Author: Consultant

BCE Inc. reported its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it faced higher severance, acquisition and other costs related mainly to job cuts.

The company also says it faced increased net mark-to-market losses on derivatives, higher interest costs and increased depreciation and amortization expenses.

BCE says it earned a profit attributable to common shareholders of $402 million or 44 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31.

The result compared with a profit of $725 million or 79 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Operating revenue totalled $6.01 billion, down from $6.05 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 72 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 85 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2024.

Air Canada reported a loss of $81 million in its first-quarter as its operating revenue rose seven per cent from a year ago.

The airline says the loss amounted to 22 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31.

The result compared with a profit of $4 million in the same quarter last year when it also reported a loss of three cents per diluted share.

Operating revenue totalled $5.23 billion, up from $4.89 billion in its first quarter of 2023.

On an adjusted basis, Air Canada says it lost 27 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted loss of 53 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

In its outlook, the airline says it plans to increase its capacity measured by available seat miles in the second quarter of this year by about seven per cent compared with a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2024.

Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TSX:TOU.TO) (“Tourmaline” or the “Company”) is pleased to release financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2024, announce an increase to its quarterly base dividend and declare a special dividend.

Read more at newswire.ca

Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSX:TIH.TO) today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Three months ended March 31

Read more at newswire.ca

Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV) on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $144.5 million.

The Toronto-based company said it had net income of 75 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 76 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 68 cents per share.

The precious metals streaming and royalty company posted revenue of $256.8 million in the period.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on FNV at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FNV

Highlights

• Q1 2024 fund flows from operations (“FFO”)⁽¹⁾ was $431 million ($2.68/basic share)⁽²⁾ and exploration and development (“E&D”) capital expenditures⁽³⁾ were $190 million, resulting in free cash flow (“FCF”)⁽⁴⁾ of $241 million ($1.49/basic share)⁽⁵⁾.
• Net debt⁽⁶⁾ decreased by $134 million in Q1 2024 to $944 million, achieving our net debt target of $1 billion and representing a net debt to trailing FFO ratio⁽⁷⁾ of 0.7 times, the lowest in over a decade.
• Vermilion returned $56 million to shareholders during Q1 2024, comprised of $19 million of dividends and $37 million of share buybacks. The Q1 2024 dividend represents a 20% increase over our previous quarterly dividend, aligned with our intention to provide ratable dividend increases as part of our return of capital framework.
• With the achievement of our $1 billion net debt, we increased our return of capital target to 50% of excess FCF on an annual basis and significantly increased our pace of share buybacks during the quarter, repurchasing and cancelling 2.4 million shares, including 1.0 million shares during the month of March and repurchasing an additional 1.0 million shares during the month of April. We plan to maintain a robust pace of share buybacks in the months ahead as we manage towards an annual return of capital target of 50% of excess FCF.
• In conjunction with our Q1 2024 release, we announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.12 per share, payable on July 15, 2024 to shareholders of record on June 28, 2024.
• Production during the first quarter of 2024 averaged 85,505 boe/d⁽⁸⁾, comprised of 52,959 boe/d⁽⁸⁾ from our North American assets and 32,546 boe/d⁽⁸⁾ from our International assets. Production for the quarter was above the upper end of our Q1 2024 guidance range primarily due to strong operating performance from our Germany and United States assets.
• In Germany, we successfully drilled our first deep gas exploration well and are pleased to report that we discovered gas within the targeted zone. This well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 5,000 metres, representing the deepest well we have ever drilled in Europe. We plan to test the well during the second quarter and prepare for tie-in operations with an anticipated on-stream date of early 2025. We also plan to commence drilling on the second well (0.6 net) of our inaugural deep gas program in Q2 2024, which is a higher risk prospect targeting a very large structure that is expected to take three to four months to drill.
• In Croatia, construction of the gas plant on the SA-10 block is nearing completion which will add over 2,000 boe/d of European gas currently behind pipe. This production will contribute to FCF immediately upon start-up of the gas plant. In addition, we successfully completed drilling two of the four planned exploration wells on the SA-7 block, and completed drilling a third well subsequent to the quarter. All three wells drilled to date have discovered hydrocarbons in multiple zones which we expect will contribute to FCF in the years ahead.
• In Canada, construction of the 16,000 boe/d Mica Montney battery is nearing completion and remains scheduled for startup in late Q2 2024. We successfully completed the first six (6.0 net) BC Montney wells of our 2024 program and initial flowback results are in line with the strong performance seen on the original two wells on the 16-28 pad.

CGI Inc. reported a second-quarter profit of $426.9 million, up from $419.4 million a year ago.

The consulting firm says the profit amounted to $1.83 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from $1.76 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue totalled $3.74 billion, up from $3.72 billion a year earlier.

Excluding specific items, CGI says it earned $1.97 per diluted share for its second quarter, up from $1.82 per diluted share last year.

CGI says its bookings for the quarter totalled $3.75 billion compared with $3.84 billion a year ago.

The company’s backlog stood at $26.82 billion at March 31.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.

Barrick Gold Corp. reported a first-quarter profit attributable to equity holders of US$295 million, up from US$120 million a year earlier.

The gold miner, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the profit amounted to 17 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from seven cents US per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter totalled US$2.75 billion, up from US$2.64 billion a year earlier.

Barrick says its gold production in the quarter amounted to 940,000 ounces, down from 952,000 in the same quarter last year, while copper production totalled 40,000 tonnes, unchanged from a year earlier.

The company realized US$2,075 per ounce of gold in the quarter, up from US$1,902 in the same quarter last year, and US$3.86 per pound of copper, down from $4.20 per pound a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Barrick says it earned 19 cents US per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 14 cents US per share a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.

Cenovus Energy Inc. raised its dividend as it reported a first-quarter profit of $1.18 billion, up from $636 million a year ago.

The company says it will now pay a quarterly base dividend of 18 cents per share, up from 14 cents per share.

Cenovus also declared a variable dividend payment of 13.5 cents per share to shareholders of record on May 17 that will be payable on May 31.

The company says its first-quarter profit amounted to 62 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from 32 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue totalled $13.40 billion in the quarter, up from $12.26 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

Upstream production in the quarter averaged 800,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 779,000 a year earlier, while downstream throughput averaged 655,200 barrels per day, up from 457,900 in the same quarter last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.