Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning.

My name is Joelle, and I will be your conference operator today. Bonjour. Je m'appelle Joelle. Je serai votre opératrice de la conférence aujourd'hui. I will now introduce Mr. Mathieu Brunet, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury at Alimentation Couchetard. Je vais maintenant passer la parole à Monsieur Mathieu Brunet, Vice President, Relations Investor et Trésorerie pour Alimentation Couchetard.

English will follow.

Bonjour. J'aimerais d'abord vous souhaiter la bienvenue à la téléconférence qui porte sur la diffusion des résultats financiers du troisième trimestre de l'exercice 2026 d'alimentation au coacheur. Toutes les lignes seront placées en mode discrétion afin d'éviter tout bruit inutile. À la suite de la présentation, nous répondrons aux questions des analystes. Nous souhaitons vous rappeler que cette webdiffusion sera disponible sur notre site Internet pour une période de 90 jours. De plus, prenez note que certains des sujets discutés au cours de cette webdiffusion pourraient consister en des déclarations prospectives qui sont fournies par la société avec des avertissements habituels. Ces avertissements ou risques, ainsi que ces incertitudes, sont décrits dans nos rapports financiers. Il est donc possible que nos résultats futurs puissent différer des informations présentées aujourd'hui. Les résultats financiers seront présentés par M. Alex Miller, président et chef de la direction, et M. Philippe De Silva, chef de la direction financière. Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to this web conference presenting Animatación Costal's financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. All lines will be kept on mute to prevent any background noise. After the presentation, we will answer questions from analysts during the web conference. We would like to remind everyone that this webcast presentation will be available on our website for a 90-day period. Also, please remember that some of the issues discussed during this webcast may be forward-looking statements, which are provided by the corporation with its usual caveats. These caveats for risks and uncertainties are outlined in our financial reporting. Therefore, our future results could differ from the information discussed today. Our financial results will be presented by Mr. Alex Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Felipe de Silva, Chief Financial Officer. Alex, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Matthew, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us today. I want to start by saying how energized our team is following our strategic update last month in Toronto. We were grateful for the engagement from many of you, and I hope today gave you a clearer picture of our refreshed Core Plus More strategy and where it will take us over the next five years. It is a simplified, focused, and customer-centric approach built around our priorities, which are supported by value-driving enablers. It's important to note that these initiatives are already well underway and producing measurable results across the business that are increasingly visible in our performance. Our teams are executing these priorities today, and we are beginning to see the benefits in customer engagement, store performance, and operational momentum across the network. More importantly, this focus is driving traffic by delivering on our customer promise of being fast, friendly, customer ready, and offering compelling value. and at the center of it all, making our customers' lives a little easier every day. But it all starts with our people. Earlier this month, Kushtar was recognized for the fifth straight year as a Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winner, highlighting the world's most engaged workplace cultures. This year, we have added recognition of being a winner with distinction, joining only a handful of companies worldwide who have made significant strides to implement workplace initiatives that sustain engagement and help employees thrive. This is helping us beat industry averages in turnover and is showing up in our performance. As we sharpen our execution and focus on delivering a consistent customer experience across our network, we are also extending our reach through organic growth to bring that experience to new customers and communities. In the third quarter, we completed the construction of 37 stores. reaching a total of 80 stores since the beginning of fiscal 2026. We have another 58 stores under construction, and we are well on our way to reaching our goal of 100 new sites this fiscal year. And as outlined during our strategic update, we are now accelerating the network expansion to add at least 750 new sites by 2030. As we grow and optimize our network, we are equally focused on building the capabilities to support it. We are strengthening our supply chain as well as investing in best-in-class inventory management, which Felipe will cover a little later. With three newly opened distribution centers this past quarter, we are now supporting approximately 3,200 stores across North America with self-distribution from six facilities. As outlined during our strategic update, taking greater control of our supply chain and dealing directly with manufacturers creates opportunities to capture margin with benefits flowing through to better cost of goods, improved product availability, and a broader assortment for our customers. With that, let's take a look at our convenience business. I'm very pleased with how our teams performed this quarter, particularly in an environment where many consumers remain stretched. For the third consecutive quarter, same-store sales were positive across all three of our operating regions. We finished the quarter at 2.0% on a consolidated basis, in line with the growth algorithm we shared during our business strategy update. In the United States, same-store sales increased by 2.8%, marking our strongest performance in more than two years, driven by solid growth in several of our core categories, including energy, nicotine, and continued progress in our food journey. While the quarter began at a slower pace following the government shutdown in November, Performance strengthened across the network as the weeks progressed, with nearly all of our business units posting positive same-store sales. I also want to highlight that traffic was up in almost half of the BU's, as customers continue to respond to the value and convenience of our offer, whether in our stores, on our forecourts, or through our loyalty and digital platforms. The consistent execution by our teams across the network is helping strengthen our position in the market. And as you heard me say in Toronto, We are winning in retail and widening the gap versus the convenience channel. Turning over to Canada, growth moderated as expected but remained positive at 0.3%, with alcohol continuing to perform well even after cycling the full-year impact of the Ontario beer legislation. This reflects the strength of our product selection and the growing appeal of our stores as a destination for customers. Europe and other regions were up 0.4%, supported by our price and assortment, and by the continued progress in food, where our offer is increasingly making our stores a go-to destination in several markets. Growth was moderated by lapping the earlier benefit from the tobacco legislation in the Netherlands. Excluding Asia, where results declined in the mid-single digits due to continued soft consumer sentiment, Europe delivered growth of approximately 1.4% for the quarter. Food continues to be one of the most important growth levers within Core Plus More, and we are seeing strong momentum as execution improves across the network. In the U.S., food same-store sales grew in the mid to high single digits as our hot food offer and value proposition continues to gain traction with customers. The results also reflect the investments we have been making in the category and the strength of our scale and procurement capabilities. which allow us to deliver compelling food offers at price points very few others can match. Meal deals remain a key anchor of that performance, supported by better availability, a simpler assortment, and more consistent execution across our stores. We sold 13.3 million meal deal bundles this quarter, and roller grill and breakfast sandwiches continue to lead the mix, with the $3 price point representing more than half of transactions. More broadly, our progress in food extends beyond meal deals, as we continue to invest and build the category through innovation, stronger execution, and targeted marketing, including through our digital platforms. Beyond the U.S., food also delivered mid-single digit results in Canada, supported by meal deal promotions. In Europe, where food has remained a consistent contributor, we are now preparing to introduce a more unified platform built around breakfast, lunch, and dinner occasions. supported by a broader campaign launching in May across 12 countries, with the ambition of building a best-in-class burger strategy across the region. Turning to thirst, energy delivered solid mid-teens growth across all three regions. In the U.S., packaged beverages delivered another strong quarter, supported by the depth of our assortment and larger baskets, even as adult beverages stayed under pressure. Energy remained the primary growth driver, with both leading brands and emerging players contributing and helping us gain share versus the broader convenience channel. In Canada, energy also contributed to category growth, while alcohol performed well despite cycling last year's regulatory change in Ontario, driven by beer and strong gains in wine. In Europe, energy drinks continued to outperform the market, particularly in sugar-free variants, with functional beverages and sports drinks also contributed. Nicotine was another area of strength in the U.S. Same-store sales grew in the mid to high single digits. Modern oral nicotine was again a standout category, substantially outperforming the broader market, while age-verified digital membership is nearing 3 million, up almost 75% year over year. Cigarettes also returned to growth during the quarter, supported by continued share gains and disciplined pricing, though that mix did weigh somewhat on margins. In Canada, nicotine trends continued to face regulatory and illicit market headwinds, though we continued to perform better than the broader market. In Europe, value and margin growth remained solid, with strength in pouches and e-cigarettes helping offset volume pressure, even as we lapped the earlier benefit from the change in legislation in the Netherlands. Turning to loyalty. In the US, Inner Circle added another 1.2 million members in the quarter, bringing total membership to 13.7 million. With the program now available at more than 5,000 stores, engagement continues to build, supported by more relevant and timely communication at key moments across fuel, car wash, and in the store. Our redesigned mobile app is also gaining traction, with monthly active users up nearly 50% year over year. Ease of use matters. We are seeing that come through more clearly as our digital experience continues to improve and deliver more value for customers. In Europe, our enhanced extra program continues to scale ahead of expectations, with average visits per member, loyalty traffic, and new member sign-ups all increasing versus last year. The redesigned mobile app will launch in Europe later this fiscal year, bringing customers a simpler and more relevant experience with a stronger value focus. Shifting to our fifth fuel business, performance remained steady and resilient across our markets. In the US, fuel volume slightly declined at 0.4% year over year, but improved sequentially versus the prior quarter. We continued to gain share and outperform industry peers, supported by the size and scale of our network and greater control over our fuel supply chain. That is helping us capture lower cost sourcing opportunities respond more effectively to market volatility, and support margins. Inner Circle also continues to support engagement around fuel, with our January fuel day driving nearly 70,000 new member enrollments and nearly 80,000 reactivations. In Canada, volumes remain positive, up a solid 4.2%, driven by promotional activity and demand growth alongside continued share gains and maintaining pricing discipline. That performance is especially notable against the softer economic backdrop and speaks to the strength of our fuel offer. In Europe, volumes were down 1.6%, reflecting the broader macro backdrop and extreme weather in parts of the region. Even so, margins remained healthy, supported by favorable supply conditions, disciplined execution, and continued progress in expanding supply pathways across the network. Shifting to B2B, our European business delivered solid performance in Q3. While card volumes were slightly below last year's results, they were more than offset by strong margins. Growing non-fuel income also remains an important priority, with transit charging continuing to build as part of the broader offer. In the U.S., B2B fuel share continued to grow quarter over quarter, leveraging the national scale and strength of the Circle K brand. We are deepening relationships across fleets of all sizes, with a deliberate focus on commercial diesel growth and executing new strategic partnerships. Large national accounts are increasing, our proprietary card programs are demonstrating strong retention and usage within our network, and inter-circle membership among B2B customers continues to rise. Finally, in e-mobility, we deployed over 430 DC ultra-fast Circle K branded charge points across Europe in Q3. This included hitting a milestone in Sweden where we activated our 1,000th charge point five years ahead of plan. Overall, we added EV charging to 48 new locations in the network and now have 675 locations with Circle K branded chargers at the end of Q3. bringing more customers to our integrated convenience and charging offer. The European fast charging network is now over 4,300 charge points, up 31% versus last year. Out of these, nearly 3,700 are Circle K branded charge points. Utilization reached all-time highs across Europe, with nearly 3 million charging transactions on Circle K branded transit chargers. With that, I'll now turn the discussion over to Felipe, who will provide further details on our financial performance this quarter.

Thank you, Alex, and good morning, everyone. We delivered one of our best quarterly performance in over two years, with same-store sales accelerating as the quarter progressed and contributing to solid growth in both adjusted EBDA and earnings per share. These results validate that the actions outlined in our business strategy update are translating into measurable outcomes. Continued focus on traffic, customer value, and operational execution is strengthening our growth algorithm and driving long-term value creation. As Alex mentioned earlier, in the United States, same-store sales were positive for the third consecutive quarter. The improvement reflects continued progress in growing basket size and reinforcing our value proposition for customers. It also highlights the positive impact of our initiatives implemented across our network which are helping us outperform broader market trends and capture incremental share. As we have found out in previous quarters, growth in Canada moderated as expected, but remained positive. And Europe and other regions also posted positive same-store sales, supported primarily by compelling offers, group size, and assortment, which continue to resonate well with customers across our markets. For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Net earnings attributable to shareholders of the corporation stood at $757 million, or 82 cents per share, on a diluted basis. Excluding certain items described in more detail in our MD&A, adjusted net earnings were approximately $751 million, or 81 cents per share, on an adjusted diluted basis, representing an increase of 19.1% compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. Now let's review in detail each of our business segments on an ethics-adjusted basis. Adjusted EBDA for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 increased by approximately $196 million, or 11.9% year-over-year, mainly due to a higher road transportation fuel growth margin, the contribution from acquisition of approximately $79 million, as well as organic growth in our convenience activities, partly offset by the impact of regulatory divestiture related to the get-go acquisition, which amounted to approximately $9 million. During the third quarter, merchandise and service revenues increased by approximately $351 million, or 6.6%, primarily driven by the contribution from acquisitions of approximately $205 million and organic growth, partly offset by the impact of regulatory diverse issues related to the get-go acquisition of approximately $23 million. Merchandise and service growth profit increased by approximately $150 million, or 6.2%. This is primarily due to the contribution from acquisitions of approximately $71 million, as well as by the organic growth, partly offset by the impact of regulatory divestiture related to the get-go acquisition of approximately $8 million. Our merchandise and service growth margin in the United States was largely in line with prior year at 33.9%, down slightly by 0.1%, mainly reflecting change in sales mix from higher cigarette sales, along with temporary pre-operating costs related to the new distribution centers as we continue to invest in strengthening our supply chain capabilities. Margins slightly decreased by 0.1% in Europe and other regions to 38.9%, mainly driven by change in seismics, an increase by 0.1% in Canada to 32.5%. Moving on to the fuel side of our business, our road transportation fuel growth margin was 47.71 US cents per gallon in the United States, an increase of 3.43 cents While in Europe and other regions, it was 10.87 US cents per liter, an increase of 1.58 cents. Finally, in Canada, fuel margins continue to post an increase of 15.82 Canadian cents per liter, reflecting an increase of 2.28 cents. As we discussed during our business strategy update, fuel margins across our network remain healthy and continue to reflect the strength of our supply chain capabilities and in-store execution. Our scale, discipline pricing approach, and ongoing optimization of the supply chain allow us to consistently perform at the high end of the industry, and we remain well positioned in a challenging retail environment. Turning to SG&A, normalized expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 increased by 4% year over year. primarily reflecting inflationary pressures and targeted investments, supporting our strategic initiatives, as well as investment to support the acceleration of our food service program and ensure our stores remain customer-ready. The increase also includes some pre-opening costs, pre-operating costs associated with the opening of new distribution centers as we continue to strengthen our supply chain infrastructure. We continue to see measurable gains in workforce efficiency. In the US, regular labor hours were slightly down year over year, while overtime hours declined at a high single-digit rate. As a result, overtime as a percentage of regular hours improved 50 basis points versus prior year, reflecting continued progress in labor scheduling and store-level tools that are helping our teams operate more effectively. More importantly, on a year-to-date basis, Normalized expenses growth of 3.3% remains broadly aligned with inflation, reflecting our continuous focus on efficiency while supporting key investments in the business. This builds on the strong track record we have established in managing costs across the organization. Following the more than $800 million in savings delivered under our fee-to-serve program, our core plus more plan has identified an additional $850 million in opportunities at the ABDA level across store operations, merchandise cost of goods, general and administrative, goods not for resale, and other controllable expenses. Lastly, we are also continuing to advance the rollout of our RELAX platform. A real result from the pilot phase show encouraging improvement in product availability, and the insights gathered are being incorporated as we prepare for broader deployment. As the platform scales, Realex is expected to help further reduce spoilage, enhance inventory efficiency, support margin resilience, and strengthen collaboration with our vendor partners, while also streamlining in-store operations through simpler ordering and more optimized shelf layouts. For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, our depreciation expense increased by approximately $46 million, or 7% year-over-year. The increase was mainly driven by the impact from acquisitions, along with ongoing investments across the network, including equipment upgrades, store remodel programs, new store openings, network optimization initiatives, technology enhancements, and mobility solutions. From a tax perspective, the income tax rate for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 was 21.8%, compared with 21% for the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025. The increase is mainly stemming from the impact of a different mix in our earnings across the various jurisdictions in which we operate. As of February 1st to 2026, we recorded a return on equity at 18.3% and our return on capital employed to that 12.4%. We are also seeing a positive shift in our return profiles, supported by disciplined capital allocation, recent acquisitions performing as expected, improving overall profitability, and continued progress on working capital. During the fiscal year, our leverage ratios to that 2.25% We also add strong balance sheet liquidity with $1.5 billion in cash and an additional $3 billion available through our revolving and secured cooperating credit facility. During the quarter, we repurchased 12.9 million shares for an amount of $684.4 million. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, 0.4 million shares were repurchased for an amount of $21.6 million. Turning to the dividend, the Board of Directors declared yesterday a quarterly dividend of 21.5 cents Canadian per share for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 to shareholders on record as of March 26, and approved its payment effective April 9, 2026. In closing, this quarter represents an important step forward for the business. Delivering one of our best quarterly performances in over two years provides encouraging evidence that the initiatives outlined in our business strategy update are gaining traction and producing measurable results. Our continued focus on traffic, customer value, and operational execution is strengthening the foundation of our growth algorithm. While we remain mindful of the broader consumer environment, the progress we are seeing across our network reinforces our confidence in our ability to drive sustainable growth and long-term value creation. I thank you all for your attention. I will turn the call over again to our President and CEO, Alex Miller.

Thank you, Philippe. As we look ahead, we remain focused on executing against Core Plus More and on delivering for our customers in ways that are meaningful and consistent. We are seeing positive outcomes across the business from customer engagement and category performance to continued gains and share. While the consumer and geopolitical backdrop continues to be dynamic, we remain cautiously optimistic. It's still early, but the trends we are seeing so far in Q4 are encouraging. The work our teams are doing every day across the network and their focus on being fast, friendly, and customer ready while delivering value for our customers gives me confidence Core Plus More is driving results. I'm proud of what we have accomplished so far this year and excited about the opportunities ahead. With that, let's turn it over to the operator for questions.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question. Your first question comes from John Zampera with Scotiabank. Your line is now open.

Thank you very much. Good morning. It's a broader question about the current environment for oil prices and fuel. And I wonder, when you look back at the history of the industry, can you give a sense of at what price point on fuel you tend to see some level of demand destruction both on in-store purchases and on fuel volumes.

Thank you. Yeah, thanks for the question, John. Clear trends always fall through for us. As price goes up, unit purchases, average unit purchase comes down. It doesn't necessarily mean to demand destruction, and it actually drives additional trips to our sites. I don't know that we have an exact dollar amount that we say demand destruction occurs. A lot of driving is obviously needed or is something that consumers must do. Clearly, when we get over for up to $5 a gallon, that puts additional stress on consumers that are already stretched and have so much money to spend. I don't think we see direct correlation between higher fuel price an in-store traffic or in-store performance. We don't see those correlations in our data. And I can tell you thus far during this event, our in-store and our merch is performing quite well.

Yeah, just to complement what Alex is saying, John, I believe that, you know, in this environment, we have demonstrated the consistency that we are able to outperform. We have this, you know, integrated supply chain on the fuel side that help us, you know, to really have a different optionality in terms of sourcing, pricing capabilities as well, you know. So, yeah, we believe that there is no doubt that it will put further, you know, a stretch on the consumer, but we are well positioned to continue to outperform the market.

Yeah, I think that's a great point, Felipe. You know, times of volatility historically have almost always been positive, net positive for us over the cycle, where we capture additional margin over the cycle of that volatile period. I think as Felipe referenced, our capabilities in our fuel supply trading and logistics teams in Houston and in Geneva, we have a lot of confidence in their capability. They have a dual mandate, first and foremost, to keep our stores wet or supplied with product. Secondly, to use the optionality that we purposely build to capture additional margin. And volatility generally leads to that optionality leading to greater margin capture.

Okay, that's great. You covered my follow-up, so I'll get back in the queue.

Thank you.

Your next question comes from Irene Natel with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

Thanks, and good morning, everyone. Just following up on your last comments, Alex, just around acceleration and performance. So when you talked about the quarter, it started negative in U.S. Merch, same-store sales. So can you talk about the exit rate, and then more specifically, what you've seen in inside-store behavior both pre-February 28th and post-February 28th. So, you know, give us all some comfort around all of that as fuel prices have gone up.

Yeah, thanks for the question, Irene. Yeah, I think as we said in Toronto, you know, the first period of the quarter, this past period in the U.S., we were actually negative 0.1. So that gives you an indication of the strength for the remaining portion of the quarter. I think also just what I'm so pleased about is the breadth of that. One, in our core categories of nicotine, thirst, obviously this is a very strong performance quarter in fuel, but in nicotine and thirst, you know, just solidly positive. Five percent positive in PacBev. I referenced that energy was, you know, mid-teens growth, positive in cigarettes, high single digits positive in other nicotine products. So just really executing that. in the core space. It's also broad-based across our BUs. All of our BUs this past quarter, except for one in the U.S., were positive same-store sales. Texas, Arizona, Florida are southern states that had experienced some challenge. They were all solidly positive in the quarter. The Midwest continues to perform very strongly with mid-single digits positive. And those trends have continued in this quarter, to answer your question. Irene, we've actually run more than two straight periods of positive traffic across the U.S. We haven't done that in a long time, Irene. And the broad base of the strength continues and food continues to accelerate as well. We're approaching double-digit growth now. So I am encouraged by the progress that we're seeing. And post-February 28th, we have not seen a change in those trends.

That's really helpful. Thank you. And just as a follow-up, you noted in your remarks that in the BUs where you've rolled out inner circle, you're seeing, I think you said, like, you know, double the strength, whatever it is. Can you give us an idea of the timeline to roll inner circle out across all the BUs in the U.S.? ?

Inner Circle is rolled out across all of our BUs in the U.S. now, Irene. So they are in every one of our BUs across the entire network. And, you know, we continue to refresh the program, add capability that you heard in my remarks. Extra is rolled out across all of our BUs in Europe, except for our new mid-Europe BUs. And we're working on the backbone of technology capability to be able to do that in the future.

Maybe referencing also, Irene, this pilot that we have launched in Europe about putting in place a reward program based on the visit. So we are very excited by that. The more you come, the more the rewards you get. the first results are promising there. And yeah, that's something that we believe that as we'll be rolling out, we'll make a huge difference as well.

Yeah, and Irene, let me give you a few facts of kind of how it's performing, right? So active monthly users on our inner circle is up 46%. Average visits per member is up 7% in the inner circle. It's up 9% for extra in Europe. Merchandise visits per member is up 13%. So we continue to be very encouraged by our digital platforms and the engagement from customers and consumers.

Thank you. Your next question comes from Mark Petrie with CIBC.

Your line is now open.

Hey, good morning. Thank you. I wanted to ask about the U.S. merchandise gross margin rate and just sort of the puts and takes there. the impact of prepared food. I think, in general, food is viewed as the tailwind to gross margin, but is that the right way to think about it, as you guys are sort of in an investment phase to grow that business?

Yeah, thanks, Mark, for the question. Yeah, food, there is no doubt that food, you know, as we mentioned during our business strategy update, on the long run, will be attractive to the category. we are building that today. There's no doubt that we still have some opportunities to improve the spoilage execution at store level, but we are improving sequentially our performance there. As a whole, when you look at the gross profit margin performance of U.S. this quarter, actually this slide shows decrease compared to last year. It's more actually linked to the mix and the strong results, you know, linked to cigarettes. Cigarettes have been posting a positive growth during the quarter and, you know, with a low margin, so that impacts negatively the overall performance of the GP rate. The second impact on the quarter is, you know, as I mentioned earlier, linked to the the impact of the opening of the new DCs. We are very excited by this new strategy that we're having to go deeper on the supply chain. But there is no doubt that at the early days, you have some impact, pre-opening costs, maturing, you know, the operations there. So that has an impact compared to last year. But again, I reiterate here that, you know, on the long run, supply chain will be accretive to the gross profit as well. So confident, you know, when we look at the quarters ahead, we will be able to showcase gross profit with a better profile.

Okay, thanks. Could you just help us understand how long do you think those DCs end up as a pressure on gross margin? Like, is that something we should expect to sustain for a couple quarters or is it more isolated to Q3 in terms of materiality?

I think it's fair to say that, you know, there will be some, as you can see on when you open a new store, you know, you have a couple of quarters that you are ramping up and, you know, just fine-tuning the operation. So, yeah, I think it's fair to expect that some impact on Q4, potentially Q1.

Okay. Thanks very much. All the best. Thank you.

We request that our callers limit their questions to one main question, please. Your next question comes from Chris Lee with Desjardins. Your line is now open.

Hi. Good morning, everyone. Just maybe a first question on field margins. when we look at some of the industry data from Opus, the margins are a bit softer versus the average, but based on your remarks that in a volatile environment, you do get some outsized outperformance. Is that the case currently right now versus your historical outperformance? Are you getting better results during this volatile period?

Yeah, thanks for the question, Chris. I think we certainly get... What I said was that over the cycle, we realized higher margins. We're in what we would say is more the front end of the cycle. With that said, margins are fine so far this quarter. I would say they're in line with what we've delivered year to date thus far. So that's the answer I can give you.

Okay, that's helpful. Thanks, Alex. Your next question comes from Martin Landry with People. Your line is now open.

Good morning, guys. I was wondering if you can give us a bit of an update on the M&A landscape. Last quarter, you had mentioned that your pipeline was active, so any color on that would be helpful.

Yeah, thank you for the question. We remain very active on multiple opportunities across all three of our primary regions. And we are deploying the same capital discipline, the same models that our founders taught us and that we've deployed for the past four plus decades. But there remains a lot of deal flow, a lot of deal activity, and we are highly engaged in that. And our decentralized models enable us to manage multiple files at the same time, and that is what we're doing right now.

And you can see on the quarter, you know, we have announced, you know, that we have acquired 24 stores during the quarter. Again, we discussed that, you know, in Toronto in our 4 Plus More strategy, the single store, you know, operator acquisition. That's something that we are focusing more and more, and you can see the acceleration of that quarter after quarter.

Super. Thank you, and best of luck. Thank you.

Your next question comes from Michael Van Nuys with TD Cowen. Your line is now open.

Thank you. I'd like to turn my attention to Europe for a bit. Can you give us an idea of what the growth was excluding cigarettes on a same-store sales basis and kind of how we should expect that drag from the lapping the the regulatory change to, I guess, continue over the next few quarters?

Yeah, I think growth in Europe would have been 3.2%, excluding cigarettes. Michael, and thank you for the question. I think it's also, you know, legacy Europe was up 2.7%. And the month of January in Europe was one of the coldest ever in Europe. So it really impacted our four new Mid-Europe countries, Poland, the Baltics, where we had a week to more than a week of really just people at home. So it drove cost, drove electricity price, and it really impacted sales. So, you know, we were delivering 6% growth on food. We're driving strong energy growth. Packed beverages up 5.8% and 6.5% in mid-Europe. So, you know, the same trends of core plus more and executing against food. And we do think the weather impact in January specifically, it really did negatively impact us in the period. So, you know, we feel good about our European business, as you heard us say in Toronto. And we're quite confident that we will continue to deliver merchandise, same store merchandise growth in Europe.

Okay, and just to follow up on that, so from the cigarette drag, do you expect that to be less in future quarters? Because I know when the regulations change, I know you were very prepared for it. I'm just wondering if you guys got more market share right off the bat, and then you saw that ease as the year went on, as others kind of got their act together?

Yeah. Cigarettes in mid-Europe were down 2.6% for that drag on Netherlands specifically. And then there's also border traffic into Luxembourg where there's a lot of things happening around border traffic, specifically from Germany into Luxembourg that's impacting negatively some cigarette sales. We don't know how long that will continue. So that basis stays there. But across Europe as a whole, we continue to take share And in other nicotine, we believe, as we said in Toronto, we can more than offset the cigarette declines across Europe.

Great. Thank you. The next question comes from Bobby Griffin with Raymond James.

Your line is now open.

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the question. Alex, just wanted to go back to your comments about the self-distribution journey. With 3,200 stores now receiving products, are you starting to see some of those savings flow through the P&L today, or is this program more where it has to be at full scale before you get the unlock, so we're just kind of not yet seeing anything actually move the P&L and that's still to come?

Yeah, thanks for the question. And that's still to come. I think as you heard, you know, first and foremost, you know, getting these DCs open, getting product into them and making sure that our stores have product is our primary goal right now. We are starting to work on and we have done a couple commercial deals for supplies into the DC. And we will continue to do that over the coming quarters. But this is really the long game for us, right? This isn't about a short-term win. This is a fundamental belief that supplying our stores ourselves ultimately will enable us to capture additional margin, lower working capital, provide our stores products when they need them at the times that best suit them and our customers. So this is the long game for us. And, and, We're very convinced that this is the right strategy for us, but we're not really focused on next quarter of seeing a giant commercial win here.

Thank you. Best of luck. Thank you.

The next question comes from Corey Tarlow with Jefferies. Your line is now open.

Great. Thanks, and good morning. I was wondering if you could touch on the monthly cadence of comp. and then anything you're seeing according to date. And then secondarily, Felipe, could you just comment on what we're expecting for SG&A in Q4 and how we should expect and when we should expect normalized expense growth to converge with what you've steered us toward for the investor day, i.e. less than inflation? Thanks so much.

I guess I'll take the first part, Felipe, and you can take the second part. Yeah. Again, as we shared with our strategy, we're focused on core plus more. We're focused on fuel, nicotine, and thirst, and then our enablers of growing food and our digital products. And we believe that's working. So the trends in our business on the back end of the quarter we're reporting now, and as I shared earlier with Irene's questions, the trend that we're seeing is is quite positive. Traffic is positive. It's broad-based across categories. So we remain optimistic around our delivery on same-store merch. So we're just focused on continuing the trends we're seeing in our business. Flip, I'll hand it to you on the cost question. Yeah, thanks, Alex.

Hi, Corey. So on the OPEX platform, When you look at Q3 again here, when you look at the underlying performance, we feel good actually about what's happening. Teams are really doing a great thing in terms of productivity. The centralized procurement on the GFR is delivering also good results. But at the same time, as we mentioned, you know, in Toronto, there are some investments. So on this quarter, you had the D.C. We continue to, you know, to take care of our food program and making sure that, you know, we are helping the store to execute this food ambition. And having said that, so we remain very confident on this, you know, ambition that we said that normal expenses will be growing at inflation. When you look at year-to-date, Corey, we are at 3.3%, so we are not that far there. And, yeah, when we look at the next coming quarters, we will be there. Q4, you will see very likely a better performance on the normalized expense. That's what we're seeing. Again, here, similar to what Alex said on the GC, we're here for the long run, confident in our ability to deliver this ambition of 3%. We're in line with inflation. We have the actions. The FITUSOFT program is there to help us to fund this strategic investment.

Great. Thanks so much, and best of luck. Thank you.

Your next question comes from Luke Hannon with Canaccord Genuity. Your line is now open.

Thanks. Good morning. I was just wondering if we could get an update on the partnerships. with Guy Fieri, and how rolled out is that across your network today? And I imagine that those sales are occurring at higher ASPs when compared to the meal deal assortment that you have in the US. And Alex, you talked about the distribution of sales there. Does the success of that partnership help give you any thought, I guess, to updating the price point architecture for the meal deals?

Yeah, thank you for the question. I think as I've shared with you with food that the one thing we're going to do is be very deliberate about what we're doing and when we're doing it and making sure that we're fully prepared and that anything we're rolling out or expanding, we have tested and really proof that it's ready. Guy Fieri is still in only northern tier at this stage, and that's largely a result of some ongoing supply chain issues regarding these products that we need confidence to build out that we, if we're going to launch these stores and launch these products in additional business units, that the supply chain is robust and that we will have those products. They are at a higher ASP or sales point. And we've had success selling them in northern tier. And our strategy has always been a multi-tiered approach across price points. We do not envision changing our focus on meal deals as a result or our price points on meal deals as a result of Guy Fieri.

Understood. Thanks so much.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Mark Cardin with UBS Financial. Your line is now open.

Thanks so much for taking the question. So it sounds like you're continuing to see strength on modern oral nicotine. Understand that Zentember may have been a bit unique, but how is promotional activity compared to what you've seen the past few quarters? And then with the growth in cigarettes, how are you thinking about mix going forward?

Yeah, I think other nicotine just continues to grow. And there's a lot of folks trying to gain that growth. So there continues to be a lot of activity, a lot of promotional activity, and our partners in that space continue to be very active with aggressive promotions across other nicotine, and that exists today, most of which we put under Inner Circle. I don't you know, the category's growth is very consistent, continues to grow. It's not clear to me on the horizon when that would change or the kind of trends that we have or how that's happening changes. With cigarettes for us, you know, it's all about, you know, capturing our share and continuing to win there. Traditionally, We had been beating market by 100, 150 bps. That expanded pretty dramatically this quarter and continues. And I think that's through the capability of our category teams, our pricing teams, and our data analytics around how we're positioning sub-premium, premium value and sub-value brands. And I think we're getting better at that as we get better with data and our promotional activity and We're going to look to continue to do that. Cigarettes is one of our lowest margin categories, so growing cigarettes will have a mixed impact on us, but it is more gross profit dollars to the bank, and that's what we're focused on.

Thanks so much. Good luck.

For the questions at this time, I will now turn the call over to Matthew for closing remarks.

Thank you, Alex and Philippe. That covers all the questions for today's call. Thank you all for joining us. We wish you a great day and look forward to discussing our fourth quarter 2026 results in June. Ceci met à la conférence d'aujourd'hui. Nous vous remercions d'avoir été parmi nous. Nous vous souhaitons une agréable journée et au plaisir de discuter avec vous de nos résultats du quatrième trimestre 2026 en juin prochain. Vous êtes maintenant invités à mettre fin à cet appel.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.