Metro Inc. has announced that net earnings climbed by 21 per cent through the first quarter of fiscal 2010, up to C$98.1m, or C$0.91 per share.

Adjusted net earnings at the Canadian retailer reached C$88.7m during the quarter, an increase of 5.5 per cent, while overall group sales climbed slightly (1.7 per cent) to C$2.6bn.

'We are pleased with our first quarter results which improved on last year's excellent first quarter,' said Metro president and CEO Eric La Fléche. 'Customer count continued to rise, but our basket size was smaller than last year as we experienced deflation in certain product categories.

'The economic environment remains challenging, however we are well-positioned in our markets and confident that we will continue our growth in 2010,' he added.

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