Laval – Alimentation Couche-Tard has observed that rising fuel and grocery costs are affecting customers’ driving and shopping habits while boosting sales of its own-brand products.

The president and CEO of convenience store chain Laval, Brian Hannasch, pointed out that while some big brands like Coca-Cola or Monster Energy were showing strong sales, customers were trying to save money by choosing other products, cheaper groceries.

“We’re seeing very strong growth of more than 10% in our house brands at a time when consumers are looking for value,” he said on Wednesday during a conference call with analysts, a day after the company released its first-quarter financial results Couche-Tard results.

Inflation at the pump affected the amount of fuel sold, which declined as consumers sought to save money on gasoline, Brian Hannasch said.

“It is clear that high fuel prices during the quarter and general inflationary pressures are having a temporary impact on the driving and fueling behavior of our consumers,” he said.

Couche-Tard reported net income of $872.4 million (M$) for the first quarter, up 14.1% from the same period last year.

The company, which operates in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia under numerous retail brands including Couche-Tard, Circle K, Holiday and Ingo, reported total sales of $18.7 billion in the first quarter, up by 37.4%. from $13.6 billion a year ago.

According to financial data firm Refinitiv, analysts had expected earnings of 73 cents a share on sales of $17.7 billion.

The company attributed the revenue increase primarily to higher average fuel selling prices, organic growth in goods and services sales and the contribution from acquisitions.

These items were partially offset by a decline in fuel demand and the impact of site sales following a strategic review of the Couche-Tard network, as well as a $336.0 million foreign exchange loss related to the US dollar translation of transactions in other currencies.

Merchandise sales at facilities open for at least a year rose 35% in the United States and 2.8% in Europe and elsewhere, but fell 1.3% in Canada.

Fuel volumes in the United States at facilities open for at least a year fell 4.0%, while they fell 3.7% in Europe and the rest of the world. In Canada, these volumes increased by 0.4%.

On Tuesday, the company also reached an agreement with the Competitions Bureau to address its concerns over Couche-Tard’s $346.8 million deal to acquire Wilsons chain of gas stations in the Atlantic provinces.

Alimentation Couche-Tard has therefore agreed to divest 46 Wilsons locations and supply agreements and one Couche-Tard service station by selling them to buyer(s) approved by the Commissioner of Competition.