TORONTO -- George Weston Ltd. (WN.TO) says it third-quarter profit was up from a year ago, boosted by its Loblaw Companies Ltd. business, offset in part by its Weston Foods operations.

The company says it earned a profit attributable to common shareholders of $420 million or $3.25 per diluted share in the quarter ended Oct. 7, up from $254 million or $1.97 per diluted share a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, George Weston says it earned $277 million or $2.14 per share, up from $266 million or $2.06 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Sales totalled $14.65 billion, up from $14.61 billion.

Last month, the company confirmed it was aware of an industry-wide investigation by the Competition Bureau into price-fixing related to packaged bread products.

George Weston says court filings by the regulator remain sealed while searches are completed, but it expects to be able to comment further after those filings are unsealed.