(Reuters) - Canadian Tire Corp Ltd (TO:CTCa) beat quarterly profit estimates on Thursday, buoyed by strength in the diversified retailer's credit card business and strong demand at its retail stores.
The company has been investing heavily to expand its portfolio by acquiring new companies and to boost its digital capabilities as it looks to fend off competition from e-commerce giants Amazon.com (O:AMZN) and Walmart (N:WMT).
Income before income taxes from its financial services unit, which accounts for about a third of the company's total income and houses the credit card business, rose to C$109.5 million ($82.56 million) from C$92.1 million a year earlier.
Revenue from its over 600 Canadian Tire stores, its core business, rose to C$2.23 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 28, from C$2.12 billion a year earlier.
Net income rose to C$365.9 million, or C$5.42 per share, from C$278.2 million, or C$3.99 per share.
Excluding items, the Toronto, Ontario-based company earned C$5.53 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of C$5.40, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Revenue rose 4.5% to C$4.32 billion but missed analysts' estimate of C$4.41 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.