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THE NORTH WEST COMPANY The North West Company is a leading retailer of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighbourhoods in Canada , Alaska , the South Pacific and the Caribbean . NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The North West Company Inc. Announces Second Quarter Earnings and an Increase in the Quarterly Dividend Winnipeg , Manitoba , September 8 , 2021 ( TSX : NWC ) : The North West Company Inc. ( the " Company " or " North West " ) today reported its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended July 31 , 2021. It also announced that the Board of Directors have declared a dividend of $ 0.37 per share , an increase of $ 0.01 or 2.8 % per share , to shareholders of record on September 30 , 2021 , to be paid on October 15 , 2021 . " This has been another strong quarter particularly considering the extraordinary pandemic - related same store sales and earnings increases in 2020 " commented President and CEO Dan McConnell . " Our top priority remains focused on the safety and well- being of our customers and employees and ensuring that we continue to provide essential products and services that people depend on . The relationships with our suppliers and the agility provided by our cargo airline , North Star Air , were key contributors in servicing the high demand of our customers over the quarter . The new Delta variant poses ongoing challenges . Our tourism dependent markets and other communities we serve with lower vaccination rates have experienced some of their largest increases in COVID - 19 cases since the onset of the pandemic . The North West Company is doing its part by adapting to the evolving business conditions to keep market share gains captured in 2020 , coupled with current vaccination rates , emergence of variants , and the reduction of some stimulus programs in Canada and the U.S. , it is expected that earnings in 2021 will be above pre - Pandemic ( 2019 ) levels , but below 2020. " Financial Highlights Second quarter consolidated sales decreased 12.9 % to $ 565.1 million mainly due to the impact of the sale and closure of the Company's Giant Tiger stores last year net of the impact of wholesale food sales to the sold Giant Tiger stores ( the " Giant Tiger Transaction " ) and the negative impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations sales . On a same store basis , sales remained strong with a decrease of only 4.8 % compared to a 25.4 % increase in the second quarter last year , but were up 21.4 % compared to the second quarter of 2019 , as the continuing impact of COVID - 19 - related factors including in- community spending and income support for individuals was less than last year . Gross profit decreased 12.8 % due to the impact of lower sales partially offset by a 4 basis point increase in gross profit rate compared to last year primarily due to favourable changes in product sales blend and lower markdowns and inventory shrinkage . Selling , operating and administrative expenses ( " Expenses " ) increased $ 1.6 million or 1.2 % compared to last year and were up 323 basis points as a percentage to sales largely due to the Non - Comparable Factors which included a $ 24.7 million pre - tax gain on the Giant Tiger Transaction in the second quarter last year partially offset by changes in share - based compensation costs . Excluding the Non - Comparable Factors , Expenses decreased $ 16.4 million and were down 40 basis points as a percentage to sales primarily due to lower store expenses related to the Giant Tiger Transaction , a decrease in COVID - 19 - related expenses , the impact of foreign exchange on the translation of International Operations Expenses and lower annual incentive plan costs . 1 Excluding the impact of foreign exchange 2 See Non - GAAP Measures Section of Management's Discussion & Analysis