and municipal curbside Blue Box programs, more than 93 per cent of the bottles and cans we generate are recycled and kept away from landfill. There were approximately 350 million beverage alcohol containers returned through the ODRP in 2016-17.
- Customer donations at LCBO checkouts and employee fundraising efforts raised a record-breaking $13.3 million for worthy causes, an increase of 22 per cent over last year. Charitable organizations that benefit include the United Way, Ontario's four children's hospitals, MADD Canada, and numerous other provincial and local charities. Like many retailers, LCBO participated in a prompted donation campaign in response to the Alberta wild fires, raising $2.95 million dollars for the Red Cross.
*excludes HST and $246 million from the land sale of LCBO's Head Office.
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SOURCE LCBO
MEDIA CONTACTS: Christine Bujold, LCBO Media Relations Coordinator, Tel: 416 864-6772; Cell: 416 587-3729, [email protected]
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