Empire Reports Strong Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2021 Results Fourth Quarter

Stellarton, NS – Empire Company Limited (“Empire” or the “Company”) (TSX: EMP.A) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended May 1, 2021. For the quarter, the Company recorded net earnings of $171.9 million compared to $177.8 million last year. Total earnings per share in the fourth quarter last year included an unusual gain on the surrender of lease of $0.06; removing this impact, total net earnings per share increased 6.7% compared to last year. “Despite the challenge of lapping last year’s outsized COVID-driven results, we are pleased to report that our team delivered a very strong Q4, matching last year’s outstanding bottom-line performance and delivering twoyear same-store sales growth of 10.4%,” said Michael Medline, President and CEO, Empire. “These strong results are driven by our continued progress on day-to-day execution and Project Horizon, the benefits of which will be sustained long beyond COVID-19. I am so proud of our great team in stores and behind the scenes, who continue to drive real sales growth while maintaining cost control.” In the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company launched Project Horizon, a three-year growth plan focused on core business expansion and the acceleration of e-commerce. The Company is on track to achieve a targeted incremental $500 million in annualized EBITDA and an improvement in EBITDA margin of 100 basis points by fiscal 2023 by (i) growing market share and (ii) building on cost and margin discipline. In fiscal 2021, Project Horizon benefits were achieved from the expansion and renovation of the Company’s store network, improvement in store operations and merchandising from data analytics along with continued efficiencies gained through strategic sourcing initiatives. Benefits were partially offset by the investment in the Company’s e-commerce network. For fiscal 2022, management expects the majority of benefits to be driven through the annualization of fiscal 2021 initiatives along with the continued expansion and renovation of the store network, promotional optimization, data analytics and strategic sourcing efficiencies. Benefits will be partially offset by the investment in the Company’s e-commerce network.