The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that despite a strike by some of its Toronto-area workers, grocer Metro blew past its profit targets and paid its executives the maximum possible bonus for corporate performance in its most recent fiscal year. The Globe's David Milstead and Susan Krashinsky write that Metro chief executive officer Eric La Flèche saw his total compensation increase 14 per cent, to $6.11-million, largely from an increase in stock awards. The Quebec-headquartered grocer said that for the first time in the company's history, sales for the fiscal year exceeded $20-billion and profits reached $1-billion. The five-week summer labour conflict at 27 Metro stores in the Greater Toronto Area cost Metro $36.3-million, it said. Roughly 3,700 Metro workers walked off the job and workers also picketed at two of the company's distribution centres, briefly preventing fresh products from reaching stores. Metro reached a deal with the union in late August, which included wage increases as well as improvements to pensions and benefits. New hourly rates for full-time clerks will reach $25.05 over the course of the deal. Metro recorded $1.01-billion of profits for the year, the company said.