BMR CEO Address to Sollio Annual General Meeting

"BMR, you can't get more Quebecois than that. It's not the flavor of the month. It's a company that will never be sold, it's a co-op," said Alexandre Lefebvre, Executive Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe BMR, during an interview on Thursday on the sidelines of Sollio Cooperative Group's annual meeting. BMR, Olymel and Sollio Agriculture are divisions of the cooperative, which announced its 2023-2024 financial results for the fiscal year ended October 26, 2024.

The retailer, which has 275 stores, recently launched an advertising campaign on a mineral wool background in which it has been a "pure Quebecer" since 1967.

"When you compare yourself to our competitors, they're American investment funds," he says, referring in particular to RONA, which belongs to the New York private equity firm Sycamore Partners. "You can't get more American capitalist than that. So, it's really different as a business model."
Alexandre Lefebvre, Executive Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of BMR Group

"We hope it will help us this year. That's why we brought that message back into our advertising campaign. I think it's important to remind consumers of this. Our Canadian economy is at risk with Trump's tariffs. Collectively, the only way to make it falter, is to have massive movements on the part of consumers. »

Aggressive Pricing
BMR posted a net surplus of $30.5 million, down $4 million from the previous year. Lower housing starts, rising interest rates and higher household debt explain this performance, according to Mr. Lefebvre.
But we are already seeing an improvement in our industry. We are seeing a recovery. The year is looking much better. The only risk is geopolitics.

And to attract as many customers as possible, BMR intends to be dynamic in its price offer, in particular by focusing on its private brands such as Architek, Botaflora, Splendi, Opaz... From flooring to gardening products, these brands touch on many categories offered on the floor. Nearly 600 private label products were on the shelves last year. "We had a target in 2024 of 6.1% of our sales that would be under an exclusive brand, we made 7.9%. Now, 600 other products will be delivered in the coming months," says Alexandre Lefebvre.

"We are seeing an impact on sales. We are in a market that is much more sensitive to prices than before. Consumers want a price. We have a service at BMR that is above average, but even if you offer a superior service, you also have to have the best possible price. Hence the changes we are making to be more competitive. Our objective, in terms of price, is to launch an aggressive offensive. »
The hardware retailer also intends to strengthen its presence, particularly in Ontario, a province in which it wants to expand. In the past year, BMR has opened five new stores, three in Quebec, one in Ontario and one in Nova Scotia. And the year 2025 could well be "glorious" according to Mr. Lefebvre. "Currently, we are in negotiations with 36 additional stores. It's unheard of," he says, adding that many of them are located in Ontario.

Why so much energy in the neighbouring province?
Our market share in Quebec is really strong. Ontario is our closest market, it's Canada's largest economy. In the construction sector, it is the fastest growing market and it is our neighbour.
Alexandre Lefebvre, Executive Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of BMR Group

More Canadian pork in grocery stores
As for Olymel, which saw its net surplus increase by 38.7% compared to the previous year to reach $196.9 million, there has been an appetite among Quebec and Canadian food retailers for pork here in recent weeks. Although it occupies a prominent place in grocery stores, Quebec pork is in competition with American pork.

"With the economic war raging with our neighbours to the south, we have requests to make more local purchases, both in the West and here in Quebec," said Yanick Gervais, President and CEO of Olymel, at a press conference. In the coming weeks, we are likely to see more and more Canadian products in our grocery stores, which is very good news," he added, without being able to put a figure on this demand.

Sollio Cooperative Group's results
Overall, Sollio Cooperative Group "has regained its momentum," according to CEO Pascal Houle. "This is the second best performance in the last 10 years. We turned the organization around. We have consolidated our operations. We have also made difficult decisions, such as reducing 2 million slaughter pigs, closing a plant, closing several small sites. We've sold half a billion in assets in the last few years. »
The co-operative recorded a net surplus of $270.7 million compared to $115.4 million the previous year. Sales, which totalled $7.8 billion, were down $500 million. "The decline in sales is due to market conditions, including a significant decrease in grain prices, which has a downward impact on feed prices, as well as lower farm input prices."