On Tuesday, the Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, with both revenues and earnings beating estimates.

According to the company, revenues for the quarter ended June 3, 2017 increased 3.7% from C$723.6 million to C$750.4 million, beating analysts’ estimates of C$704.2 million. The increase in revenue was mainly attributed to overall market growth. Earnings per share for the first quarter dropped from C$0.27 per share in the same period last year to C$0.25 per share, but beating expectations of C$0.23 per share.

Net profit for the first quarter decreased from C$49.0 million the same period last year to C$45.5 million, which was mainly due to the drop of Pro Doc's contribution to the net profit, the company said in the statement on Tuesday.

“During the first quarter, we continued to implement our business plan efficiently, which resulted in a significant increase in retail sales despite an ongoing competitive environment,” Mr. François J. Coutu, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, said in the statement.

“The development of dynamic initiatives will continue to be our priority over the next few quarters in order to contribute to the increase of retail sales and thus continue our growth and maintain our leadership,” he said.