Indigo Q3 earnings 'severely hurt' by Canada Post strike: CEO

TORONTO - Indigo Books and Music Inc. says the Canada Post strike "severely hurt" its third-quarter earnings, contributing to a roughly 50 per cent drop in net earnings.

The Toronto-based retailer says in the period ending Dec. 29 it earned $21.5 million, down from the $42.6 million it reported for the same period the year before.

Indigo's diluted earnings per share amounted to 79 cents per share, down from $1.56 per share from the year before.

The company's revenue also tumbled by 1.7 per cent to $426 million from $433.3 million the year before.

Indigo founder and chief executive officer Heather Reisman says the company's profitability was hit by the Canada Post strike because the company had to pay high costs to get products to customers and because some shoppers chose not to make purchases online.

She says the brand also struggled with increases to minimum wage in some provinces and higher costs and lower margins, resulting from clearance strategies it used at a handful of Indigo locations undergoing renovations.

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