Loblaw Companies Limited normal course issuer bid

BRAMPTON, ON, April 7 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX:L) Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 13,865,435 of its common shares, representing 5% of the 277,308,711 common shares (as of April 7, 2010) outstanding, by way of a normal course issuer bid on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Daily purchases will be limited to 104,446 common shares, other than block purchase exceptions.

The purchases may commence on April 9, 2010, and will terminate no later than April 8, 2011. Purchases will be made in open market transactions on the TSX. In addition, the Company may enter into forward purchase or swap contracts in connection with its common shares which may be settled by physical settlement, cash settlement or a combination thereof. The forward price will be based on market price, dividend yield and market interest rates.

Decisions regarding the timing of future repurchases will be based on market conditions, share price and other factors. The Company may elect to suspend or discontinue the bid at any time. Common shares repurchased under the bid will be cancelled. The Company believes that the market price of its common shares could be such that their purchase may be an attractive and appropriate use of corporate funds.

Pursuant to its previous normal course issuer bid, which expired on April 7, 2010, the Company purchased an aggregate of 1,698,400 common shares at an average weighted price of $33.14 per common share.

From time to time, when the Company does not possess material nonpublic information about itself or its securities, it may enter into a pre-defined plan with its broker to allow for the repurchase of common shares at times when the Company ordinarily would not be active in the market due to its own internal trading blackout periods and insider trading rules. Any such plans entered into with the Company's broker will be adopted in accordance with the requirements of applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Loblaw Companies Limited

Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food distributor and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ over 138,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice(R), no name(R) and Joe Fresh Style(R) brands. In addition, the Company makes available to consumers President's Choice Financial(R) services and offers the PC(R) points loyalty program.

For further information: Kim Lee, Senior Director, Investor Relations, [phone], [email protected]