Clearview Co-op reports $141.9 million in assets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/03/2024 (494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tuesday evening Clearview Co-op held its 92nd annual general meeting at the Mennonite Heritage Village and numbers are looking good for 2023.

Auditor Tim Cook reported that there was $141.9 million in assets in 2023 up from $133 million in 2022.

“We continue to grow our assets. The board was very careful to maintain a strong balance sheet so that we can grow our assets. It builds a strong business,” said general manager Henry Nickel.

Clearview also reported $10.3 million will go back to 40,000 members in the Southeast and Ontario this year in the form of cash payouts.

“I think it’s a little bit more than last year. We had a good year this year and we were able to allocate more this year,” said Nickel.

Nickel attributed the growth this year to sales, support from members, good margins, and holding expenses down.

“I’m happy to report that we were again able to give back to our communities and our members. After all operational needs were met, we were able to allocate $10.3 million to our membership this year. We have had total savings of $133 million in the last 10 years alone. That savings per year works out to $13.3 million. This means that in addition to support staff and families your Co-op has invested on average $1.1 million per month or $36,000 a day back to communities in the last 10 years. I think that’s quite remarkable.”

Liabilities hit $25.86 million while equity and savings for the year were $116 million. Sales were $212.9 million while expenses were $18.2 million.

The director’s report stated there were 130 retail co-ops in Western Canada. The recent purchase of all Husky gas bars across Western Canada by Federated Co-op (FCL) led to Clearview taking over a fuelling station in Richer and Fort Frances, ON. Clearview is also looking forward to the opening of the Ste Anne Co-op grocery store this November. Co-op is also looking forward to the modernization of its point of sale terminals in retail stores, c-stores, and gas bars as it will make it more competitive with other retailers.

Further, the director’s report noted the federal government’s goal of moving away from fossil fuels has prompted FCL to look for new assets.

FCL is currently looking to remain relevant in light of federal mandates, climate change, and environmental impacts. It is also creating an energy roadmap to lower carbon emissions by using grain and oils in its fuel.

Rick Stephenson, district director for FCL, said sales hit $12.5 billion this year, which is consistent with last year’s numbers.

“We didn’t see inflationary impact that we had in 2022 but we did have growth in all our product lines, which is good. Our net income for 2023 was $781 million, our second best year ever so we’re pretty proud of that,” he said.

Patronage allocation was $399 million and redemption shares hit $320 million.

The new general manager for Clearview was announced as being board member Martin Trudeau.

“There will be a big, big learning curve. Just listen to your people, listen to your staff because they’re the ones that you’ll need to lean on to drive this business forward,” advised Nickel to Trudeau.

Newly elected board directors were Denis Clement, Roy Enns, and Jean Gagnon.