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STELLARTON, N.S. — Empire Co. Ltd. reported its second-quarter profit and sales rose compared with a year ago as it announced plans to expand its Voila online grocery service to Alberta.The company behind the Sobeys grocery store chain says it will launch Voila curbside pickup service in Alberta next year before starting home delivery service from a new customer fulfilment centre to be built in Calgary in 2023.The announcement came as Empire reported a profit of $161.4 million or 60 cents per share for the quarter ended Oct. 31.The result compared with a profit of $154.6 million or 57 cents per share a year earlier when the results were boosted by unusually large property disposals by Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust that added six cents per share.Sales in the quarter totalled nearly $6.98 billion, up from nearly $6.44 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales, a key metric for retailers, were up 7.3 per cent. Excluding fuel, same-store sales were up 8.7 per cent.Analysts on average had expected a profit of 65 cents per share for the quarter and $6.93 billion in sales, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2020.Companies in this story: (TSX:EMP.A)The Canadian Press