Q: Is there any way to determine how "pure a play" L is as a consumer defensive vs MRU? What I am trying to get at is that there are a lot of consumer discretionary type items sold at Shoppers (probably the majority of the revenue?). Even Loblaw stores sell clothes. Metro seems to me more a defensive name in terms of groceries. Are there any publicly disclosed facts to prove or disprove this thesis? Thanks as always for your thoughts.
5i Research Answer:
Loblaw does not disclose the precise split of revenue between food, pharmacy, and general merchandise; but estimates and disclosures point to a significant level (potentially up to half at certain banners like Shoppers) of revenue coming from discretionary/aspirational segments.
The Metro 2024 annual report repeatedly emphasizes that the dominant majority of revenues come from food retail, with pharmacy and OTC forming a smaller, but growing, subset.
So while we do not have actual numbers, MRU is likely more 'defensive' like if one is looking at consumer defensive stocks.